HE didn't know it at the time, but for Graeme Lee a text from former Hartlepool United teammate Tommy Miller earlier this month turned out to be an indicator of what was just around the corner.

Former Pools boss Lee was heading to the Riverside Stadium on the final day of the Championship season to watch Boro play Coventry when he received a message from Miller who'd heard he was getting the Marske United manager job.

Lee knew nothing of it at the time but sure enough within 24 hours the Seasiders had reached out and after positive discussions over the past couple of weeks, the 44-year-old Teessider has been named as new manager, replacing Carl Jarrett, who returned to Mount Pleasant on a short-term deal at the back end of the season and superbly led Marske to Northern Premier League Premier Division safety.

It's an eye-catching and impressive appointment. Lee was most recently in charge of Hartlepool, where he was harshly sacked despite leading Pools to League Two safety, the fourth round of the FA Cup and semi-finals of the Papa John's Trophy, and before that he was the well respected boss of Middlesbrough's Under-23s.

But the Marske job "felt right", says Lee. He's had plenty of offers since his Pools exit 12 months ago but priority number one is his family. In 2019, Lee's wife Gemma was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and last year he lost his dad Tony, a stalwart and legend of the local non-league scene.

"I've been out of the game a little while and you have time to sit back and reflect," Lee tells the Northern Echo after his Marske appointment was confirmed.

"But I've also had quality time with my family.

"We've had four years of what Gemma has gone through. It's continuous, it doesn't go away. The most important thing for me is my family and me being here. I've had good opportunities to go into the professional game, but it would be six days a week, five hour round trips. It just doesn't suit me, even if you think what an opportunity that would be. I don't think like that, my family is number one.

"And the conversations I had with Marske, it just felt right. It's an opportunity I'm very excited about."

A year on from his Hartlepool exit, Lee takes absolutely no pleasure whatsoever in the plight of his former side. Indeed, he says he still has "sleepless nights" thinking about what he could have achieved had he been given the chance.

He was sacked just two days before the final game of the 2021/22 season despite guiding Pools to safety after taking charge in the middle of the campaign following the departure of Dave Challinor. He led Hartlepool to an FA Cup fourth round tie away at Crystal Palace and his side came within a penalty shootout of reaching the Papa John's Trophy final.

"I still have sleepless nights looking back," said Lee.

"This season was just so hard to watch. I just hoped they'd stay up somehow. You're desperate for them not to go down after how hard they worked to get up in the first place.

"I look back and think of the plans and preparation we had for the summer. I had many conversations and very good players lined up to join, players who have gone to other clubs and achieved promotion out of that league. They were ready to come.

"It was frustrating, the team I had I was excited for pre-season ready to build on what we'd achieved. Unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity. It's a club and a fanbase that shouldn't have gone through what they've gone through. They should have been challenging at the top end of the table."

Despite the way it worked out for Lee at the Suit Direct Stadium, he has absolutely no regrets about leaving his role as boss of Middlesbrough's Under-23s to join Pools at the end of 2021.

He says: "Many people have said to me I had a good job at Middlesbrough, do I regret leaving? The answer is no I wouldn't change it for anything. I had the opportunity to manage a club that I'm very fond of and I wouldn't change that.

"I had some unbelievable times. It hurt me and sometimes I look back and think there are things I would change but in general, the job we did, I was happy enough and we'd done lots of planning behind the scenes that would take us forward."

Looking forward now, Lee is excited about the challenge at Marske.

He says: "The club just stayed up two games before the end of the season last season. Carl went back in with Ian Clark, who I'm keeping alongside me as assistant, and they did a fantastic job. I can hopefully build on that.

"We just want to make something we can build on each year and at some point try to achieve promotion, but it's not as though we have to do it year one, it's about building something we can all be part of and the fans can be proud of.

"The club has achieved great things already, I just want to build on that."