SECOND LOCKDOWN WOULD BE THE END

Harrogate boss Weaver: ONLY furlough cash has spared so many others from going bust

PLAY-OFF WIN Harrogate Town are in the big time

HARROGATE TOWN boss Simon Weaver ought to be riding the crest of a wave after leading his side into the EFL for the first time this summer.

But after seeing Macclesfield follow Bury into the football abyss, Weaver, and almost every other manager in the lower tiers, finds excitement about a new campaign overshadowed by the spectre of a second coronavirus wave.

Weaver ( left) said: “It’s going to be a trying time for football clubs, and so sad to see what happened at Bury and Macclesfield. It’s the supporters who come off worst.

“Furlough helped people and clubs, and that’s why there haven’t been more clubs go under yet.

“But what happens in a few months’ time if there’s a second lockdown?

“That would really be a blow. “We work hard to try to balance the financial situation here but obviously the furlough scheme helped us.

“I had one dark day when I had to do 20 Zoom calls and reduce pay by 20 per cent.

“But it was across the board and the players understood that the survival of the club came first and foremost, above anyone getting maximum pay.

“From our perspective, it’s transformational getting into the EFL with that grant money compared to the National League.

“Staying in the National League would have been harder still because of the grant being what it is, and no football yet, plus the unpredictability.”

Harrogate won promotion to the EFL by beating Notts County in the

National League play-off final – and their return from lockdown, and subsequent triumph, was captured by BT Sport’s cameras for the forthcoming documentary, Proud To Be Town.

It was a fantastic achievement for Weaver, and for his dad, Irving, the club chairman.

The disappointment now is that the fans who supported them through thin and thinner aren’t able to be in the stadium to watch their side take their first steps in the league proper. Weaver added: “We need supporters back as soon as possible, every club does. Not just for money but the atmosphere.

“Winning promotion has been an incredible high but it would have been even higher still if we could have crowds there.

“For us, promotion has taken the edge off the malaise the whole world has been in, and looking in a positive light, it has managed to give us locally a bit of cheer.

“But obviously it would have been incredible having thousands there to witness it.”

Hopefully, those supporters will be granted access before the end of the season but, even if not, Weaver is determined that whenever they return Town will still be offering them league football.

He said: “A lot of people have said, ‘I hope you stay up’, that’s their closing comment to me.

“Well, we hope we stay up – but we hope for a lot more besides.

“It would be a really big disappointment if we went down in our first attempt at the EFL after 106 years.”