Harrogate Town’s Wembley winners are set to be given the opportunity to test themselves in the English Football League according to manager Simon Weaver.
The North Yorkshire minnows eased to a 3-1 victory over promotion favourites Notts County in the Vanarama National League Promotion Final at the national stadium this afternoon. That result now means that Harrogate Town will play in the English Football League next season for the very first time in their history.
The 11 players which started this afternoon’s Vanarama National League Promotion Final had very little English Football League experience amongst them and while manager Weaver may want to bring in more experienced players in the close season, he has no plans to move any of his promotion-winners on. Speaking to The72 in the post-match press conference, Weaver explained that each of his players deserve their chance to serve the club in the English Football League.
“We have to realign ourselves and have a good go, that’s what we did when we won National League North” said Weaver.
“The lads have earnt their stripes enough to have a go at the next level and I think with our culture of ‘never say die’, we could cause some problems.
“The power is in the changing room, they’re a driving force and if they thought we were going to get rid of them for the next level, we wouldn’t have that performance out there.”
When manager Weaver took charge of Harrogate Town in 2009 the club were struggling in the sixth tier of English football. The following year they were given a reprieve from relegation while 12 months later, only a win on the final day of the season kept them up. At that time, it was almost unthinkable that the club would be entering the English Football League less than a decade on. Weaver admitted that winning promotion to Sky Bet League Two is an amazing feeling.
“It is unbelievable to hear those words (Harrogate Town in the Football League)” Weaver admitted. “It is a result of a lot of hard work behind the scenes and a lot of honesty on the pitch.
“It has been some journey but hopefully, this isn’t the end of it.
“We have had to go to the lows to get the highs and just keep learning.
“The club is a different entity now and hopefully people know a little bit more about Harrogate Town after today.”
Harrogate Town will need to transition into their new level of football quickly with the 2020/2021 Sky Bet League Two season set to start on 12 September.
