Dave Challinor says he’s aspired to become a Football League manager since he began his first job in the dugout 10 years ago.

Challinor takes his Hartlepool United side to the National League play-off final on Sunday as they battle Torquay United for a place in League Two at Ashton Gate.

The 45-year-old has previously managed Colewyn Bay and AFC Fylde before taking over the reigns at Pools in November 2019.

17 months on, he finds himself 90 minutes away from making that dream a reality.

“It would mean everything” says Challinor.

“We all want to do it for the fans and the clubs but personally you want as many promotions as you can on your CV.

“My aim since I started managing as player/manager in 2011 at Colewyn Bay was be a Football League manager.

“I’ve not had the honour to be able to do that I want to make sure that I can class myself as that by winning on Sunday, as do all the players.

“We speak about being here and the pinnacle and aspiring to be better and by five o’clock, whenever it might be, on Sunday, we’ll be able to potentially say that they are Football League players which is something that is huge for them personally and huge for us as a group but most importantly, massive for the football club to get back to where it should be.”

Fans have been queuing up outside the stadium overnight for the passed week to get their hands on a ticket for the game.

“The fans who support the club go above and beyond.

“You know when you get to a final in what’s potentially the biggest game of the season in the club’s history for a long time that when there is potentially 3,000 tickets and probably 20,000 people want them tickets, there’s always going to be a scramble to try and get one.

“It almost becomes the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory kind of thing.

“What we’ve got to do is appreciate the 3,000 plus that are in there but recognise those 3,000 are carrying the hopes of another 20,000 back in the town watching the game of the TV and we’ve got to do ourselves justice and do them justice which I’m sure we can.”

Torquay United are unbeaten in their last 14 games including their play-off semi final victory over Notts County last weekend.

Both sides have one victory over the other. Torquay beat Pools 5-0 at Victoria Park back in October with Pools returning the favour with a 1-0 win at Plainmoor in March.

“There are things form both the games they’ll take pleasure in the fact that they beat us here and we’ll do the same but they won’t have a bearing on the game” admitted Challinor. 

“We know it’s a tough game. We go there in the play-offs, regardless of your opposition are, you’re going completely into the unknown and the unexpected and that will be the case on Sunday.

“We have an idea of what squad they’ve got but unsure as to how they’ll set up. They’ve done different things over the last month.

“We’ve got to prepare for every eventuality as we have done and then trust in the players to be able to go out and adapt and select he relevant information that they’ve been given over the course of the week and put that into plan. “Hopefully that will do enough to get us a win.”