Hartlepool United have confirmed that they have relieved manager Daren Sarll of his duties.
The Victoria Park side were dumped out of the FA Cup last night in the fourth qualifying round, with National League North side Brackley Town eliminating them 3-1 in a replay.
Sarll had struggled to find results in recent weeks, losing four straight games on the bounce before finally finding a win against Sutton United. Pools sit in 16th in the National League and face Maidenhead United this weekend.
Interim Manager in place
The club confirmed their decision via a statement published this morning, which read:
Hartlepool United’s Board can confirm that they have today parted company with Manager Darren Sarll.
Lennie Lawrence will take over manager duties in the interim supported by the existing football staff.
A further update will follow in due course.
The 41-year-old was brought in by the club in April of this year and it was hoped that the former Yeovil Town boss could push Hartlepool up towards the National League play-offs in his first season in charge. The club finished in 12th place last season, their first back in non-league since 2021.
Former Cardiff City and Luton Town boss Lennie Lawrence is now in charge having also been the non-executive director at the club since 2022. He was part of previous manager Kevin Phillips’ backroom staff as an assistant.
He has previously been a caretaker at the start of this year when John Askey was sacked, but in recent weeks has been spotted on the touchline, including in the win against Sutton United.
Writer’s View
Darren Sarll was expected to get Hartlepool competing at the top end of the league so it unfortunately was expected that he would find himself in deep water with the run of form the club was on. It seems that missing out on the first round proper of the FA Cup was the final straw, making this the second time in the club’s history that they have failed to reach that stage. The finances that can come with cup runs are well documented with Lincoln City’s run to the quarter-finals and if they had beaten Brackley, their next tie would have been a home clash against Braintree Town, which would have been winnable.
1st Class Honours in Multimedia Journalism at Salford University. Writing mainly about League Two.
