Stanley’s second home game this week sees Hartlepool United make the trip to the Store First Stadium.
As kick off approaches, the official website takes a look at all the things you need to know.
History
Hartlepool United were formed as a professional football club in 1908, with the club joining the newly created Third Division North in 1921.
The first half of the twentieth century saw a quiet period for Hartlepool, before the club were placed into the newly formed Fourth Division after the 1958/59 season.
In 1965 the club appointed Brian Clough as their manager. Clough then brought in Peter Taylor from Burton Albion to assist him. Clough and Taylor started to build a successful team at Hartlepool, before moving on to Derby County in 1967.
In 1968 the club gained their first ever promotion, after a 2-0 victory at Swansea. However, after just one season out of the Fourth Division, the club are relegated, falling two points short of safety.
The following 20 years saw the club struggling to avoid re-election and then relegation when it was introduced, before Hartlepool finally achieved their second ever promotion in the 1990/91 season. A 3-1 victory over Northampton Town was enough to secure promotion, with the club finishing in third place in the table.
In the 1993/94 season the club were relegated back to the bottom tier, now known as Division Three, before the club is promoted back to Division Two in the 2002/03 season.
In 2005 the club reached the play-off final at The Millennium Stadium, with Sheffield Wednesday winning 4-2 after extra time, denying Hartlepool the chance of promotion to the Championship. In 2006 the club was then relegated to League Two, but made an instant return to League One after winning automatic promotion. The club were then relegated back to League Two at the end of last season.
Colin Cooper
Former England international Cooper is in his first full time managerial position, taking over at the club this summer. He has previous experience as a caretaker manager at Middlesbrough and Bradford City, however he only managed two matches and one match respectively.
The 46 year old former defender had a successful playing career, making over 600 appearances for Middlesbrough, Milwall, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland.
Luke James
James is in red hot goal-scoring form this season having netted 13 times already during this campaign.
The Amble-born teenager signed a professional contract with the Club when he turned 17 in November 2011 and is rated very highly by the Pools hierarchy.
Blessed with plenty of pace and determination, he has continued to develop since bursting on to the scene and although injuries have frustrated him, he was named as the Football League’s League One Apprentice of the Year for 2012/13.
The sides have met on 68 previous occasions, with Hartlepool holding the advantage with 34 wins to Stanley’s 22.
The Reds are without a win in the last four meetings between the sides and last beat United in February 1961.
Colin Cooper’s side won 2-1 at Victoria Park in September, with Jonathan Franks and Andy Monkhouse on target. James Gray replied for the Reds.
Stanley picked up their first home win of 2014 against Chesterfield on Saturday and are looking for back-to-back victories at the Store First Stadium for the first time since November.
The Reds are 22nd in the League Two table but are within three points of 12th position and have a six point cushion over Northampton in 23rd.
Hartlepool’s recent form has been mixed, with Colin Cooper’s side having won two, lost two and drawn one of their last five.
They sit in tenth spot in League Two, five points outside the play-off places.
Stanley will hope to welcome back a number of players who missed the weekend win over the Spireites for the game.
Midfielder Piero Mingoia is back in contention following a shoulder injury and Kal Naismith and Shay McCartan have both recovered from illness.
Peter Murphy serves a one match ban following his red card at the weekend and Nicky Hunt serves the second of his two match suspension.
Hartlepool are without injured right backs Neil Austin and Michael Duckworth but have no new injury or suspension concerns.
Stanley Top Scorers
Peter Murphy 9
Kal Naismith 8
Kayode Odejayi 5
James Gray 4
Lee Molyneux 4
Danny Webber 3
George Bowerman 3
Hartlepool Top Scorers
Luke James 13
Andy Monkhouse 5
Jonathan Franks 4
Jack Barmby 3
Jack Compton 3
James Poole 3
The Man in the Middle
David Coote (Nottinghamshire)
So Far This Season: 28 games, 86 yellow cards, three reds
Last Stanley Game: 12/04/2013 – ASFC 2 Morecambe 0
