A season-wrecking run of 20 games without a victory last campaign left the writing on the wall for the North Yorkshire outfit. Tallying just four home wins all season, the Sulphurites were agonisingly relegated by a single point on the final day of the 2025/26 League Two season along with AFC Barrow, the team they were promoted with into the Football League in 2020.
Flying from the National League North to League Two within the space of two years, Harrogate have only played a couple of seasons at this level. However, half a decade of placing between 13th and 19th in England’s fourth tier proves they are no pushovers.
History
The club were founded as Harrogate Hotspurs in 1919, spending the majority of the next century operating in regional leagues.
Fourteen years in the Conference/National League North to kick start the 21st century finally came to an end in 2018, after failed attempts to haul themselves out of Step Two via the play-offs in 2006 and 2016. The Town defeated Brackley Town 3-0 in the NLN play-off final and Notts County by a 3-1 scoreline in the 2019/20 NL play-off final.
The boys in black and yellow lifted the FA Trophy in 2021, a year after it was supposed to be held, making them the first EFL side to play in the competition.
Harrogate have also ramped up their efforts in the FA Cup, achieving joint best finishes by qualifying for the third round in 2021/22 and 2024/25, where they lost away ties at Luton Town and neighbours Leeds United.
Manager – Simon Weaver
Very few managers reach the 1000-game mark in their career full stop, let alone with the same club. Simon Weaver has become synonymous with Harrogate Town, having overseen a staggering 837 competitive games.
An awful lot has changed since the 21st May 2009, the day Weaver joined the club as a player-manager ahead of a testing season which saw Harrogate reprieved from relegation.
At 48 years of age, Weaver’s is still in his first role in management. His loyalty has been rewarded with continued backing, even after relegation out of the Football League. Irving Weaver, Simon’s father, is the owner and chairman of the club, taking the reins to join his son in North Yorkshire in 2011.
Captain – Warren Burrell
No player in the National League has been at their current club longer than Warren Burrell. The once-midfielder turned defender is the club’s record all-time appearance holder, eclipsing the 400-appearance mark over the last 10 years.
Beginning his journey with the Sulphurites at a similar time to Weaver himself, before returning in 2016, Burrell has been with Harrogate through thick and thin, and was rewarded with captaincy a year ago after Josh Falkingham left the club.
Previous Meetings
Worthing have not played Harrogate Town before this season.
Stadium
Wetherby Road, officially known as the Marcy Fitness Stadium for sponsorship reasons, has been Harrogate’s snug home since 1920.
Renovated on multiple occasions this century, with a fresh grass carpet installed upon their promotion to the Football League, it has a maximum capacity of 5,000 and held an average crowd of 3,054 last season.
The venue is located on the east side of Harrogate, adjacent to Wetherby Road, also known as the A661. It is conveniently located less than an hour from York, Leeds, and Bradford.
Distance from the Sussex Transport Community Stadium: 266 Miles
Originally published by Worthing FC ↗