Harrogate Town A.F.C.

Harrogate Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in the spa town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The club will compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football from the 2020–21 season after winning the 2019–20 National League play-offs.

Harrogate Town
Full nameHarrogate Town Association Football Club
Nickname(s)Town, Sulphurites
Founded1914 (1914) (as Harrogate AFC)

1919 (1919) (as Harrogate Town AFC)

1935 (1935) (as Harrogate Hotspurs; renamed Harrogate Town after WW2)
GroundWetherby Road
Capacity3,800 (500 seated)
ChairmanIrving Weaver
ManagerSimon Weaver
LeagueLeague Two
2019–20National League, 2nd of 24 (promoted via play-offs)
WebsiteClub website

Formed in 1914, the club is nicknamed "Town" and also the "Sulphurites", due to Harrogate's famous sulphur springs. The club's colours are black and yellow and they play their home games at Wetherby Road (for a short period at the start of the 2020–21 season, the club will groundshare at Doncaster Rovers' Keepmoat Stadium).

History

People in the town of Harrogate had tried to put together a football team as far back as 1907 but it took until 1914 for Harrogate A.F.C. to be founded. They were entered into the Northern Football League in 1914, and were set to play their home fixtures at the County Ground, but the First World War meant all fixtures were postponed.

After the First World War, Robert Ackrill Breare instigated a meeting to discuss putting the club back together. Breare later became the secretary of the club, which entered into the West Riding County Amateur Football League.

Early years

Harrogate played their first competitive fixture on 30 August 1919 at Starbeck Lane Ground against Horsforth. They won the game 1–0 and the scorer was L. Craven with a headed goal. They were entered into the FA Cup the same year, losing to South Kirkby Colliery 4–0 in a 1Q replay. Harrogate also won their first trophy, the Whitworth Cup, with a 4–0 victory against Ripon City.

For the 1920–21 season they were one of the founding teams in the new Yorkshire League, yet they also continued to field a team in the West Riding County Amateur Football League. The club had relocated to a new ground: Wetherby Road. Around the holiday periods, they took part in friendlies against higher league opposition including Liverpool at their Anfield ground, and another at fellow Yorkshire side Sheffield United in front of 15,000 fans.

They moved league once again for their third season, leaving the West Riding League and moving into the Midland Football League. It included the reserve teams of Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley. The club remained in the Yorkshire League, fielding a reserve team. However, the club resigned from the Midland's league after only one season and reverting to fielding a first team in the Yorkshire League. The West Riding County Challenge Cup was won by Harrogate in 1925, with their 3–1 victory against Fryston Colliery at Elland Road.

League victory was secured in 1926–27, as Harrogate became the Yorkshire League champions, with Bob Morphet scoring 44 goals. The club then moved into the Northern Football League. Their second West Riding County Challenge Cup was won the same season against Selby Town. The team disbanded in 1932.

Climbing the pyramid

The town's club was brought back in 1935 as Harrogate Hotspurs. After the Second World War, the club was renamed as Harrogate Town and played in the West Yorkshire Association Football League. Harrogate Town joined the Yorkshire League again in 1957. They spent many years in the Yorkshire Leagues during the 1960s and 1970s, and then became a founding member of the new Northern Counties East Football League in 1982. The club was looking to climb the newly instated football pyramid and so began to improve their ground, installing Floodlights. They played a friendly to mark the occasion against Leeds United, with Eddie Gray being the first to switch the lights on.

After a West Riding County Cup win in 1986, and five seasons in the Northern Counties East League, they became founding members of the Northern Premier League in 1987–88, after having been invited to join the new league. In 1990 the club became a limited company to fund construction of a new main stand, and in the same year the club won the Northern Premier League First Division Cup. They spent 15 seasons in this league, twice narrowly avoiding relegation back to the Northern Counties East League. However, they won promotion to the Premier Division in 2001–02 after finishing as champions. During their first season in that division they finished sixth, and for the first time in the club's history they reached the first round of the FA Cup, losing 5–1 to Farnborough Town of the Football Conference. Town also won the West Riding County Cup in both the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons.

Conference North
Harrogate Town take on Halifax Town at the Shay in 2016.

After finishing fifth in the Premier Division in 2003–04, the club became founders of the newly established Conference North in 2004. During their FA Cup run in the 2005–06 season, Harrogate were drawn to play at Torquay United, their first cup game against Football League opposition. After drawing 1–1 at Plainmoor, they lost 6–5 on penalties after a 0–0 draw in the replay.[1] At the end of the season the club finished fifth and qualified for the promotion play-offs, but lost 1–0 to eventual winners Stafford Rangers.

At the end of the 2009–10 season the club finished bottom of the Conference North and were due to be relegated. However, after Northwich Victoria were demoted due to financial problems, the club were reprieved.[2]

Before the start of the 2011–12 season, Bill Fotherby handed control of the club to Irving Weaver, father of manager Simon Weaver. Tad Nowakowski, father of player Adam, also joined the board to help improve community links. The 2011–12 season ended in a relegation dogfight, Harrogate saved on the last day thanks to a 5–0 away win at Corby Town.

The 2012–13 season saw the team's best run in the FA Cup. On 3 November 2012 they beat League Two team Torquay United 1–0 to go beyond the first round for the first time.[3] Against Hastings United in the second round, they drew 1–1 at Wetherby Road, and the replay at Hastings also finished 1–1, due to a late goal from Harrogate's Tom Platt. However, Town lost 5–4 on penalties.

After a good start placing them in the top five at the beginning of the 2016–17 season, the team went on a long run of bad form. As a result, Weaver and other club officials decided that the players at the end of the season should be given full-time contracts to improve chances of promotion. Near the end of the 2016–17 season, the club announced that they would be going full-time the following season. Many players left the club following the club's change to professionalism, and the club signed multiple midfielders and defenders before their pre-season home match against Leeds United. They began training as a full-time club on 3 July 2017.

On 13 May 2018, they won the National League North play-offs for the 2017–18 season beating Brackley Town in the play-off final earning promotion to the National League.[4]

National League

The club finished sixth in their 2018–19 National League campaign, qualifying for the play-offs. They were beaten 3–1 by AFC Fylde in a play-off eliminator.[5]

Football League promotion

As the 2019–20 National League season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, table positions were determined on average points-per-game, of which Harrogate Town had 1.78, placing them second and meaning they again qualified for the play-offs, this time in the semi-finals. In the semi-final, they beat Boreham Wood 1–0. On 2 August 2020, at Wembley Stadium, the club faced Notts County in the final and won 3–1, earning promotion to the English Football League for the first time in their history.[6]

League history

Ground
Wetherby Road during a match against Bradford Park Avenue in January 2014.

The club own and play at Wetherby Road, also known as the CNG Stadium for sponsorship purposes. Opened on 28 August 1920, it has a capacity of 5,000 of which 1,000 is seated.[7] The ground is situated on the A661 Wetherby Road adjacent to Harrogate District Hospital. It has covered accommodation on all four sides, as well as a hospitality lounge in the south-east corner. The club shop and a function room called the 1919 Venue are on the south side. Harrogate Town's academy also play most of their home games at Wetherby Road.

Temporary groundshare

On promotion to the Football League, in August 2020, the club confirmed that, in order to comply with the League's regulations, they would replace Wetherby Road's synthetic pitch with a grass one. This would not be complete by the time that the 2020–21 season is due to start, and the club have arranged a temporary groundshare at Doncaster Rovers' Keepmoat Stadium, scheduled to last about one month.[8]

Current squad
As of 13 August 2020[9][10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  ENG James Belshaw
2 DF  ENG Ryan Fallowfield
4 MF  ENG Josh Falkingham
6 DF  ENG Warren Burrell
7 MF  ENG George Thomson
8 MF  ENG Jack Emmett
9 FW  SCO Mark Beck
13 GK  ENG Joe Cracknell
14 MF  ENG Brendan Kiernan
16 FW  ENG Jon Stead
17 MF  ENG Lloyd Kerry
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 FW  ENG Jack Muldoon
19 DF  ENG Toby Lees
20 DF  ENG Connor Hall
21 MF  ENG Scott Brown
22 DF  ENG Will Smith
24 MF  ENG Liam Agnew
— MF  ENG Connor Kirby
— DF  ENG Jake Lawlor
— MF  ENG Tom Walker
— DF  ENG Kevin Lokko

Current staff

Board of Directors
  • Chairman: Irving Weaver
  • Vice-chairman: Howard Matthews
  • Managing Director: Garry Plant
  • Associate director: Richard Crabb
  • Commercial director: Ged Maloney
  • Events director: Angus Taylor

Other staff
  • Club Secretary: Ben Sadler
  • Life President: George Dunnington
  • Vice-president 1: David Batty
  • Vice-president 2: Clive Dunnington
  • Match Secretary: John Harrison
  • Groundsmen: Jim Hague, Geoff Butler, John Fell, Iain Bullock
  • Club Photographer: Matt Kirkham
  • Media Manager: Hal Boxhall-Dockree

Coaches
  • Manager: Simon Weaver
  • Assistant Manager: Paul Thirlwell
  • Coach: Lee Barraclough
  • Physio: Rachel Davis
  • Sport psychology: Phil Lee
  • Academy U21s manager: Josh Falkingham
  • Academy U17s manager: Josh Walsh
  • Academy secretary: Dave Riley
  • Academy Physio: Rachel Davis
  • Club scout: Lee Barraclough

Honours
  • National League
    • Play-off Final winners 2019–20
  • National League North
    • Play-off Final winners 2017–18
  • Northern Premier League
    • Division One champions 2001–02
    • Division One Cup winners 1989–90
  • Yorkshire League
    • Champions 1926–27
    • Division Two champions 1981–82
  • West Riding County Challenge Cup
    • Winners 1925–26, 1926–27, 1962–63, 1972–73, 1985–86, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2007–08
  • Whitworth Cup
    • Winners 1919–20

Records
  • FA Cup best performance: second round proper replay (2012–13)
  • FA Trophy best performance: Semi-finals (2019–2020)
  • FA Vase best performance: fourth round (1989–90)

References
  1. Harrogate 0–0 Torquay (aet) BBC Sport
  2. Harrogate Town reprieved from relegation – BBC Sport Website
  3. BBC Sport – Torquay 0–1 Harrogate Town
  4. "Harrogate Town win play-off final". Stray FM. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  5. "AFC Fylde 3–1 Harrogate Town". BBC Sport. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  6. "National League promotion final: Harrogate Town beat Notts County 3–1 to secure place in League Two". BBC Sport. 2 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  7. "Harrogate Town : Wetherby Road". Archived from the original on 31 July 2012.
  8. "Harrogate Town: Doncaster Rovers groundshare for EFL newcomers". BBC Sport. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  9. "First Team". Harrogate Town A.F.C. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  10. "2019/20 squad numbers announced". Harrogate Town A.F.C. Retrieved 7 July 2019.

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