Harrogate Railway Athletic F.C.

Full name

Harrogate Railway Athletic
Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Rail, The Locomotives

Founded

1935

Ground

Station View,
Harrogate
North Yorkshire

Capacity

3,500 (300 Seated)

Manager

Lee Ashforth

League

Northern Premier League
Division One North

2014–15

Northern Premier League
Division One North, 8th

Home colours

Away colours

Harrogate Railway Athletic F.C. is an English football club based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The club was founded in 1935. It currently plays in the Northern Premier League Division One North.

History

The club was founded in 1935 when workers from Starbeck LNER locomotive shed formed an adult team to play in the Harrogate & District League. In 1946 the side consisted entirely of railway men and reached the British Railways National Cup Final.

This success prompted the club to go in search of a ground of their own, but they stayed at Station View when the LNER said that they would lend the club the £1,500 necessary to purchase the site, provided that 300 rail workers would agree to having 1d a week stopped from their wages to finance the repayments. More than sufficient volunteers signed up and they did not have long to wait for their faith to be repaid on the pitch.

In 1949 both of the clubs sides won their respective league championships plus a full set of local cups. The first team won all 24 league matches with a goal tally of 150 goals to 29 against.

In the 2002–03 season, they won eight games and reached the Second Round of the FA Cup. Eventually a capacity crowd saw Harrogate Railway lose to Bristol City 3–1.^[1] This run was the furthest the club has gone in the FA Cup to date.

In recent years the club has reached its highest ever league position, under the management of Martin Haresign who took over in October 2003; the club were at the bottom of the NCEL Premier Division at the time. He steadied the ship at the club and led Railway to a promotion in 2005–06, into the Northern Premier League First Division. In 2007, Harrogate played in the inaugural season of the Northern Premier League Division One North.

This is the highest the club has ever reached in the league pyramid system. In early 2007, Haresign resigned to focus on his business. Vince Brockie, who had served as assistant manager during Haresign's reign, took over as manager.

In 2007–08 Railway once again reached the second round proper of the FA Cup after beating Harrogate rivals Harrogate Town 2–1 in the fourth preliminary round followed by a 2–0 win over Droylsden. Railway lost 3–2 to Mansfield Town in the second round, which was televised live on Match of the Day.^[2]

The 2012-13 season started with the new management team Billy Miller and his assistant Lee Ashforth in charge. In their first season Miller and Ashforth managed Railway to an 18th place finish with 41 points, well clear of the relegation zone. 2013-14 saw Railway finish 13th with 48 points after forging a strong relationship with Harrogate Town and Simon Weaver that allowed players to be dual registered between the clubs.

2014-15 saw Railway achieve a record high league finish of eighth under Billy Miller with Nathan Cartman's 31 goals seeing him crowned golden boot winner for being the league's top scorer. The Summer of 2015 saw a number of first team players, including Cartman, depart Station View and Miller exiting for NCEL Premier Division side Tadcaster Albion and being replaced in the dugout by his assistant Lee Ashforth for the 2015-16 season.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
–	GK	Tom Goodwin
–	GK	Tom Stewart
–	DF	Simon Parkes
–	DF	Simon Wood
–	DF	Nathaniel Pells
–	DF	Louis Horne
–	DF	Alex Low
–	DF	Lawrance Hunter
–	DF	Greg Kidd
–	MF	Dan Thirkell (C)
–	MF	Jack Stockdill

No.	Position	Player
–	MF	Charlie Clamp
–	MF	Harry Brown
–	MF	Will Peers
-	MF	Ryan Sharrocks
–	MF	Rob Worrall
–	MF	Fatlum Ibrahimi
–	MF	George Mason
–	FW	Vince Dhesi
–	FW	Stephen Bromley
–	FW	Dan Barrett
–	FW	Tom Owen

Honours

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

Promoted: 2005–06

Northern Counties East League Division One

Champions: 1998–99
Promoted: 1986–87

Northern Counties East League Division Two North

Champions: 1983–84

Yorkshire League Division Two

Promoted: 1957–58, 1963–64

West Yorkshire Football League Division Two

Champions: 1950–51

Records

FA Cup best performance: second round proper – 2002–03, 2007–08
FA Trophy best performance: third round qualifying – 2010-11
FA Vase best performance: fourth round replay – 1988–89

References

↑ "Bristol City railroad Harrogate". BBC Sport. 2002-12-08. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
↑ "Harrogate Railway 2–3 Mansfield". BBC Sport. 2007-12-02. Retrieved 2007-12-02.

External links

Harrogate Railway Athletic FC
Harrogate Railway Athletic at the Football Club History Database

Northern Premier League

Premier Division	Ashton United Barwell Blyth Spartans Buxton Colwyn Bay Darlington 1883 Frickley Athletic Grantham Town Halesowen Town Hyde United Ilkeston Marine Matlock Town Mickleover Sports Nantwich Town Ramsbottom United Rushall Olympic Salford City Skelmersdale United Stamford Stourbridge Sutton Coldfield Town Whitby Town Workington

Division One North	Bamber Bridge Brighouse Town Burscough Clitheroe Droylsden Farsley Celtic Glossop North End Harrogate Railway Athletic Kendal Town Lancaster City Mossley New Mills Northwich Victoria Ossett Albion Ossett Town Prescot Cables Radcliffe Borough Scarborough Athletic Spennymoor Town Trafford Warrington Town Witton Albion

Division One South	Basford United Belper Town Carlton Town Chasetown Coalville Town Daventry Town Goole Gresley Kidsgrove Athletic Leek Town Lincoln United Loughborough Dynamo Market Drayton Town Newcastle Town Romulus Rugby Town Shaw Lane Aquaforce Sheffield Spalding United Stafford Rangers Stocksbridge Park Steels Tividale

Seasons	1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

See also: Northern Premier League Challenge Cup, Northern Premier League President's Cup, Northern Premier League Chairman's Cup, Peter Swales Shield

Coordinates: 54°0′2.120″N 1°30′18.338″W / 54.00058889°N 1.50509389°W / 54.00058889; -1.50509389

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