Jeff Stelling is bracing himself for another white-knuckle ride in the Soccer Saturday hot-seat as his beloved Hartlepool dice with doom again.
Six years ago, the Monkey Hangers' president went through the gamut of emotions as Pools were relegated from the Football League in a dramatic finish on the last day of term.
Wearing his replica shirt beneath his waistcoat, club president Stelling was leaping out of his chair when Devante Rodney's late goal against promoted Doncaster appeared to have pulled off a great escape for Hartlepool. But Mark O'Brien's 91st-minute winner for Newport against Notts County turned the award-winning Sky Sports anchorman's joy to despair as studio panellist Matt Le Tissier relayed the grim news from Rodney Parade.
Pools will be on the brink of returning to the long grass if they lose at home to Crawley in the shoot-out between 91st and 90th at the Victoria Ground on Saturday. And bottom club Rochdale's 102-year run as a League club if Crawley win.
Stelling, 68, said: “I will try and behave with a bit more decorum in the studio this time, and try to stay tethered to my chair instead of jumping all over the place. But it's our biggest game since we beat Torquay in the play-off final to get back in the League two years ago.
“You always hope you are not going to end up in this position, but there's no getting away from it – we've had a catastrophic season with some diabolical decisions and now we're paying the price.
“As a fan, I don't feel quite as gloomy as I did a few years ago because that spell in the National League made me realise there is life outside the EFL – as long as you still have a club to support and it doesn't go the way of Bury or Macclesfield.
“But when our first National League fixtures came out, I was chatting to our manager, saying the first eight all looked winnable, and what a chance we had to make a statement by putting 20-odd points on the board. As it turned out we won only one, drew one and lost the other six.”
Stelling has still not lived down his journey from ecstasy to agony in 2017, admitting: “They were probably the longest few minutes of my life as a fan, and of course the enduring memory is of the gut-wrenching despair after it looked as if Hartlepool were going to spring the escape hatch.
“As ever, it's the hope that kills you. I'm absolutely desperate for us to beat Crawley, and it's not quite all over if we don't win, but if we lose it's probably curtains.
“I feel for Rodney, who scored our two goals against Doncaster that fateful day in 2017, because he's with Rochdale now and they are on the brink of dropping out of the League after more than a century. They are what I would call a 'proper' club – but it's hard to see them climbing back if they go down.”
