Lee Clark has been appointed head coach at Hartlepool United, moving back into the dugout at the National League club after leaving Rotherham United at the start of the month. The 53-year-old succeeds Nicky Featherstone, and Hartlepool have also confirmed that Gary Liddle will remain on the first-team coaching staff while Chris Beech takes charge as head of recruitment.

Clark said he was “incredibly proud” to be given the chance to lead Hartlepool, describing the club as one with a strong identity, passionate supporters and a real connection to its town. He said his focus would be on building a team that reflects “energy, honesty and work ethic” and one that “competes with intensity, plays with purpose and understands the responsibility” of representing the club.

The appointment ends a short spell away from work for Clark, who left Rotherham after failing to agree terms on an extension to his two-month stay at the relegated League One side. Before that, he had built a long career across the game, making more than 500 senior appearances in the Premier League for Newcastle United, Sunderland and Fulham and later moving into management and coaching.

Clark has previously managed Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City, and has also coached Blackpool, Kilmarnock and Bury. His career has taken him beyond England too, with spells in Scotland, Sudan and Oman. That experience was a central part of Hartlepool’s thinking, according to owner and chairman Landon Smith, who said the appointments were “crucial” for the club and added that Clark brings high-level managerial and coaching experience as well as a strong understanding of what football in the North East represents.

The move also shows how seriously Hartlepool are treating the rebuild around their new head coach. Smith’s comments point to a club looking for more than a quick fix, with the addition of Beech in recruitment and the retention of Liddle giving Clark a staff structure already in place as he prepares for his first weeks in charge. For Hartlepool, the judgment now is whether that experience can translate quickly enough to shape a side that fits the club’s expectations on the pitch.