COURTESY of the ever-helpful Sarah Rowntree, Retail & Ticket Office Manager at Hartlepool United, I have been put in touch with a gentleman by the name of Steve Hogg, who wants to find out more about his grandfather John (Jack) Hogg.
According to research Steve has carried out, his grandfather was born in Sunderland in 1881 and joined Hartlepools in 1909 – once scoring nine goals in a 12-0 thrashing of Workington in 1910. Apparently, John Hogg still holds the record for the most goals scored by a Pools player in a single game. (A North Eastern League fixture, incidentally.)
I say “apparently”, not to cast aspersions on that tremendous goalscoring achievement, but simply because I am, to be honest, somewhat out of my depth here. I am therefore appealing to readers who may be able to shed light on Steve’s search for information. Please let the Editor know if you can, so that together we can assist Steve with his query. (By the way, another of Steve’s family, Billy Hogg, played for the Scottish League and was capped by Scotland.)
As part of Steve’s research, he sent me a photo of a medal his grandfather won, and he would appreciate any information Poolies might be able to provide in terms of further details. (The medal is pictured here, so if you do know anything about it, please drop the Editor a line.)
I realise this is going back over the years, but I have great faith in the Poolie generational network to be able to investigate and (possibly!) come up with the goods. It would be really great if Poolies of 2026 could link up, as it were, with one of our own from 1909. One town. One club. One history. I’ll be sure to let you know the outcome.
Stephen Poxon lives in Hertfordshire but travels to see Pools play as often as possible. A member of the Hartlepool United Supporters’ Trust, he is the author of “Poolies at Heart – Celebrating Hartlepool United’s Finest.”
Author: Stephen
Author of Poxon's Pools