Colin West arrived at the club in 1999 as assistant to Chris Turner. Together the pair forged a successful partnership as Pools, who were battling against relegation to the Conference when they arrived, reached the Division Three playoffs in three successive seasons. During his first full season at the club, West was also registered as a player, and made two appearances for the first team at the age of 37. When Turner left the club to take over as manager of Sheffield Wednesday in November 2002, West briefly took charge of the first team on a caretaker basis. After a win and a draw, West left to resume his partnership with Turner, first at Hillsborough and later at Stockport County. In February 2009, with Turner back in charge at Pools on a caretaker basis, West left a position at Southend United to return to Pools as assistant coach and stayed in that post for 18 months. He would return once more in 2022 as assistant to Keith Curle during his brief tenure as Pools manager.