In the 2022–23 FA Cup, Hartlepool were eliminated in the third round, losing to Championship side Stoke City.

Hartlepool won one of eleven games, resulting in the sacking of Graeme Lee before the final match of the season.

[5] In June 2022, Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley was appointed as his replacement with Gordon Young as his assistant.

New manager Paul Hartley signed 17 new players, many of whom had played in the lower Scottish divisions including: Euan Murray, Brody Paterson, Jake Hastie, Jack Hamilton, Mouhamed Niang, Reghan Tumilty and Kyle Letheren.

[7] On 2 July, Pools' pre-season fixture with St Mirren was cancelled with the club saying: "we felt that it was more beneficial to spend an uninterrupted week of training at Maiden Castle focusing on building the squad and integrating new players into the pre-season camp without the added fixture in Scotland".

The new man won two promotions in three years managing Cove Rangers, but whether his numerous imports from north of the border will thrive remains to be seen.

[10] Writing in The Sportsman, Simon Lillicrap predicted a 17th-place finish for Hartlepool, adding that "losing two key men to teams in the same division is hardly ideal preparation for a new campaign, while a lack of squad depth meant they even had to cancel a pre-season friendly.

But things have improved since then and Paul Hartley has brought in Jake Hastie and Jack Hamilton, which should be enough to keep them comfortably away from danger.

[12] A day later, the club announced their opening two matches for the pre-season schedule, against Billingham Synthonia and Marske United.

[25] The Northern Echo reported that the sacking was due to a combination of poor results and tensions between Hartley and other club staff.

[29] This ended a winless streak of 21 league games dating back to March 2022 during the previous season.

[31] On 22 February, Curle was sacked as Hartlepool manager following a late defeat to Newport County which had left Pools in 22nd-place by one point but having played four more matches than Crawley Town.

[35] With Hartlepool remaining within touching distance of safety, Pools faced direct relegation rivals Crawley Town at home in the third last match of the season.

[42] With Hartlepool due to play at home to Doncaster Rovers on 10 September 2022, the match was postponed and rearranged for 4 October 2022.