Stat Attack: Notts County vs. Hartlepool United

Notts County and Hartlepool United have met 28 times over the years. The first meeting was on 21 September 1959 at Victoria Park, and the Magpies won 4-2.

The head-to-head record stands at 11 wins for Notts, 12 defeats and 5 draws.

Our last five meetings stand at two wins for Notts and three defeats, including the last time both sides met, a 3-2 defeat in the 2013-14 FA Cup.

Saturday's game is the first league encounter between the two sides this season after the first fixture, which was supposed to take place on Boxing Day, was postponed due to adverse weather.

In 1905, the amateur team West Hartlepool won the FA Amateur Cup which at the time was considered second only to the FA Cup. Partly as a result of this the opportunity for a professional team arose in 1908, when West Hartlepool Rugby Club went bust leaving their stadium Victoria Ground vacant.

The stadium was bought and the current club was founded under the name ‘Hartlepools United Football Athletic Company’, representing both the town of West Hartlepool and the original settlement of Old Hartlepool.

The new team joined the professional North-Eastern league and West Hartlepool F.C. lost some of their players to the new professional side. West Hartlepool managed to continue for a few seasons, but it was not long before they broke up leaving Hartlepools United as the only team in town.

In 1968 the "s" and the "United" were dropped from the team name of "Hartlepools United". This was in connection with West Hartlepool being absorbed along with the old smaller town of Hartlepool and the village of Hart into one new borough named "Hartlepool". The appendage of "United" was finally restored in 1977.

Brian Clough was invited to manage Hartlepools in 1965. His reaction was: "I don't fancy the place," but he took the job anyway and stayed for two seasons alongside Peter Taylor.

Under Cyril Knowles' management the club won promotion to the Third Division in 1990, but Hartlepool's greatest moment occurred in 2005 when they narrowly missed promotion to The Championship.

According to local folklore, the term “Monkey Hangers”, which Hartlepudlians are sometimes called, originates from an incident in which a monkey was hanged in the town.

During the Napoleonic Wars, a French ship of the type chasse marée was wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool. The only survivor was a monkey, allegedly wearing a French uniform to provide amusement for the crew. On finding the monkey, some locals decided to hold an impromptu trial on the beach; since the monkey was unable to answer their questions and because they had seen neither a monkey nor a Frenchman before, they concluded that the monkey was in fact a French spy. Being found guilty the animal was duly sentenced to death and hanged on the beach.

An alternative theory is put forward alongside the above on the "This Is Hartlepool" town guide, stating: "Then there are some who point to a much darker interpretation of the yarn. They say that the creature that was hanged might not have been a monkey at all; it could have been a young boy. After all, the term powder-monkey was commonly used in those times for the children employed on warships to prime the cannon with gunpowder."

In the 2002 council election, the team's mascot "H'Angus the Monkey", aka Stuart Drummond, was elected mayor of Hartlepool as an independent, under the slogan "free bananas for schoolchildren". 

Even though his candidacy was just a publicity stunt, Drummond has since been re-elected after throwing off his comedy image and identifying himself increasingly with the Labour group on the council. 

On 5 May 2013, Drummond left his post of Hartlepool's mayor after a November 2012 referendum meant that Hartlepool would no longer have a mayor, instead being led by committees.

In recent years the most visible fan of the club has been Jeff Stelling, presenter of Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports. The rock star Meat Loaf, Janick Gers of the metal band Iron Maiden, MP Peter Mandelson, and film director Ridley Scott are also fans of the club.

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Notts boss Jamie Fullarton could hand a debut to Gary Mackenzie after the experienced defender arrived on a month’s loan from Doncaster Rovers on deadline day.

Midfielder Stanley Aborah was back on the bench for County’s win at Luton Town at the weekend but Fullarton could be tempted to restore him to the starting XI after a knee injury.

Winger Will Hayhurst is likely to miss the rest of the season after sustaining cruciate knee ligament damage.

Luke James is in line to make his second debut for Hartlepool after rejoining the club on loan from Peterborough United, while fellow Deadline Day signing Josh Laurent is also in contention this weekend.

Captain Billy Paynter came off the bench against Exeter City and pressed his claims for a starting spot by scoring for a second game in succession for the reserves on Monday.

Carl Magnay also featured as a substitute in Saturday’s game at Victoria Park and he will now be considered for a start after shaking off a troublesome groin injury.

Matthew Bates missed out on the game against Exeter after further problems with his toe but could be fit to face the Magpies.

Michael Duckworth underwent a scan on his injured stomach earlier this week which proved inconclusive so the full-back continues to receive treatment and won’t feature.

Harry Worley is closing in on a return to fitness after completing his rehabilitation following an ankle operation but this Saturday’s game will come too soon for the centre-back.

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