Goalkeeper Mark Prudhoe enjoyed two loan spells at Pools in the 1980s. Mick Docherty brought him in for 3 games in 1983 and he returned 4 years later to play 13 games under John Bird. He played the biggest chunk of his 350 career league games for arch-rivals Darlington where he spent four seasons from 1989, although a cruel Poolie would claim he began his Darlington career two years earlier when he kept goal in a 2-5 derby defeat at the Vic.Prudhoe went on to enjoy a post-playing career as a goalkeeping coach. He was employed in this capacity by Pools as well as Darlington, Stockport, Doncaster, Macclesfield and Bradford City, where he also had a spell as reserve team manager.