Josh is hoping his career can go full circle at Sulphurites
WITH an average home gate about a tenth of League Two neighbours Bradford, title-chasers Harrogate are punching well above their weight.
But don’t tell that to captain Josh Falkingham, who is eyeing a third promotion in five seasons.
The Leeds-born midfielder wants to play in League One – having been released 12 years ago before he could play a first-team game at Elland Road.
‘I always say if I could have made one appearance it would have been my dream,’ says the 31-year-old.
Instead, he spent six happy years in Scotland with St Johnstone, Arbroath and Dumfermline.
‘The first year up there, there were icicles bigger than me hanging off buildings,’ he jokes. ‘But people looked after me.’
Then, after returning to the north of England with Darlington, where he combined playing with a part-time job as a groundsman, he went full-time with National League North rivals Harrogate in 2017.
‘It fitted my ambition, I felt I could be playing a lot higher and that’s where the manager wanted to go,’ he says.
‘The players he got in were of the same mindset and we got off to an absolute flyer and we got promoted in the first year into the National League.’ It was the club’s highest ever position but nobody wanted to stop there.
Being a small club was an advantage as there was no massive fan pressure. ‘It gave the players the freedom to achieve anything we wanted,’ he says.
But he is still taken aback by the meteoric rise as the club entered the Football League for the first time at just the second attempt after beating Notts County at Wembley last year.
‘They were huge favourites. It was amazing,’ he adds. ‘Now we constantly want that – winning trophies, having that feeling after a final. It is addictive.
‘When you build a bit of momentum in football it is crazy the heights you can get to.’
And having finished mid-table in
their first EFL campaign, Harrogate have got off to a flying start ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Oldham.
Falkingham is grateful to have had a proper pre-season after winning an August play-off last year before beginning a new season a month later after minimal rest and prep.
‘We were buzzing to be in the league, flew into it and had an amazing start,’ Falkingham recalls. ‘We were thinking we didn’t need a break but when it started to hit us at around December,
and because we don’t have a large squad, then one or two injuries affected us massively.
‘It sapped the life out of us. We couldn’t find that intensity we had always built our foundation on.
‘That’s why we are not getting carried away now. We have had a better start than we ever imagined despite a Covid outburst which shut us down after the first game.’
The Sulphurites have managerial stability on their side with manager Simon Weaver, the son of the chairman, in the hot seat since 2009.
‘I’ve been at clubs where you go on a bad run and instantly players talk in the changing room,’ Falkingham says. ‘You see the press – they are going to get rid. That discussion never comes
up here. A lot of our success is down to that. As players if we have not been good enough we look at ourselves. I still work as hard as if it was day one.
‘You work your way to get out of it. You don’t point fingers.
‘It gives you stability and hopefully sustainability – there are clubs who find themselves in a good place and throw a lot of money at it but they find themselves going back.’
It is clear Falkingham has not taken his recent success for granted.
‘I thank the manager for giving me the opportunity to live my dream and constantly prove people wrong,’ he adds. ‘My dream is to get back to League One. I left Leeds when they were in League One. If I could go full circle it would be extra special.’