The Hartlepool Play-Off Final Letter Mystery

It's 2005, Hartlepool United head to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for the League One Play-Off final with Sheffield Wednesday, the biggest game in the club's history.

In front of nearly 60,000 fans Pools were just 8 minutes away from Championship football when Chris Westwood was sent off for a foul on Drew Talbot. Wednesday were awarded a penalty, and eventually won the game in extra time.

However, the story doesn't end there, the following Tuesday as the club re-opened its offices for the first time since the game and a mysterious letter was waiting.

The letter predicted that a dubious penalty would be awarded against the club during the final. HUFC Chairman Ken Hodcroft remembers the incident ''Under normal circumstances there might have been someone in on the Saturday morning to open it, but because everyone was on their way to Wales nobody was here.

''When they opened the mail on the Tuesday they found a letter with old-fashioned hand writing, copper-plate type writing, that somebody of the older generation would do.

''From memory it was addressed to Hartlepools United, West Hartlepool. Again that led us to believe that it must be somebody from the older generation. It was marked with a Tyneside postmark, the Friday before the Cardiff game.''

With the penalty decision still the talk of the town Hodcroft admitted he was shocked when he was informed of the mysterious delivery at Victoria Park.

''I can't remember the exact wording, but it was something like 'take care on Sunday in the final, a penalty will be awarded against you by the referee'. ''Whether Westwood made contact or not I don't know, personally I don't think he did. It was just straight pointing to the spot.

''We thought nothing of it, we didn't agree with it on the day. But then we got the letter on the Tuesday and it was all very concerning.''

After informing the police and the footballing authorities the letter was investigated ''The police came and looked into it, they did some DNA testing on the stamp, but couldn't figure it out.''

He says the letter is now probably ''in a police file somewhere'' and that the club have come to terms with the fact the person who sent the letter will never be known ''We were not trying to accuse anyone, blame anyone or even mention there was a conspiracy theory.

''I'm not saying there was any conspiracy, but it was strange we did get a letter about a penalty and there was a penalty eight minutes from time. It was just the circumstances.

''What we wanted was to try to find out who sent it. We weren't trying to get a match overturned, a replay or anything like that. We wanted to find out who this guy was and ask him. We could never find out.''

Quotes from Ken Hodcroft are taken from Saturday's edition of the Northern Echo.

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