By Albatross
December 3 2005

Hartlepool United lose to a non-league club in the FA Cup. In the mid 70s it would hardly have raised an eyebrow, but these days it's something of a rarity. Pools Online gives a list of shame: possibly our most embarrassing FA Cup exits since the war.

It may not be the last time Pools lose to non-league opposition - and it's certainly not the first. Here, in a sort of Phil Dunn Stylee, are the seven Non-League sides that have knocked us out of the FA Cup since the war - starting with the most recent.

2005/6 - Hartlepool United 1 Tamworth 2
Oh dear oh dear. It's all gone pear shaped, and we can't say we weren't warned - Tamworth beat Bournemouth in the last round. Currently looking to avoid relegation from Conference National, and one of the few part-time outfits in that league, losing to Mark Cooper's boys scores pretty high on the red face scale.

1999/2000 - Hereford United 1 Hartlepool United 0
Live on TV to boot, Pools lost to a side whose fans thought the best way to try and ensure victory beforehand was to dribble a swede from the centre circle and put it into an unguarded net. It was away, and Hereford were not too long previously a league club - so not as bad as it could have been, but still embarrassing.

1993/4 - Macclesfield Town 2 Hartlepool United 0
A season after beating Palace, Pools exited in the first round to non-league opposition. In retrospect it wasn't too big a shock - although we were in Division 2 at the time, we were in the process of being relegated while Macclesfield were proving to be one of the better outfits in the Conference. In fact, they won the Conference Title the following season only to be denied promotion due to ground restrictions. The fact that the game was at Moss Rose didn't help, but at this point we were a very poor side and ripe for the picking - which the Macc Lads did.

1985/6 - Hartlepool United 0 Frickley Athletic 1
One of the lowlights of the last 20 years. Frickley were in what was then the Alliance Premier League, and that season proved to be one of the leading lights of it - they finished as runners-up. Ironically Pools themselves were having their best season in years too. Talking about this result to older fans is likely to produce groans, moans and talk of the bad old days. Usually regarded as a benchmark in the "at least we're not as bad as we were then..." stakes.

1973/4 - Altrincham 2 Hartlepool 0
The third time in four years that Pools had gone out of the competition to a Non-League side, although once again we weren't actually having a bad season and would finish in mid-table in Division 4. In those pre-Alliance Premier days Altrincham were one of the strongest sides in the Northern Premier and arguably stronger than many league clubs. Cup runs helped aid a case for election to the league - and the following year Altrincham would make it to a third round replay against Everton.

1971/2 Boston United 2 Hartlepool 1
Boston were one of the strongest teams in the Northern Premier; Pools were one of the weakest in the Football League. Add the two together, and you get a cup "upset" that looks anything but. Boston's player/manager Jim Smith scored one of the goals; also in the side was a certain Howard Wilkinson, soon to start his coaching career.

1970/1 Rhyl 1 Hartlepool 0
Arguably the nadir of this list. Rhyl weren't even a top non-league side; they were in the Cheshire County League, and them beating Pools was equivalent to Gillingham's defeat at Burscough this season. We may have been a poor side, but this was a serious embarrassment.

So, this probably classes as our most embarrassing cup defeat in well over 30 years. There's been plenty of talk on various boards this week about how the players and staff at HUFC look at the different sites on the net - well, if they've just read the above list of shame all I can say is you owe us big-time now lads: every Poolie will now dread walking into work, school or whatever on Monday Morning. The only positive thing I can say to you is that you've some opportunities coming up very quickly to try and make amends - it's up to you to take them.

Much use was mate of the Football Clubs History Database while compiling this article.