Hartlepool United heading in the right direction under Landon Smith

It's hard to remember the last time Pools fans were gearing up for another new season with quite the same level of excitement and expectation.

With one or two notable exceptions, Pools supporters have been generally starved of success over the last few years.

Since Pools came within a whisker of winning promotion to the Championship in the 2005 play-off final, the club have plummeted out of the Football League having been relegated four times, with promotions in 2007 and 2021 rare bright spots in an otherwise underwhelming two decades.