Peter Beardsley arrived at Pools towards the end of a long and distinguished career. Beardsley`s dazzling skill, quick feet and creativity had been a feature of his time at Newcastle (twice), Liverpool and Everton. He won 59 England caps and was described by Gary Lineker as `the best partner I could ever have`. Beardsley made his debut for a struggling Pools against Cambridge United in January 1999. Although close to his 38th birthday, his star status was enough to put 1500 on the gate. True to form, Beardsley scored with a wonderful strike less than 20 minutes into that debut game. It wasn`t enough to earn three points and that was a familar story throughout Beardsley`s brief time at the club as Pools battled desperately against relegation from the Football League. Beardsley, though he struggled with the pace of the game at times, still played an important part in that successful relegation fight. His speed of thought and incisive passing created some vital goals on the rare occasions that the strikers were on the same wavelength. With relegation successfully avoided for another year Beardsley moved on, and shortly afterwards he called time on his playing career and accepted a job on the coaching staff at Newcastle United.