| Full name | Kidderminster Harriers Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Harriers, The Reds, Kiddy | ||
| Founded | 1886 | ||
| Ground | Aggborough, Kidderminster (Capacity: 6,250 (3,140 seated)) |
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| Chairman | Mark Serrell | ||
| Manager | Steve Burr | ||
| League | Conference National | ||
| 2010–11 | Conference National, 6th | ||
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| Current season | |||
Kidderminster Harriers F.C. are an English football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire formed in 1886 They currently play in the Conference National and have played at Aggborough Stadium since they were formed. They are the only club from the county ever to have played in the Football League.
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Kidderminster Harriers were formed in 1886 from a highly successful athletics and rugby union club that had existed since 1877. In July 1880 the Athletics club amalgamated with the local Clarence rugby club to become 'Kidderminster Harriers and Football Club'. Matches were played at White Wickets on the Franche Road in Kidderminster. 1885-6 was the last season played as a rugby club and the Harriers switched to Association rules for the next season.
Playing games at Chester Road (the current cricket ground) Harriers' first game was 18 September 1886, away to Wilden, winning 2–1. The town saw a rival team start up as Kidderminster Olympic in 1887, rapidly becoming one of the best sides in the area. In 1887–88 the club started playing its matches at Aggborough.
Both Olympic and Harriers were founder members of the Birmingham and District League in 1889, Olympic won the league in 1890, with Harriers runners-up. Both sides regularly attracted crowds of 2–4,000, with the local derbies seeing over 7,000 attending. Owing to their success soon after both Olympic and Harriers were subject to allegations of 'professionalism' and illegal payments to players, although the League Committee let off both clubs with a warning about future conduct.
In 1891 both clubs amalgamated as Kidderminster FC on a full professional basis and were admitted to the newly formed Midland League (essentially the '2nd Division' to the newly formed 12-team Football League), and the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, reaching the 4th Round. However the club found things difficult financially as a fully professional club and were wound up and resigned from the League in the spring of 1891.
The club reverted to amateur status in the Birmingham and District League the following season as Kidderminster Harriers. The club again reached the 1st Round of the F.A Cup in 1906–07, losing to Oldham Athletic away 5–0. In 1910 the then current England international full-back Jesse Pennington signed for Harriers after a dispute with his then club West Bromwich Albion. He played one game before the dispute was resolved and he returned to Albion.
The twenties were hard going for the club as poor form on the pitch and financial problems off it took their toll. Harriers did manage a League runners-up place in 1924–25. In this season Harriers made national headlines by signing Stanley Fazackerley, who had been the first £5,000 transfer in English football and scorer of the FA Cup Final winning goal for Sheffield United in 1915. After a pay dispute, he had been given 14 days notice by his then club Wolverhampton Wanderers and had returned to the public house he managed in the city, where a Harriers fan drinking there overheard the news and quickly contacted the Harriers Secretary. The then Wolves captain George Getgood, also in contractual dispute at the time, also signed for Harriers in a double swoop.
The 1927–28 season saw another accusation of bribery, this time against secretary Pat Davis by Cradley Heath. During an investigation Davis admitted he had offered Burton Town players a ten shillings bonus if they managed to beat Worcester City in the last match of the season. The match was drawn so the bonus was never paid. The case made the national newspapers and Pat Davis was temporarily suspended fron all duties.
Harriers proved a rich source of young quality players picked up by professional football clubs at this time, those moving to bigger clubs including full back Billy Blake (Crystal Palace), winger Fred Leedham (transferred to West Bromwich Albion for £300), Dennis Jennings (to Huddersfield Town for £600) and forward Norman Brookes (to Walsall for £70). In 1935–36 a new scoring record for the club was set, with Billy Boswell scoring 64 goals in a single season.
Harriers did not win the West Midlands League until 1938, finishing the season undefeated. They moved to the Southern League the following year, but played just two games because of the onset of World War II.[1]
They rejoined the Southern League in 1948. Their first game was a 1–1 draw with Chingford Town in front of 3,889. Future Football Association General Secretary Ted Croker was a Harriers player during the early 1950s, as was future England international striker Gerry Hitchens(1953–55). Harriers became the first team to host a floodlit FA Cup match, when on 14 September 1955 they played Brierley Hill Alliance in a preliminary round replay, which Harriers won 4–2. By 1956–57 the club was again in financial difficulties and after several seasons of struggle in 1960 the club voluntarily dropped back down to the Birmingham League.
During the 1964–72 era Harriers won the West Midland League four times, and the various County Senior Cups eight times.
They were back to the Southern League by 1972–73 as part of Division One North, one level under the Southern League Premier.
Under player-manager Jon Chambers (ex Aston Villa) in 1983 Harriers were promoted to the Alliance Premier League (now the Conference) after finishing second to AP Leamington, who were refused entry on ground facility issues.
After a poor start to the first season in the Alliance AP Leamington manager Graham Allner was appointed Manager, marking the start of a 16-year association with the club. Despite not playing in Wales, they were invited to play in the Welsh Cup through the 70s and 80s, reaching the final in 1986 and again in 1989.[1]
In 1989 Kidderminster Harriers launched their first Youth training scheme (YTS) – a first as the club were still playing non-league football in the Conference. The first crop of players included Ian Clarke, Ryan Rankin, Willie Bache, Alan Knott, Richard Congrave, Russel Dodd, Craig Gillett and Justin Taylor.
In 1994, Harriers were Conference champions, but were controversially refused promotion due to the Football League's tightened fire safety regulations for stadiums after the Bradford City stadium fire. Aggborough's main stand was of wooden construction, and despite assurances a new cantilever stand would be ready for the new season (which was completed on time) and considerable West Midlands media support the Football League rejected Harriers' promotion. Ironically the ground hosted an 8,000 crowd without any problems for the visit of West Ham United in that year's 5th round FA Cup.
They finished second to Macclesfield Town in 1997, but then finished in the bottom half in each of the next two seasons.
Harriers received the biggest sell-on fee for a former non-league side with club picking up £700,000 when Lee Hughes joined Coventry City in August 2001. Kidderminster had sold Hughes to West Bromwich Albion in 1998 and under the sell-on clause negotiated by manager Allner at the time received 15% of any further transfer fee. This was activated when Hughes moved to Coventry City for a reported £5 million.
Backed by retired retail millionaire Chairman Lionel Newton, former Liverpool star Jan Mølby was appointed as manager for the 1999–2000 season. He led the club to the Conference title at the first attempt, beating Rushden & Diamonds by nine points. Thereafter, low attendances (the town is close to several large Championship and Premier League sides) and lack of revenue following the ITV Digital collapse meant the club struggled to make a mark in the Football League, and after five seasons they were relegated back to the Conference National division.
A close-season boardroom takeover battle disrupted preparations for their first season back in the Conference; consequently the club struggled to maintain efforts towards a quick return to the Football League, ending up with a 15th place finish in the Conference National. Ex-Harriers captain and former Doncaster Rovers, Cheltenham Town player and Burnley assistant coach Mark Yates took over as Manager from the sacked Stuart Watkiss during the season. He steered the club away from minor danger of relegation in the 2005–06 season and during his first full campaign, took the side to the FA Trophy final at Wembley Stadium for the first time in 12 years. They however lost 3–2 to Stevenage Borough in front of 53,262. Their league form however was less impressive, resulting in mid-table finishes for three consecutive seasons.
In December 2009 Mark Yates and his number two coach Neil Howarth left the club to take over as coaches at Cheltenham Town.
After a month of speculation and a number of names such as Jim Harvey and Jeff Kenna being mentioned as possible replacements for Mark Yates, Stalybridge Celtic Manager Steve Burr took over on an initial 2 and a half year contract, which was extended to 2014 in March 2011.The club finished sixth in Burr's first season in charge.
Harriers reached the Welsh Cup final in 1986 and 1989, losing to Wrexham (2–1) and Swansea City (5–0) respectively. In 1987 Harriers went to Wembley Stadium for the FA Trophy final against Burton Albion. The game was a 0–0 draw after extra time, but Kidderminster won 2–1 in the replay at The Hawthorns. They have reached the final on three occasions since, losing 2–1 to Wycombe Wanderers in 1991 before a then competition record crowd of 34,842, 2–1 to Woking in 1995 and 2–3 to Stevenage Borough in 2007.
Kidderminster have also had some success in the FA Cup. Brighton & Hove Albion were entertained in the late 1960s as were Blackburn Rovers & Millwall (first round) in successive seasons 1981 & 1982. They reached the fifth round in 1994 (a feat not again equalled by a non-league team until Crawley Town F.C. achieved it in 2011, although Crawley were fully professional), shooting to national fame after defeating Birmingham City 2–1 away and Preston North End 1–0 at home in the previous two rounds. They then lost narrowly (0–1) at home in front of nearly 8,000 to West Ham United. In 2004 Kidderminster again reached the third round to face Premier League team and local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, drawing 1–1 at Aggborough but losing the replay 2–0. In the 2008–09 season Harriers again reached the third round, losing away to Coventry City 2–0.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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