As Hartlepool United have recently announced the theme for this season’s fancy dress. We will be going through each recent theme and going through personal memories regarding the day.
2023 – Cowboys at Stockport
The most recent Fancy Dress game was at Stockport County. As Hartlepool United had been relegated the previous week and since this was technically our last game in the EFL it was an emotional day. Promotion chasing Stockport were denied the chance to gain promotion to League One as a Ben Killip masterclass helped Hartlepool pick up a point on the final day. I really enjoyed this theme as despite the relegation, everyone celebrated and enjoyed the day in Greater Manchester.
2022 – Doctors and Nurses at Scunthorpe
After the Covid 19 pandemic affected the whole world, people were returning back to normal life and were starting to attend football matches again. As this was the first fancy dress since 2019 we decided to dress as Doctors and Nurses to thank the hard working NHS for getting us through the pandemic. As this was my first fancy dress game, it will always hold a special place in my heart and will be a memory that I treasure forever. This was manager Graeme Lee’s last game as manager as shortly after the 1-1 draw with relegated Scunthorpe, he was sacked shortly before the end of the season.
2019 – Knights at Barrow
In what will go down as the warmest conditions at a football ground. Hartlepool United fans dressed as Knights for the 2019 trip to Barrow. In the 20+ degrees heat, Pools would lose 1-0 in what was seen as a terrible performance and a day to forget. Pools fans were nearly banned from doing this theme as Barrow believed that this could have been a health and safety risk due to people brining swords. However the theme was allowed to go ahead and Pools were given a day to remember despite the result.
2018 – Clowns at Tranmere (protest against previous owners)
Following a dramatic year for the football club, which nearly saw us enter administration, we decided that the 2018 theme would be clowns. Taking a swipe at previous owners, we believed that this theme perfectly summed up our situation over the past few seasons as the club was ran like a circus by people who were only interested in making a quick buck before leaving us. Pools would win this game 2-1 as we beat Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park to put an overall terrible season behind us.
2017 – French Mimes at Cheltenham
In a game that could have seen us be relegated to the National League for the first time in our history, Hartlepool fans dressed up as French Mimes as we made the long journey to Cheltenham Town. Pools would later lose the game 1-0 and would be relegated a week later despite a 2-1 win against Doncaster Rovers. Over 750 fans made the long journey to Cheltenham as once again showed that we are the loyalist fans in football.
I could write more and more examples of the different types of Fancy Dress themes we have done over the course of a few years now however this article will be too long so I will be doing a follow up article in the near future. This article is brining back positive memories as we remember the times we have come together and helped support our boys in blue in a creative and funny way.