This week, Hartlepool United confirmed the signings of three players as we prepare for life back in the National League following relegation last season.
Pete Jameson
Pete Jameson arrived from Harrogate Town with a lot of experience and knowledge of the league. Pete started his career at Darlington were he made 119 appearances for the quakers as they climbed from the 10th tier to the 6th tier. He then went to Blyth Spartans were he helped them reach two playoff spots before joining York in 2019. Jameson was able to win York promotion back to the National League under the management of John Askey.
Pete was most recently at Harrogate were he made 21 appearances last season as Harrogate secured their safety in League Two. The Goalkeeper added: “Delighted to sign for Hartlepool. I know the Gaffer and Mark Goodlad well having worked with them at York. I’ve also played against Hartlepool a good amount of times to know this is a great club with great fans. The atmosphere at The Suit Direct has always been bouncing every time I’ve played here and I can’t wait to get started”. John Askey commented: “An experienced goalkeeper who has a lot of games under his belt. Probably no secret he’s one we’ve chased for a while and he’s a great addition to work alongside Joel. We’d like to thank Harrogate for their cooperation is making this deal happen”.
Kieran Wallace
Kieran Wallace, signed from Mansfield Town after an impressive period with the club. Wallace began his career at Ilkeston Town in the Northern Premier Division, where he managed to make a name for himself as a solid nineteen year old defender. He then secured a big move to Sheffield United were he played 15 times in a three year period for the blades. Two loans moves to Lincoln and Fleetwood followed before he made a move to Matlock Town again in the Northern Premier Division.
Kieran played 30 times for Matlock scoring two goals as they sadly lost in the playoff final. A move to Burton was next for Kieran as he managed to make a name for himself playing 60 times for the League One club. A loan move to John Askey’s York followed but sadly he picked up an injury meaning he was unable to feature for the York side. Wallace was most recently at Mansfield were he featured 47 times scoring 0 goals. Wallace is a CB who can also efficiently play CDM which is an ideal replacement for Nicky Featherstone.
Emmanuel Dieseruvwe
The most exciting transfer this week was the arrival of Emmanuel Dieseruvwe from FC Halifax Town. Emmanuel began his career at Sheffield Wednesday but didn’t make a single appearance for the club. 3 loan moves followed before Emmanuel joined Chesterfield in 2015. Dieseruvwe played 25 times for Chesterfield but did not score a single goal. A loan move to Mansfield followed were he would score 1 goal in 10 games. Next, Emmanuel would move to Kidderminster Harriers in the National League North were he played 29 times scoring 4 goals.
A loan move followed as he joined Boston for the remainder of the 2016/17 season before he joined his most successful club Salford City. During a 4 year period at Salford, he helped the club reach the EFL for the first time in their history with a goal in the playoff final against AFC Flyde. He also scored the clubs first EFL goal when he scored against Stevenage. In 2020, Dieseruvwe joined Oldham on loan before his loan move was cut short due to the Covid 19 lockdown. At the start of the 2021/22 season, Dieseruvwe joined Tranmere Rovers but struggled for form as he was loaned Grimsby and was critical in getting them promoted into the Football League. Dieseruvwe was most recently at Halifax were he scored 13 goals in 42 games before deciding to leave to join Hartlepool United.
Fixture Release Day
The Fixtures release day is always the best part of pre season, it allows people to plan for trips and get ready to tick off new grounds they possibly haven’t been to. At 1pm the fixtures were released, Hartlepool will travel to Barnet on the opening day of the season as (I expect) a sell out away end for our first game back in the NL.
To the surprise of many, our first home game is against north east rivals Gateshead, many people were expecting this to be a Boxing Day game as it as previously been in the past. Pools end their season with our annual fancy dress day against Doxing Wanderers, this is going to be a sellout as 1200 poolies are expected to be wearing their fancy dress clothes. Overall a good fixture list as now we can look forward to playing games in the NL next season.
My Analysis
Overall, a really positive week at the club, I think the 3 new signings are positive ones as they have National League experience and can help us get promoted next season. Furthermore, the positivity around the fixture release day has hopefully set our season in motion and we can get promoted back to the Football League in the near future.