WITH the exception of Steven Gerrard, Ritchie Humphreys is the only footballer to have been honoured by the Queen this year. Not even that, however, could disguise the disappointment of missing out on the League Two title.

The 29-year-old, wearing the captain's armband with Micky Barron sat on the bench, was not exactly in tears but he cut a disconsolate figure in the middle of the Victoria Park surface on Saturday. If he had, though, few could have blamed him.

Humphreys, as the whole of Hartlepool know, is a man with the club at heart. He may not have been born and bred in the North-East coastal town but the Yorkshireman's six years there have made him fall in love with the club.

That is why the former Sheffield Wednesday man, after making his 307th appearance for Pool, could not hide his frustration after failing to deliver the first piece of silverware in Hartlepool's history.

The left-back's run of 224th consecutive appearances for the club, before being moved out on loan to Port Vale earlier this season, heralded a meeting with Her Majesty, for making 'a significant contribution to local and national life'.

The honour, though, could and should have been capped off with the League Two trophy.

However, Pools' defeat to Bristol Rovers coupled with Walsall's draw at Swindon, means Humphreys' dream remains unfilled.

Nevertheless, given Hartlepool are celebrating finishing runners-up just 12 months after the depression of relegation from League One, Humphreys is understandably trying to remain upbeat.

"When I first came to the club I never thought I would have six seasons with five successes," he said. "The getting promoted out of the division the first time in 2003 was memorable, as was getting through to the play-off final in 2005.

"We could have been in the Championship that year and that would have been incredible. I am delighted to have had all of those highs but, once again, it's great to be part of another promotion here."

Saturday's failure to complete the job and finish ahead of Walsall smacked of the atmosphere when they ended up behind Rushden & Diamonds in 2003, just two years after Humphreys was signed by Chris Turner.

And the experienced and honest professional admitted: "We got the champagne out at Rushden, like we did on Saturday, and it's a weird feeling because you know you have been promoted and you know you have worked so hard all season to get that automatic spot.

"But we are all winners, like in any sport, and we want to win, but hats off to Walsall.

"To come second is another achievement and I'm not trying to be too down in the dumps. We've bounced back at the first time of asking and I'm going to lighten up."

Despite his clear frustration at not being able to deliver the League Two trophy, Humphreys - who infamously broke down in tears when he missed the crucial sudden-death penalty kick in the play-offs with Cheltenham in 2002 - insists there is plenty to be positive about.

"It's been a tremendous turnaround by us all here," said Humphreys. "It's been mentioned many, many times before but the team spirit here is fantastic and is the reason why I wanted people to be dancing around with hats and flags on.

"It's just not happened. It doesn't feel right. We celebrated a little at Wycombe when we got promoted and we had to show our appreciation to the fans but we just couldn't sneak into that top spot.

"It's disappointing. We wanted the silverware, the club wanted it, the fans wanted it. We will just have to go for something next year. The main thing is that we are a League One club again, it's been won and lost again on the last day so we have got to be happy with that - even if I don't feel like that at the moment.

"To turn it around, we were in 16th or 18th position back in November so it is fantastic really."