Hartlepool receive a helping hand from the neighbours to stay afloat | Louise Taylor

Middlesbrough fans open pockets for hard-up National League club and hopes rise that a new owner may soon take over

Maybe David Cameron’s “big society” does exist after all? It certainly seems to be alive and kicking in Hartlepool. A genuine sense of community, connectivity and cooperation filled the frosty streets surrounding Victoria Park as 3pm approached on Saturday and a bumper crowd of almost 7,000 filed in to watch Hartlepool United face Wrexham in the National League.

Most purchased a special match programme. Designed by David Carless, a local art teacher, its front cover depicted a Middlesbrough footballer holding out a helping hand to a Hartlepool counterpart. The pair were set against an abstract impression of a mountain of fans also linking hands as they supported each other during an arduous climb to the summit. An inspiring, evocative, image, it harked back to 1986 when a then deeply indebted Middlesbrough staved off the threat of extinction, partly thanks to their near neighbours lending them Victoria Park.

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