CONCORD striker Tony Stokes is being lined up for a summer move to League One Hartlepool.

The 24-year-old from Canvey scored 25 goals for the Beachboys last season, and will go for a week-trial at Victoria Park on July 17.

He was approached by a Hartlepool scout after Concord's Ryman Premier league match at Margate in March, in which he scored and turned in a man-of-the-match performance in a 2-1 win.

Stokes, speaking to the Echo while on holiday in Gran Canaria, said: “Their chief scout called me a couple of weeks ago and said they had two or three games they want me to play in.

“It would mean a lot to me to get back into the professional game because my football career was dead in the water after I came back from Hungary. I hated football at that point.

“But Concord made me start enjoying the game again and I owe a lot to Ant Smith and Danny Cowley and everyone at the club.

“And if I can't get back into pro football then I definitely want to stay with Concord. I don't want to play in the Conference, or any teams above us in our division, because I love playing for Concord.”

If Stokes is successful he would be the second player to move from Concord to a league club in as many seasons, following Lyle Taylor’s switch to League One Bournemouth last summer.

Concord chairman Anthony Smith said: “We would be sad to lose him, but it would be a very proud moment for us if we could help another player move into the professional game.

“He fully deserves the opportunity and everyone at the club is fully behind him.”

Hartlepool are managed by Mick Wadsworth and finished in mid-table in League One last season.

Stokes was linked with a move to Pools last summer after he returned from a spell with Hungarian giants, Újpest FC.

But he instead returned from eastern Europe to play for his hometown club, and was a key part of the Concord side which went close to reaching the play-offs in their Ryman Premier debut season.

Stokes started his career with West Ham and came through their vaunted youth academy.

He captained the Hammers’ reserve team but found first-team opportunities limited behind the likes of Noble, and current Premier League Football Writers’ Player of the Year, Scott Parker.