Former Hartlepool United manager Dave Jones has reignited his long-running feud with Jeff Stelling, saying he “wouldn’t p**s on him if he was on fire” — seven years after the Sky Sports presenter’s infamous on-air rant that called for his sacking.
Jones, now 69, endured a short and difficult tenure at Victoria Park after taking charge in January 2017 with Hartlepool battling to avoid relegation from the Football League for the first time in their history.
The former Cardiff City and Wolves boss won just four of his 18 games in charge and was dismissed in April, two days after Stelling — then the club’s honorary president — launched an impassioned plea on Soccer Saturday for him to resign.
“We’ve lost at home, we’re in the relegation places. This is not personal but Dave Jones, for god’s sake, for the good of the club walk now,” Stelling said live on air at the time.
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“Go now. If he won’t walk, sack him. If it means me resigning as president, I do so happily. Do it today.”
Hartlepool went on to be relegated that season regardless, dropping out of the Football League for the first time in 96 years.
Stelling later admitted he had gone too far, telling The Times that he regretted some of his wording, but it seems the apology did little to repair relations.
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Jeff Stelling is a huge fan of Hartlepool United
| GETTYSpeaking on the Under The Cosh podcast this week, Jones made clear he still holds a grudge.
“He reckons he’s a Hartlepool fan, that he had the club at his heart,” Jones said.
“When I went in, I probably tried to change things too quickly. Didn’t have the players to do it. Some of them could have done better.
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Watch Jeff Stelling asking Hartlepool manager Dave Jones to step down. pic.twitter.com/DRlBR1Y4ej
— Doolan⁹ (@Doolan9) April 22, 2017
“I don’t think Stelling understood that — he was acting like a fan.
“I’ve got no time for him. I wouldn’t p*** on him if he was on fire. I’d just walk away.
“I think it was totally wrong what he did.”
Jones said the comments were more about television drama than football as he continued his rant.
“It was all for show,” he added. “People I spoke to afterwards were really annoyed at him. They just thought it was a disgrace.
“He doesn’t mean anything to me. He’s got a show — but what’s the point in using it to criticise others?
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Dave Jones pictured during his time at Hartlepool United
|GETTY
“Put it this way, if we were in the desert and I drove past him, I wouldn’t pick him up.”
Stelling resigned as Hartlepool’s honorary president earlier this summer in protest at owner Raj Singh’s failure to sell the club.
Singh, who put Pools up for sale after their relegation to the National League, has faced fierce criticism from fans for not completing a takeover despite promising to do so by the end of the 2024–25 season.
Hartlepool currently sit ninth in the fifth tier as they attempt to climb back into the Football League.