On December 16th 2014, Hartlepool United found themselves 6 points adrift at the foot of English football and had just appointed their third manager of the season in Ronnie Moore.
Fast forward to April 25th 2015 and the club had just beaten Exeter City to secure their Football League status and condemn Cheltenham Town to relegation.
A lot of players were used during this season for Pools, here is a look at the starting eleven from the match against Exeter at Victoria Park on April 25th 2015.
On this day in 2015 Pools beat Exeter 2-1 to complete the most incredible 'Great Escape' – what a day at The Vic! pic.twitter.com/d5qdRuyvXJ
— Hartlepool United FC (@Official_HUFC) April 25, 2016
Ronnie Moore – Manager
Moore is a vastly experienced manager having had spells at clubs including Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool.
The former striker played well over 600 games in his career before moving into management, firstly as an assistant at Tranmere Rovers before he took the hot seat himself for the first time at Southport. From there, he would spend 8 years at Rotherham who he guided from Division Three to Division One.
From the Millers, Oldham Athletic was his next stop followed by Tranmere Rovers, Rotherham (again), Tranmere (again) and his last job in the Football League with Pools. After taking over the managerial hotseat at Victoria Park, Moore would use the loan market in an attempt to turn the club’s fortune around.
A brief spell at Eastleigh would see Moore end his managerial career in 2016.
Scott Flinders – 46 appearances.
Flinders was an ever-present in goal for Hartlepool United this season and would make over 250 appearances for the club before leaving in the summer of 2015 for York City. The former England Under 20 international started his career at Barnsley before moving to Crystal Palace and heading off on a multitude of loan deals.
After short-term spells at Gillingham, Brighton and Hove Albion, Yeovil Town, Blackpool and Falkirk, the shot-stopper found a home at Victoria Park in 2009. Flinders joined the club when they were in League One, suffering relegation at the end of 2012-13 and left the club following their miracle escape.
From York, the stopper would go on to play for Macclesfield Town, Cheltenham Town and his current side, Mansfield Town.
Scott Harrison – 36 appearances, 1 goal
The Middlesbrough-born defender started his career at Darlington but was on loan at Hartlepool from Sunderland before making the switch permanent during the 2014-15 season. He was a key performer in the club’s push to survive the drop and he was named both Supporters’ and Players’ Player of the Year but would find himself without a club at the end of the following season.
He wasn’t without a club for long, however, as Pools re-signed him in time for the 2016-17 season and he would stay at the club until being released from his contract in June 2018 when he joined Falkirk. The move north of the border lasted only a matter of months before he returned to England and joined Spennymoor Town of the National League North, where he stayed until leaving the club in December 2019 after suffering a season-ending injury.
Matthew Bates – 25 appearances, 1 goal
Bates began his career at Middlesbrough after coming through their youth set-up and had loans at Darlington, Ipswich Town and Norwich City during his 8 years in the first team at the Riverside. He would eventually leave in 2012 for a short stint at Bristol City and a further season at Bradford City before arriving at Victoria Park in 2014.
Injuries would disrupt his time at the club and limit him to less than 90 appearances across his 4-year spell. After the great escape as part of the playing staff, Bates was less successful in his short spell as caretaker manager in 2017 when, despite winning on the final day of the season, Hartlepool lost their Football League status for the first time in their history. He would again become caretaker in 2018 before being given the job permanently before being sacked all in the space of 9 months.
Bates was last known to be the assistant manager at Northern Premier League side Whitby Town.
Dan Jones – 23 appearances, 2 goals
The left-sided defender was only 21 at the time of the great escape and would make over 40 appearances after coming through the youth system at the club.
After being released by the club in 2016, he spent a season at Grimsby Town, and had loan spells at Gateshead and AFC Fylde before a two-year spell at Barrow. A move to Salford didn’t work out and he returned to Barrow to help them earn promotion to the Football League and has been at Port Vale since 2021.
Neil Austin – 46 appearances, 2 goals
The Barnsley-born defender spent seven seasons as a professional at Oakwell and made over 150 appearances before leaving to join Darlington in 2007. After being named in the League Two Team of the Season for 2008-09, he would join rivals Hartlepool where he continued his fine form winning the Player and Players’ Player of the Year award at the end of his first full season.
He played every single minute of the 2012-13 season and would eventually leave Victoria Park and sign for Northern Premier League Division One side Shaw Lane in the summer of 2015. Austin went on to help the team win the title in 2016-17 and was again named Players’ Player of the Season. He spent the 2018-19 season at Gainsborough Trinity before retiring from the game.
Nicky Featherstone – 25 appearances
Featherstone came through the ranks at Hull City and gained experience on loan moves to North Ferriby United, Grimsby Town (twice) and Hereford United before making the permanent switch to Edgar Street.
He then moved on to Walsall for a season before being at Scunthorpe United for less than a month and joined Harrogate Town of the Conference North. He would again spend less than a month at the club and made his way back to the Football League with Hartlepool.
He has gone on to make over 350 appearances for Pools, putting him in the top ten record appearance makers for the club.
Aaron Tshibola – 23 appearances
The midfielder was only 20 at the time of Hartlepool’s escape from the trapdoor and is the most travelled of this group having had spells in Scotland, Belgium, Portugal, Turkey and Cyprus.
Tshibola joined Pools on loan from Reading after coming through the youth system at the Royals. He would play 23 times after his initial loan was extended by Ronnie Moore.
After returning to Reading he got a big move to Aston Villa that, unfortunately for both parties, didn’t work out. He was loaned out to Nottingham Forest, MK Dons and Kilmarnock (twice) before eventually leaving for Waasland Beveren in Belgium.
Spells in Portugal, with C.D Aves, back in Scotland with Kilmarnock, in Turkey at Gençlerbirliği and was last seen in Cyprus with AEL Limassol. Tshibola has represented DR Congo on one occasion.
Jack Compton – 21 appearances
The winger started his youth career at Portsmouth before signing for West Bromwich Albion in 2006. After two years at Albion and a loan spell at Weymouth, he moved on to Brighton and Hove Albion before dropping into non-league with Havant and Waterlooville and then Weston-Super-Mare.
Compton would then move north of the border to Falkirk for a two-year spell, however, that time included loans at Bradford City and St Johnstone. Portsmouth and Colchester United followed before he found himself at Hartlepool and battling at the bottom of League Two.
Following on from his Victoria Park exit, he would spend time at Yeovil Town, Newport County, Merthyr Town (loan), Bath City and Chippenham Town and was last seen at Barry Town in Wales.
Jonathon Franks – 46 appearances, 2 goals
Franks joined Hartlepool from his boyhood club Middlesbrough after loan spells at Oxford United and Yeovil Town, signing for Neale Cooper in May 2012. He would spend three seasons with the club before being released in the summer of 2015.
He would go on to sign for Scottish Premiership side Ross County and would help the club win the Scottish League Cup before being released in May 2017 and re-joining Hartlepool. He has since played for Wrexham, in Iceland for IBV, for his hometown club Stockton Town and was last seen turning out for Whitby Town.
Jordan Hugill – 8 appearances, 4 goals
The striker started his career in County Durham with Seaham Red Star before a spell at Consett and a move to the Glenn Hoddle Academy where he represented Jerez Industrial.
Hugill moved back to England with Whitby Town before getting his break in the professional game with Port Vale. After just 24 games for Vale and 5 goals in 7 games on loan at Gateshead, he gained a move to then League One side Preston North End.
It was from Preston where he would be sent to relegation-threatened Hartlepool on a short-term loan. He played 8 times and scored 4 goals, including the vital winner against Exeter City as Pools scrambled to safety.
From Deepdale, he would make the move to West Ham United for a reported £10 million in January 2018. The move would prove unsuccessful, and the frontman would spend time on loan at Middlesbrough and QPR before moving permanently to Norwich City.
Further loans at West Bromwich Albion and Cardiff City followed for Hugill before he signed a three-year deal with Championship side Rotherham United in January 2023.
Scott Fenwick – 19 appearances, 6 goals
The striker had a relatively brief spell in league football after being released from Middlesbrough and venturing north to sign for Gretna FC 2008. Back in England, Fenwick spent more time in Northeast non-league football with Newcastle Benfield, Durham City and Dunston UTS before a perhaps surprising move to League Two strugglers Hartlepool in November 2014.
He would go on to score 12 goals for the club in just shy of 50 games. His most important strike was the crucial opening goal in his side’s 2-1 victory against Exeter that secured their league status.
Following his departure at the end of the 2015-16 season, Fenwick would head back into non-league football with the likes of York City and Darlington before a spell in Malta with Naxxar Lions.
He is currently playing for Consett back in Durham after spells in Ireland with Cork City, Scotland with Forfar Athletic and time at Chelmsford City, Workington and Blyth Spartans.
Writer’s View
Hartlepool used a lot of players this season in their ultimately successful bid to beat the drop, including former Premier League players Marlon Harewood, Stuart Parnaby and Tommy Miller. In appointing Moore, it was as if the club finally realised the dire situation they were in and decided that experience was the way to go as opposed to the previous two managers who were very much making fledglings in the dugout.
The squad had a real mix of players in it, with some moving up the divisions like Jordan Hugill, some becoming Hartlepool legends in Nicky Featherstone and others drifting into non-league. One thing for certain is that, along with Moore, the players who helped save the club from relegation will be remembered for years to come by all Poolies.
