Stockport County’s battle with Jeff Stelling and Hartlepool United was a pivotal moment for both clubs: View | OneFootball

Stockport County's battle with Hartlepool United and Jeff Stelling for the services of Dave Challinor in 2021 set the two clubs on two completely different paths.

The Hatters had just relieved former boss Simon Rusk of his duties at Edgeley Park and were looking for the right coach to lift them out of the National League.

Challinor, then Pools' boss, had a recent track record of success in the division and quickly became the top target, much to the dismay of Hartlepool club president Stelling.

The former Sky Sports presenter took to Twitter to express his confidence in retaining the manager, but just days later Challinor would be on his way to Stockport, with both clubs about to embark on very different journeys.

The Hatters made their first managerial appointment under new owner Mark Stott in January 2021, having let go of legendary former player and manager Jim Gannon before bringing in the relatively untested Simon Rusk.

It was Rusk's first senior appointment to the hot seat, his previous experience coming as boss of Brighton & Hove Albion U23s, and by October of the same year it had become clear that it was an experiment gone wrong.

The National League, with just one automatic and one play-off promotion place, was a difficult beast to navigate. Rusk's stint at the club made it clear that experience was necessary if the Hatters were going to regain their distant former Football League status.

High on the list of candidates was Challinor; the man who had denied County's ascent to League Two the previous season, via the play-off semi-final held in front of a reduced Edgeley Park crowd, and had gone on to win the final, taking Hartlepool into the higher division.

Poaching a manager who seemed to be going from strength to strength at Victoria Park in the league above looked like a tall order for the Hatters, not least to Stelling, but it would prove to be a real signal of intent at Edgeley Park.

Stelling was confident, but the move worked for Challinor

The former Soccer Saturday host was so confident that the former Hartlepool boss was staying, he put out a now-infamous tweet claiming that the move was never going to happen.

Stelling was so fond of the job the Pools boss was doing that he even named one of his cats after him.

But, much like his feline namesake, Challinor decided his own destiny, upped sticks and relocated.

It was a signal that County were to become a serious contender following Stott's takeover and could no longer be batted off as a spent non-league force.

Stelling was gracious when the news broke, tweeting: "Let’s not sugar coat this , DC leaving is terrible for our club. But he IS man who made us live the dream of returning to EFL. He has been made an offer that no one would turn down. Let’s remember him as one of the best managers in our history and wish him well ."

There is a hint in those words that Stelling may have believed the contract and financial package on offer was too good to refuse, which may well be true, but SK3 is also far closer to Chester-born Challinor's roots and, as was on show in the years that followed, the project at Edgeley Park and the signings the club could bring in was also likely an attraction.

That's before mentioning the fact that he was returning to a club that he had previously represented as a player for two years and captained.

As Challinor said : “The chance to return to County and help make club history was too good an opportunity to miss."

His departure has seen the clubs move in opposite directions

That the 48-year-old would honour his words and make County history was confirmed a matter of months after his appointment, steering the club back in the right direction after his November appointment and going on to lift the National League title at the first time of asking, returning the club to the Football League after 11 years of turmoil in non-league.

His journey with the Hatters does not look done there, as he battles in the upper reaches of League Two for a chance to take the club into the third tier.

The same cannot be said of the team he left behind, Hartlepool.

They survived their first season without Challinor, finishing 17th and booking their place in the fourth tier for 2022/23, but, amid ownership tensions, the Monkey Hangers would drop back into the National League the following season and fail to make much of an impression on the non-league division on their return.

That both clubs have experienced some of their highest points and gained some of their most precious memories under Challinor is no coincidence, as his guidance has been a big factor in their fortunes.

Managing to lure Challinor away from Victoria Park, despite Stelling's best efforts, will go down as a pivotal moment for both clubs and be held in a very different regard in the future, depending on which set of fans you ask.