Harrogate Railway Past Programme

VIEW

THE

Evostik Division 1 North

SEASON 2015/16

PROGRAMME 20

Main Club Sponsor

MATCH SPONSOR

BAMBER BRIDGE OFFICIAL MATCH PROGRAMME Kick-off 3.00pm Saturday 20 February 2016 2015/16 - 80th Anniversary

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What’s In The View

4

Harrogate Railway AFC Station View, Harrogate HG2 7JA CLUB OFFICIALS Chairman

NIGEL CORNER Treasurer

CHRIS PARKES Club Secretary

ANN KIRK

Football Secretary

DAVID SHEPHERD

14

Commercial Manager

ALAN SMITH Committee

GARY JOHNSON, SIMON MERCER, ALAN SMITH, BEN DRURY, CHRIS WATT

22

Media/Press Officer

MARK P DOHERTY,

HAL BOXHALL-DOCKREE Clubhouse Manager

GARY JOHNSON

29

FIRST TEAM

33

Manager

LEE ASHFORTH Assistant Managers

SIMON WOOD MARTIN POWELL Director of Football

STEVE GRIME Physio

ALEX FARRELL

@THERAILFC

8 Railway Players

Who is in the current Railway squad - find out more!

13 Bamber Bridge

Find out more about Bamber Bridge’s great history.

11 Spennymoor Report 35 Team Line-ups Match report from the Spennymoor game on Monday night.

f

Find out who is likely to play and the officials who’ll take charge.

HARROGATERAILWAY

3

THERAILFC

LEE’S VIEW Welcome back to Station View

Welcome to Station View for todays game against Bamber Bridge,

gressed and gained positives as a team, but it accounts for nothing now as we go into todays game as we must start picking up points to remain in the league.

I hope the Bamber players and management have had a good trip across and the same goes to the supporters.

It will happen for us and we have some great games coming up, and with 17 games over the next 11 weeks every player will play his part.

We played Bamber 18 days ago and lost heavily in a one sided game by 5-0.

We needed to add to the squad after that day as injuries, suspensions and the recall of Harry Coates to Harrogate Town had left us light on the ground.

We have used 34 players or so since the start of the season and as a rebuilding campaign.

I dont think that is particularly bad and we have added a player at the right time allowing the players to continually gel and get to know each other rather than an overall of the team on a regular basis.

We have since added a couple of players to the squad and I fully expect us to give a much better account of ourselves today and certainly with the game being at Station View.

Due to this the squad has built and developed and we now have a squad capable of winning games and putting in performances that this club deserves.

I dont want to dwell on the two games that we have had since the Bamber game, we played two of the top sides in the league in Glossop and Spennymoor and we lost both matches.

Enjoy the game.

After each game I felt that we had pro-

4

th

r Lee Ashfo

Lee’s View

Harry Coates

3:00 6:00 6:00 8:30 9:45

Nottingham Forest v West Ham United Manchester United v Arsenal Hearts v Hibernian Real Zaragoza v Real Madrid Udinese v Juventus

npower Championship Barclays Premier League Scottish Premier League Spanish La Liga Serie A

Sky Sports 1 (13:00-15:00) Sky Sports 1 (15:30-18:30) ESPN (15:45-18:00) Sky Sports 1 (18:30-21:00) ESPN (19:45-21:45)

ust 0:00

Barcelona v Villarreal

Spanish La Liga

Sky Sports 3 (19:55-22:00)

tember 9:30

England U21 v Azerbaijan U21

International Football

mber 8:30 9:30 9:30 9:30 9:45 9:45

Bulgaria v England Northern Ireland v Serbia Republic Of Ireland v Slovakia Wales v Montenegro Stockport v Luton Town Germany v Austria

Euro 2012 Qualifiers Sky Sports 1 (18:30-20:30) Euro 2012 Qualifiers Sky Sports 4 (19:30-22:00) Euro 2012 Qualifiers Sky Sports 3 (19:30-22:00) Euro 2012 QualifiersFamous Fish Sky & Sports 2 (19:30-22:00) Chips Blue Square Premier Setanta Ireland (19:30-22:00 Ireland O Euro 2012 QualifiersSeafood Restaurant ESPN (19:30-21:30)

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Friday 26th August Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers FIXTURE Braintree FIXTURE Town vTIME Lincoln City 19:45 Fleetwood Town v York City Saturday 27th August 12:00 15:00 v England U21 17:00 19:45 21:00

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Barclays Premier League International Friendly

Euro 2012 Qualifiers ESPN (19:15-21:15) www.graveleysofharrogate.com League Sky Sports 4 (12:30-15:00) EuroScottish 2012Premier Qualifiers Setanta Ireland (19:55-22:00 Ireland O

Udinese v Juventus

Barclays Premier League npower Championship Barclays Premier League Scottish Premier League Spanish La Liga Serie A

ESPN (12:45-15:45) Sky Sports 1 (13:00-15:00) Sky Sports 1 (15:30-18:30) ESPN (15:45-18:00) Sky Sports 1 (18:30-21:00) ESPN (19:45-21:45)

Monday 29th August 20:00

Barcelona v Villarreal

Spanish La Liga

Sky Sports 3 (19:55-22:00)

Thursday 1st September 19:30

England U21 v Azerbaijan U21

International Football

ESPN (19:00-21:45)

Friday 2nd September 18:30 19:30 19:30 19:30 19:45 19:45

Bulgaria v England Northern Ireland v Serbia Republic Of Ireland v Slovakia Wales v Montenegro Stockport v Luton Town Germany v Austria

Euro 2012 Qualifiers Euro 2012 Qualifiers Euro 2012 Qualifiers Euro 2012 Qualifiers Blue Square Premier Euro 2012 Qualifiers

Sky Sports 1 (18:30-20:30) Sky Sports 4 (19:30-22:00) Sky Sports 3 (19:30-22:00) Sky Sports 2 (19:30-22:00) Setanta Ireland (19:30-22:00 Ireland Only) ESPN (19:30-21:30)

Saturday 3rd September 17:30 19:00

Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers Braintree Town v Lincoln Tel: City

Monday 5th September 19:00

England U21 v Israel U21

International Friendly

ESPN (18:30-21:15)

Tuesday 6th September 19:30 20:00

Denmark v Norway England v Wales

Euro 2012 Qualifiers Euro 2012 Qualifiers

ESPN (19:15-21:15) Setanta Ireland (19:55-22:00 Ireland Only)

Hearts v Hibernian Tel: 01423 525354 521066 Real Zaragoza v Real/Madrid

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Nathan Curtis against Spennymoor Town

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The Harrogate Railway Team

Lee Ashforth

John Fletcher

Charlie Clamp

Vincent Dhesi

Available

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Lawrance Hunter

Jack Stockdill

Terry Sharrocks

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Jordan Outerbridge

Nathan Curtis

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Harrogate Railway 0-4 Spennymoor Town

Railway’s First Home Game of the Year Ends in Defeat Spennymoor Town put in a convincing performance to see off the challenge of Harrogate Railway in their first Station View outing of 2016.

response to going behind as Nathan Curtis struck a sweet volley from outside the box narrowly over the bar.

Lee Ashforth made three changes from Saturday’s loss at Glossop North End, replacing George Foster-Vigors, Alex Low and Vincent Dhesi with Harry Coates, Luca Mellor and debutant Matt Lovegreen.

With just three minutes to go until the break, Joseph Tait came up with a goal line clearance to ensure his side remained in front, heading clear Lawrance Hunter’s free kick that had clipped the head of a Moors player.

Railway attackers Ryan Sharrocks and Nathan Curtis went close in the first five minutes with Sharrocks shooting into the arms of Daniel Lowson and Curtis flashing an effort wide of the far post.

The crucial second goal came in the 73rd minute when Captain Dan Thirkell conceded a spot kick that Tait confidently stroked into the bottom right corner.

The strike partnership of Curtis and Tom Owen then showed some promising signs with the latter almost breaching the league’s stingiest defence with a shot that nearly found the far corner.

In the 18th minute Jason Ainsley’s men took the

After substitute George Mason had his shot well blocked, Moors added a third with nine minutes remaining when a corner was whipped into the six yard box where substitute Gavin Cogdon got the better of Goodwin and put the evening’s outcome

Ashforth’s side almost came up with the perfect

The fourth and final goal of the night came in the 86th minute when David Dowson exploded down the right hand side and found the far corner with a low, accurate drive.

lead when Tom Goodwin climbed high looking to claim an in-swinging corner, but the ball escaped the stopper’s grasp and dropped to Nathan Fisher to shoot high into the roof of the net.

beyond doubt.

11

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ORIGINAL

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HARROGATE TOFFEE

12

WHO ARE BAMBER BRIDGE? Football in Bamber Bridge can be traced back as far as the late 1800’s. However, the present club was established in the summer of 1974 when the old Bamber Bridge club amalgamated with neighbouring outfit Walton-Le-Dale. The new club played at the King George’s Playing Field and the early years were marked with a high degree of success on the local football scene.

The first sixteen seasons was spent in the Preston & District League Premier Division and many honours were gained. The first season, 197475, proved a somewhat modest one with a 12th place finish in the league. However, an improved showing the following term saw the fledgling club finish 5th in the table and they won their first piece of silverware, when lifting the Lytham Medal competition. The Premier Division championship was won for the first time in the 198081 season and was the first of four title successes.

This honour was also achieved in 1985-86, 198687 and for the last time in 1989-90. The club also finished as Premier Division runners-up three times in 1978-79, 1982-83 and 1984-85.

During those sixteen seasons spent in the Preston & District League ‘Brig’ also enjoyed success in the League Cup competition, the Guildhall Cup. They emerged winners of the tournament on four occasions; firstly in 1978-79 and again in 1980-81, when they achieved the ‘league and cup double’ for the first time. They won the Guildhall Cup for the third time in 1984-85 and again in 1989-90, when winning the ‘league and cup double’ for the second time. The club were also Finalists in 1977-78, 1979-80 and 1987-88.

Along the way, the club finished as finalists in the Premier Division Ward Shield in 1983-84.

In those early years Bamber Bridge won the prestigious Lancashire FA Amateur Shield in 1981-82 and were finalists in 1980-81 and 198990.

Throughout this period, the club committee had Dreamtime and worked towards establishing a football ground of their own and in 1983 a piece of derelict land was purchased with the help of South Ribble and Sports Council’s. It took four years of dedicated work and considerable expense to change this overgrown land into a

football pitch, which was named Irongate after the local area. The first game at Irongate was played in August 1987 and since then continual development and improvements have taken place at the ground to enable the club to enjoy a place within the National Leagues System.

Sustained success in the Preston & District League prompted the club to seek progression and at the beginning of the 1990-91 campaign the club joined the North West Counties League.

In their first season, in what was in those days, the first rung of the National Leagues System, ’Brig’ finished in a creditable 4th spot in the Second Division. Twelve months later and the club won its first honour in the semi-professional game when taking the North West Counties League Second Division championship and with it promotion to the top flight. The 1992-93 campaign proved to be a storming success with a runners-up spot in the First Division which was to see the club promoted for the second season running with a place in the First Division of the Northern Premier League. That memorable season the club reached the Semi-Final of the FA Vase, only one step away from the famous Wembley Stadium. Then just to top things off, ‘Brig’ were finalists in the North West Counties League Floodlit Trophy. The clubs three year stay in the NWCL had been a rollercoaster ride.

In their first season in the NPL, the club finished in a creditable 13th place in the First Division and were finalists in the First Division Cup. In the following term, 1994-95, the club won promotion for the fourth time in its history, after finishing runners-up in the First Division. Also that term, Brig captured the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup when overcoming those famous cup fighters, Bishop Auckland, by 2-1 at Bolton Wanderers old ground, Burnden Park, before lifting the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy, with a 2-1 victory over favourites Morecambe at Deepdale.

Against all the odds in 1995-96, their first season in the Premier Division, the club won the Northern Premier League title beating off late challenges from Hyde United and Boston United, the final outcome depending on the results on the last day of the season - a history making season Continued Page 17

2015/16 EVO-STIK LEAGUE ONE NORTH FIXTURES

2015

2016

August

Sat 15 Tue 18 Sat 22 Mon 24 Sat 29

1-1 1-1 3-1 0-6 0-0

D D L L D

Droylsden Spennymoor Town Brighouse Town Scarborough Athletic Spennymoor Town

H A A H H

2-0 4-1 2-0 6-0 3-2 2-1 2-4

L W W L L L L

Spennymoor Town Radcliffe Borough Mossley Trafford

Burscough Ossett Albion Glossop North End

A H H A A A H

EMIRATES FA CUP REPLAY

1-0 4-1 6-3 0-1 2-2 1-1 3-0

L W L L D D L

Mossley Glasshoughton Welfare Warrington Town Northwich Victoria Scarborough Athletic Brighouse Town Clitheroe

A H A H A H A

FA TROPHY PRELIM WRCC EMIRATES FA CUP 3Q

2-3 W 2-3 L 1-3 L Postponed Abandoned

Droylsden Stocksbridge Park Steels Kendal Town New Mills Ossett Town

A H H A H

EMIRATES FA CUP 1 INTEGRO LEAGUE CUP 1

Postponed Postponed 1-3 L Postponed Postponed

Kendal Town Trafford Ossett Albion Farsley Celtic Clitheroe

A H H A H

5-0 L 1-0 L 3-1 L 0-0 D Postponed

Witton Albion Lancaster City Farsley Celtic Radcliffe Borough Burscough

A A A A H

5-0 L Postponed 5-1 L 0-4 L

Bamber Bridge Warrington Town Glossop North End Spennymoor Town Bamber Bridge New Mills Northwich Victoria Warrington Town

A H A H H A A H

Sat 5 Mon 7 Sat 12 Sat 19 Mon 21 Sat 26 Mon 28

Prescot Cables Witton Albion Lancaster City Clitheroe Burscough Mossley Farsley Celtic

A H H H H A H

Sat 2 Mon 4 Sat 9 Sat 16 Mon 18 Sat 23

Ossett Town Prescot Cables New Mills Trafford Ossett Town Kendal Town

A H H H H H

September

Tue 1 Sat 5 Mon 7 Sat 12 Sat 19 Sat 26 Mon 28

October

Sat 3 Mon 5 Sat 10 Sat 17 Tue 20 Sat 24 Sat 31

November

Sat 7 Mon 9 Sat 14 Sat 21 Sat 28

December

Sat 5 Sat 12 Sat 19 Sat 26 Mon 28

January

Sat 2 Sat 9 Tue 19 Sat 23 Sat 30

February

Tue 2 Sat 6 Sat 13 Mon 15 Sat 20 Tue 23 Sat 27 Mon 29

March

April

May

Sat 21 Sun 22

EMIRATES FA CUP PRELIM

EMIRATES FA CUP 4Q

EMIRATES FA CUP FINAL FA TROPHY FINAL

HW

HD

HL

AW

AD

AL

W

D

L

F

A

Diff

Pts

Adj

29

13

2

1

10

2

1

23

4

2

75

24

51

73

0

Northwich Victoria

26

11

1

1

10

1

2

21

2

3

71

23

48

65

0

Glossop North End

28

10

3

2

4

5

4

14

8

6

50

27

23

50

0

Spennymoor Town

25

5

4

2

8

5

1

13

9

3

55

23

32

48

0

Ossett Albion

29

7

2

4

8

1

7

15

3

11

40

37

3

48

0

Mossley

29

9

2

4

5

3

6

14

5

10

55

40

15

47

0

Burscough

26

10

1

4

4

2

5

14

3

9

41

29

12

45

0

Lancaster City

30

7

5

3

4

7

4

11

12

7

48

44

4

45

0

Clitheroe

26

8

0

5

6

2

5

14

2

10

60

55

5

44

0

Brighouse Town

27

8

3

3

4

4

5

12

7

8

50

38

12

43

0

Farsley Celtic

27

8

2

4

4

4

5

12

6

9

54

27

27

42

0

Witton Albion

28

5

3

6

7

1

6

12

4

12

59

47

12

40

0

Trafford

29

7

3

5

4

3

7

11

6

12

51

38

13

39

0

Bamber Bridge

24

4

5

2

5

3

5

9

8

7

44

30

14

35

0

Kendal Town

25

4

2

5

5

4

5

9

6

10

38

46

-8

33

0

Prescot Cables

26

5

3

6

5

0

7

10

3

13

45

58

-13

33

0

Droylsden

27

4

2

7

3

3

8

7

5

15

46

86

-40

26

0

Scarborough Athletic

28

3

3

10

3

2

7

6

5

17

29

48

-19

23

0

Radcliffe Borough

26

2

4

5

4

0

11

6

4

16

28

43

-15

22

0

Ossett Town

26

2

4

9

2

0

9

4

4

18

25

73

-48

16

0

Harrogate Railway Athletic

25

2

2

6

1

3

11

3

5

17

27

71

-44

14

0

New Mills

26

0

0

12

0

1

13

0

1

25

16

100

-84

1

0

THIS WEEK...

EVO-STIK LEAGUE ONE NORTH

Pd Warrington Town

TUESDAY AWAY

Saturday 20 February 2016

NEW MILLS

15:00 Brighouse Town v Spennymoor Town 15:00 Burscough v Ossett Town 15:00 Clitheroe v Glossop North End 15:00 Droylsden v Warrington Town 15:00 Harrogate Railway Athletic v Bamber Bridge 15:00 Kendal Town v Prescot Cables 15:00 Lancaster City v Trafford 15:00 Mossley v Northwich Victoria 15:00 Ossett Albion v Scarborough Athletic 15:00 Radcliffe Borough v New Mills 15:00 Witton Albion v Farsley Celtic

MAIN CLUB SPONSOR

.COM

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HARROGATE RAILWAY AFC STATION VIEW, HARROGATE HG2 7JA

15

16

for the club. ‘Brig’ reached the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy Final for the second time on the trot, but this time finished as runners-up, losing 0-1 against Morecambe; the Final once more being played at Deepdale.

In 1999-00 the club enjoyed an excellent run in the FA Cup, reaching the Second Round Proper for the first time in their history before bowing out by a narrow 0-1 margin at Football League Second Division side Cambridge United, the result decided on a disputed penalty. The club made it to the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy Final for the third time that season but once again finished as runners-up after going down heavily by 0-5 against Marine in the Final at Chorley’s Victory Park.

After enjoying seven years in the Premier Division, the 2001-02 season proved a disaster with the club finishing bottom of the pile, and despite a last minute reprieve via the play-offs failing to materialise, the club experienced relegation for the first time in its history. Restructuring of the National League System at the start of the 200405 season saw the club regain Premier Division status after two years in the lower section.

Time spent back in the higher grade though lasted only twelve months and the club once again experienced the bitter pill of relegation at the end of the 2004-05 season, after finishing second from the bottom of the table. The season however, was not a complete disaster and despite the loss of Premier Division status, the Northern Premier League, League President’s Cup was lifted with a 3-2 aggregate win over Witton Albion.

Further restructuring of the National League System in season 2007-08 saw the club placed in the First Division North of the Northern Premier League. ’Brig’ reached the play-offs in the first season of the new regionalised set-up; losing out by 2-3 to United of Manchester in the Semi-Final at Gigg Lane, Bury. ‘Brig’ once again reached the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy Final for the fourth time in 2010-11 but lost out by 0-1 against AFC Fylde in the Final at Bolton Wanderers Reebok Stadium.

Due to financial restrictions the season 2012-12

was one of consolidation in the 1st North and

by Easter saw a change in manager , with Tony Greenwood leaving the club and Neil Crowe who was Tony’s assistant stepping up to the managers job, also appointed was Neil Reynolds who had re-joined the club at the start of 2009-2010 season and joined the coaching staff the following season , stepped up further to assistant manager to Neil Crowe.

Season 2012-13 started off very slowly with win consistency very hard to come by, the after the Christmas period , things began to improve with new signings, and two great runs especially the last one which saw us lose only 3 games out of the last 17, to finish the season just outside the play offs in 9th place.

After suffering the defeat at the hands of Ramsbottom United in extra time of the play final,in what turned out to be the last game to be played at The Irongate Stadium, as local legend Sir Tom Finney passed away in February , we kindly obtained permission to rename the ground The Sir Tom Finney Stadium, it is a name that is world famous in football and we all feel very proud and humble that Sir Toms family agreed, we also made his son Brian a honoury president of the club.

After the worst possible start to season 2014/2015, when we conceded 7 goals on the 1st match of the season , the only way from there was up.

With one or two changes in the playing staff , things got much better with new signings and we then became a force at both home and away.

In the middle of October we made what was thought to be one of the best players to wear a B.B.F.C. Shirt in the vastly experienced ex Preston North End and Nottingham Forrest midfielder Paul McKenna, after a couple of games Paul settled in and results improved all the time .

So much so that apart from a blip in form around Christmas we finished in third place , and after beating Northwich Victoria in the semi final of the play offs we lost the final for the second season in a row this time to Darlington 1883.

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BAMBER BRIDGE PLAYER PROFILES

NEIL CROWE

Mick Taylor Coach

Manager Neil is in his second spell with Bamber Bridge. He started out in the North West Counties League in the 1980‘s, first with Darwen, and then with Squires Gate. Joined Bamber Bridge in the 1994-95 season before moving on to Lostock St Gerards.

Simon Wiles Coach Stuart Barton Goalkeeping Coach

He spent four seasons with Fulwood Amateurs in the West Lancashire League before injury cut short his playing career. Came back to Irongate at the start of the 2004-05 campaign joining the Lancashire League management team before stepping up to first team duties at Christmas 2006 as assistant manager.

Neil was appointed club manager during Easter Week 2011.

Stuart Barton Goalkeeper Lee Dovey Goalkeeper Paul Alexander Central Defender George Bowyer Right Back Adam Dodd Defender

NEIL REYNOLDS

THE KEY WORKS

KEY Assistant Manager CUTTING Midfielder Neil is in his third spell at Irongate.

SERVICE Dave Hankin On leaving school Neil joined North West Queens Head Inn Right Back LOCKS ETC. Kettlesing Counties League side Darwen in 1993 before North Yorkshire HG3 2LB 01423 527921 joining Football League side Plymouth Argyle Tel: 01423 770263 Danny Mahoney in the 1994-95 season. Returned north in 1995 THE KEY WORKS Right Back and spent three and a half years back at Darw(HARROGATE) LTD 4 COMMERCIAL STREET en before joining Bamber Bridge in 1998. SUPPORT THE BUSINESSES Glenn Steel HARROGATE HG1 1TY SUPPORTING YOUR CLUB 01423 527921 Central Defender Moved on to Kendal Town for a short spell in 1999-00 before joining Clitheroe where he enjoyed five successful years. Whilst at Shawbridge Neil played in both legs of the Semi-Final of the FA Vase in 2000-01 against Western League side Taunton Town. He was a key member of the Clitheroe side that lifted RESTAURANT & WINE BAR RESTAURANT & WINE BAR 6 Cold Bath Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG2 0NA the North West Counties League title in 20036 Cold Bath Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG2 0NA 04 and scored the winning goal in the closing RESTAURANT & WINE BAR minutes of the game at Nantwich Town to 6 Cold Bath Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG2 0NA Restaurant Wine Bar earn his side promotion to the Northern PreRestaurant Wine506883 Bar 01423 521510 01423 mier League.

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BAMBER BRIDGE PLAYER PROFILES Matt Lawlor Defender Joe Booth Attacking Midfield Paul McKenna Central Midfield Jamie Milligan Midfield Ian Moss Midfield Nicky Platt Central Midfield Neil Reynolds Defensive Midfield Simon Wiles Midfield

Bamber Bridge v Harrogate Railway 2014/15 Season

Matty Kay Midfield Chris Marlow Left Midfield Alistair Waddecar Wide Midfield Regan Linney Striker Jon Macken Striker Brett Ormerod Striker Stuart Vasey Striker

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New Striker Curtis Eyeing Evo-Stik Survival Recent acquisition from Spennymoor Town Nathan Curtis has set his sights firmly on keeping Harrogate Railway in the Evo-Stik NPL D1N. The 20-year-old found the net an impressive nine times in the first three months of the season at Ossett Town and is hoping for a similar impact at Station View.

Coming into a club fighting to beat the drop with the tag of goal-scorer could put pressure on a lot of players, but Curtis insists he doesn’t feel the heat.

He said: “First and foremost I want to stay up for the club!

“Personally I just want to enjoy my football again and score as many goals as I possibly can, I hope I can do that.

“At the start of the season I was scoring a few goals for Ossett Town, so I know I can bring some goals here.

“I don’t really feel pressure, if you enjoy your football the goals will come.

“You don’t need to force anything; if you start putting extra pressure on yourself then things will start going wrong.”

Before becoming a regular on the score-sheet at Ossett Town under now departed Manager John Reed, Curtis had come through the youth system at Bradford City where his promising performances had earned him a two year scholarship.

On the 18th December 2012 Curtis made his first team debut for The Bantams, coming on in the latter stages of an FA Cup second round replay at Brentford, a time of his career the young forward looks back on with pride.

He said: “I made my first team debut at Bradford in the FA Cup and that’s probably my proudest achievement so far.

“It was around that time when I was

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really enjoying my football, I was 16 and that was probably the best time of my life to be fair and I want to get back to enjoying it again.”

Upon leaving Valley Parade, Curtis signed for The Ingfielders where his early season form in front of goal earned him a move to big spending promotion chasers Spennymoor Town.

With competition for places in Jason Ainsley’s side extremely competitive, Curtis found himself not playing as much as he had hoped which triggered a move away from The Brewery Field.

Railway were quick to pounce on the talented forward, who made his Railway debut at third placed Glossop North End just days after signing.

Curtis explained: “I got a text from Lee Ashforth saying he wanted to meet me and showing interest in me after I had spoken to Spennymoor about leaving.

“The management team has welcomed me with open arms and have helped me out transport wise as well because I don’t drive.

“I know Luca Mellor and Jack Stockdill from Bradford City and I know Chris Ovington as well, I was at Ossett with him and he is a nice lad so that has helped me settle in nicely.

“I enjoyed my debut! It was going well for the first 60 minutes when we were well in the game and we were playing well, it was nice to finally get some game time.”

Everyone at Harrogate Railway is looking forward to Curtis continuing to clock up the minutes and hopefully help earn some vital points for the club.

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“...if you enjoy your football the goals will come”

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Points From the Past POINTS from the not-too-distant past today.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been struggling in our league. And I’ve no doubt it won’t be the last.

I remember a few years ago we were wallowing at the bottom of this division and various meetings were called to discuss the situation and what could be done about it.

The meetings were constructive on the whole but I do recall one or two comments from the floor, which I had to vocally disagree with.

No names, no pack-drill. I am still good friends with those who expressed a little negativity and I don’t want that to change.

One person at the meeting said that we were in a league that’s too strong for the club and we should pull out and go back to the West Yorkshire League or the Harrogate League. There may be people who are thinking that now.

We fought for many seasons to attain Evo Stik League status, or as it was then, UniBond League status.

The Northern Premier League is its sponsorless title in the FA pyramid. It is a strong level of football and money is being thrown about at the upper end – that’s nothing new. However, to throw in the towel would be a big mistake.

If the club is out of its depth, then so be

it. But giving in without a fight should not come into the equation. Battle on, give confidence to whoever is in charge and to the players who are chosen to represent us in the famous red and green.

No, we don’t have the cash to compete with the top half of the table. We have to make do with what we have coming in.

There are still a lot of games to be played. The weather has wreaked havoc with the fixture list and we will not be the only club playing an abundance of evening games between now and the end of the campaign. It’s not over until the fat lady sings.

Talking of fitting fixtures in to a tight space, let’s go back to the winter of 1963.

It was particularly fierce, freezing conditions meant hardly any football nationwide from January to March. Undersoil heating wasn’t commonplace and it was the year that the Pools Panel was formed to keep the punters’ money coming in.

Bearing in mind there were no floodlights at our level, and wouldn’t be for another twenty years, the games still had to be crammed in. One Bank Holiday, Easter it must have been, we actually played two fixtures in one day. They were away, fairly close to each other in South Yorkshire I believe, and we took a large enough squad to cope.

I think we brought a point back from the two, but at least we fulfilled our commitments!

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Half Time Quiz A FEW FOOTBALL QUESTIONS TO WHILE AWAY THE INTERVAL 1. Which club won the last FA Cup Final to be settled by a replay?

2. In which country is the club Grampus Eight?

3. Who was captain of the English team during the 1962 World Cup Finals in Chile?

4. Which Premier League club played at Filbert Street before their move to a new stadium in 2002?

5. Mark Robins was the first Englishman to score a hat-trick in the Premier League.

Which club was he playing for?

6. Who was the only player to win consecutive Football League First Division titles with different clubs?

7. Which England manager said “I was just saying to your colleague, the referee has got me the sack – thank him ever so much, won’t you”?

8. Which country won the first ever European Championship?

9. Of the eight grounds that hosted games in Euro ‘96, which is the furthest north?

10. Who won international caps for Scotland in both football and cricket?

Answers - Bottom Page 34

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Harrogate Railway

Bamber Bridge

Match

01 Tom GOODWIN 02 Matthew LOVEGREEN 03 Laurence HUNTER 04 Luca MELLOR 05 Harry COATES 06 Dan THIRKELL 07 Chris OVINGTON 08 Charlie CLAMP 09 Tom OWEN 10 Nathan CURTIS 11 Ryan SHARROCKS

01 Lee DOVEY 02 George BOWYER 03 Adam DODD 04 Matt LAWLOR 05 Paul ALEXANDER 06 Glenn STEEL 07 Alistair WADDECAR 08 Curtis THOMPSON 09 Stuart VASEY 10 Jamie MILLIGAN 11 Chris MARLOW

Referee Duncan Street

12 Alex LOW 14 George MASON 15 Vincent DHESI 16 Dan BARRETT 17 Will PEERS

12 Matty KAY 14 Regan LINNEY 15 Ian MOSS 16 Dave HANKIN 17 Simon WILES

Manager Lee ASHFORTH

Manager Neil CROWE

officials

Assistants Thomas Cadman Kevin O’Donnell Assessor Gerald Taylor

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THERAILFC

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