IT’S SHOWTIME!
Big match preview from today’s National League Promotion final at Wembley
MONTHS of rumours, weeks of running and then one day to make history – Harrogate Town are on the verge of greatness.
Town are a win away from reaching the Football League where the club has never been.
This is a season they will never forget as they make their Wembley debut this afternoon.
They may have little experience of the national stadium but manager Simon Weaver has been able to call upon someone who does.
As the semi-final week arrived, players and staff were called for a meeting first thing on Monday morning at Cedar Court hotel, not knowing what was to come. England manager Gareth Southgate, below, then walked into the room.
“It was a massive surprise,” captain Josh Falkingham told The NLP. “He was fantastic the way he spoke, how calm he was, only the third English manager to ever get to a semi-final of a World Cup.
“The biggest thing for me, and for everybody, was we felt we could relate, which is funny. He’s got the biggest job in the country yet we could relate to what he was talking about with football.”
Southgate, who lives in Harrogate and has become a contact of Weaver’s over recent years, spoke candidly and fielded questions for an hour on dealing with pressure, the mental side of the game, set-pieces and how he prepared his team for the history-making victory over Colombia on penalties.
“It definitely allowed us to go into the week with a calmness rather than being like, ‘right, it’s here’ and tensing us up,” said Falkingham.
“It was perfect to settle the nerves of the game week first thing Monday morning. We’ve taken it into this week.”
Indeed, Harrogate’s preparation was spot on and by half-time against Boreham Wood they should have been out of sight.
In the end, Jack
Muldoon’s header was all that separated the two sides but it was enough to send the small club from Yorkshire to Wembley.
“It was a brilliant weekend for everyone connected to the club,” said boss Weaver. “In normal circumstances I wouldn’t have been surprised (by the performance) but because we hadn’t played for 20 weeks I think we were surprised by the lads sustaining that energy in the first half.
“People have commented on the difference in reactions between the two camps, ours and Notts County’s, in more of an outpouring in celebration of our result because the club’s never been to Wembley.
“But it’s not to say we didn’t sit down on Monday and set our minds on it. We’re really keen to take advantage of this position “I think there was a lot of emotion there and a lot of build-up over the years over where we were and hours put in and good people coming together and working on the same cause.
“It’s as much about seeing other people you really like being happy and sharing that experience with them as achieving. It wouldn’t be anything unless you’re doing it with people around you that are like-minded.”
Today is yet another landmark moment for Harrogate in the journey they’ve been on under Weaver since 2009 when he became player-manager.
The arrival of his father, Irving, a property developer, as chairman two years later slowly began to increase ambition.
Installing a 3G pitch has been crucial to growing the club’s stature in the local community – and will be quickly replaced with grass should they win promotion to the Football League.
Their Wetherby Road home is EFL compliant with an 880-capacity seated stand the latest addition.
In 2017, the club moved to a full-time model, signed some proven names and won the National League North play-offs.
Falkingham is one of several who joined that year and has been the heartbeat of Weaver’s team.
“The big thing about it is the gaffer brought in a lot of players at that time and pretty much we’re all still together,” he said. “That is very unique in football and at our level.
“There’s a family feel, we’re all in it together and a squad where we’re not just teammates, we’re actually good friends.
“We’re all looking to push the club into the Football League and get where we all believe as a group we want to be playing football.”
Harrogate travelled down to London yesterday and had their last training session. Weaver had no injury concerns following the semi-final and the wait is over for his first Wembley visit since watching Sheffield Wednesday there in 1993.
“We’ll be 4-4-2 and everyone knows us, but we know ourselves really well and we’ve just got to concentrate and play to the best of our ability and do it in pairs all over the pitch,” he said.
“Neal Ardley has turned it round really well there, he had eight or nine report for training on the first day and there’s a man there who has come in probably under enormous pressure because of the history of Notts County.
“At the end of the day, it’s who gets out of bed and is in the moment and up for it.”
ONE TO WATCH: Jack Diamond
Diamond by name, diamond by nature - the tricky forward, on loan from Sunderland, has been a revelation.