| Club: | Hartlepool United F.C. |
| Season: | 2011–12 |
| Manager: | Mick Wadsworth (until 6 December) Neale Cooper (from 28 December) |
| Chairman: | Ken Hodcroft |
| Owner: | IOR |
| Stadium: | Victoria Park |
| League: | League One |
| League Result: | 13th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | First round (Eliminated by Stevenage) |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | First round (Eliminated by Sheffield United) |
| Cup3: | Football League Trophy |
| Cup3 Result: | First Round (Eliminated by Scunthorpe United) |
| League Topscorer: | Antony Sweeney (8) |
| Season Topscorer: | Antony Sweeney (9) |
| Highest Attendance: | 6,800 (vs Sheffield Wednesday) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 2,744 (vs Stevenage) |
| Pattern La1: | _white_stripes |
| Pattern B1: | _whitestripes |
| Pattern Ra1: | _white_stripes |
| Pattern Sh1: | _whitesides |
| Leftarm1: | 0494cc |
| Body1: | 0494cc |
| Rightarm1: | 0494cc |
| Shorts1: | 0494cc |
| Leftarm2: | d22222 |
| Body2: | d22222 |
| Rightarm2: | d22222 |
| Shorts2: | d22222 |
| Socks2: | d22222 |
| Pattern B3: | _blacksidesoutline |
| Leftarm3: | ff9a00 |
| Body3: | ff9a00 |
| Rightarm3: | ff9a00 |
| Shorts3: | ff9a00 |
| Socks3: | ff9a00 |
| Prevseason: | 2010–11 |
| Nextseason: | 2012–13 |
The 2011–12 season was Hartlepool United's 103rd year in existence and their fifth consecutive season in League One. Along with competing in League One, the club also participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and League Trophy. The season covers the period from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012.
See main article: article and 2010–11 Hartlepool United F.C. season.
See also: History of Hartlepool United F.C. and List of Hartlepool United F.C. seasons.
In pre-season, Hartlepool received media attention having announced a season ticket deal whereby the price would be only £100 if over 4,000 tickets would be sold.[1] The club ultimately sold over 5,600 season tickets.[1] The club also announced the signing of former Newcastle United player Nolberto Solano.[1] During pre-season, Hartlepool played a testimonial for the club's record appearance maker Ritchie Humphreys against local side Sunderland.[1]
The club began the 2011–12 campaign with a trip to Milton Keyns Dons.[1] Hartlepool twice took the lead thanks to goals by Adam Boyd and James Brown but were pegged back late in the match to draw 2–2.[1] They were subsequently eliminated in the first round of the League Cup after a penalty shootout defeat to Sheffield United.[1] Hartlepool would draw three matches in a row before winning five in a row to go 3rd in the league.[1] This was the first time in the club's history that they had gone unbeaten in their first nine matches of a season.[1] This run was ended with a home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in early October.[1] The following week, Pools suffered defeat once again away to Notts County, losing 3–0 in the televised fixture.[1] Despite the impressive start, Hartlepool would suffer poor home form. Six consecutive home defeats was a club record and signalled the end of Mick Wadsworth's tenure as Hartlepool manager.[2]
Former manager Neale Cooper was announced as Wadsworth's successor.[1] Cooper's first match back at the club saw Hartlepool's eighth successive home defeat.[2] In the next home fixture, Cooper took the decision to start 17-year old Luke James. James scored in the 2–0 win against Rochdale to become the youngest goalscorer for the club in its history.[2] This was a theme at the beginning of Cooper's second spell; giving opportunities to many younger players whilst criticising the performances of more experienced players.[3] This win against Rochdale was followed up with an impressive away point at Sheffield Wednesday and then a comprehensive 4–0 home victory against rivals Carlisle United which gave hopes for a late play-off charge.[2] However, Hartlepool would suffer a 5–0 away defeat to relegation threatened Wycombe Wanderers.[2] Pools struggled in front of goal for their remaining matches and ultimately finished in 13th position.[2] [3]
| Date | Position | Player | From | Fee | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 May 2011 | FW | Free | [5] | |||
| 13 May 2011 | MF | Free | [6] | |||
| 27 June 2011 | FW | Free | [7] | |||
| 22 July 2011 | DF | Undisclosed | [8] | |||
| 2 September 2011 | DF | Free | [9] |
| Date | Position | Player | To | Fee | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 June 2011 | MF | Free | [10] | |||
| 23 June 2011 | MF | Free | [11] | |||
| 23 June 2011 | FW | Free | ||||
| 11 July 2011 | DF | Dylan Purvis | Free | |||
| 5 August 2011 | FW | Free | ||||
| 7 August 2011 | FW | Free | ||||
| 10 August 2011 | MF | Free | ||||
| 13 August 2011 | MF | Billy Blackford | Free | |||
| 15 September 2011 | DF | Free | ||||
| 11 January 2012 | DF | Jordan Mellish | Free | [12] | ||
| 24 January 2012 | DF | Free | [13] [14] |
| Date from | Position | Player | From | Date until | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 March 2012 | FW | 2 April 2012 | [15] | |||
| 20 March 2012 | FW | 1 June 2012 | [16] |
| Date from | Position | Player | To | Date until | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2011 | FW | 12 September 2011 | [17] | |||
| 19 September 2011 | FW | 19 October 2011 | [18] | |||
| 19 September 2011 | MF | 19 October 2011 | ||||
| 4 November 2011 | DF | 3 March 2012 | [19] [20] | |||
| 4 November 2011 | FW | Steven Snaith | 4 January 2012 | |||
| 16 March 2012 | DF | 1 June 2012 | [21] |
See main article: 2011–12 Football League One.
|}
| width=60 | Rank | width=150 | Name | width=80 | League One | width=80 | FA Cup | width=80 | League Cup | width=80 | Other | width=80 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||||||||
| 2 | James Poole | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |||||||
| 3 | Adam Boyd | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||
| 7 | Luke James | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||||||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||||||||
| 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| Ryan Noble | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| Nolberto Solano | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| 12 | James Brown | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| Sam Collins | 1 | 0 | 0 | ) | 1 | ||||||||
| Ritchie Humphreys | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Nathan Luscombe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Paul Murray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| width=60 | Rank | width=150 | Name | width=80 | League One | width=80 | FA Cup | width=80 | League Cup | width=80 | Other | width=80 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Flinders | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |||||||
| 2 | Andy Rafferty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| width=120 | Date | width=150 | Name | width=150 | Opposition | width=50 | Scored? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 August 2011 | Adam Boyd | Stevenage | |||||
| 15 October 2011 | Adam Boyd | Wycombe Wanderers | |||||
| 5 November 2011 | Neil Austin | Leyton Orient |
| width=120 | Date Incurred | width=150 | Name | width=60 | Games Missed | width=190 | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 August 2011 | Nathan Luscombe | 3 | (vs. Walsall) | ||||
| 5 November 2011 | Paul Murray | 1 | (vs. Leyton Orient) | ||||
| 12 November 2011 | Scott Flinders | 1 | (vs. Stevenage) | ||||
| 31 March 2012 | Peter Hartley | 1 | (vs. Sheffield United) |
| End of Season Awards | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| Hartlepool Mail Player of the Year | Peter Hartley | |
| Players' Player of the Year | Peter Hartley | |
| Michael Maidens' Goal of the Season | Luke James vs Rochdale | |
| Supporters' Association Youth Team Player of the Year | Josh Rowbotham |
Following the conclusion of the season, Cooper opted to release experienced players such as Adam Boyd and James Brown.[2] Steve Haslam, Nolberto Solano and Colin Larkin also departed.[2] The 2012–13 season saw Hartlepool relegated to the fourth tier after six seasons in League One.