Harrogate Railway Past Programme

Kick-off 3.00pm Saturday 29 August 2015 2015/16 - 80th Anniversary

Evostik Division 1 North

SEASON 2015/16

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6

CLUB OFFICIALS Chairman

ALAN SMITH Treasurer

CHRIS PARKES Club Secretary

ANN KIRK

Football Secretary

DAVID SHEPHERD Committee

NEIL OWEN, JOANNE OWEN, GARY JOHNSON, SIMON MERCER, ALAN SMITH, BEN DRURY, CHRIS WATT

12

Media/Press Officer

MARK P DOHERTY,

22

HAL BOXHALL-DOCKREE Clubhouse Manager

JOANNE OWEN, GARY JOHNSON

FIRST TEAM Manager

24

LEE ASHFORTH Assistant Manager

SIMON WOOD

35

Director of Football

STEVE GRIME Physio

ALEX FARRELL

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THE EDITOR’S WIDER VIEW

Welcome to the second edition of ‘The Wider View’ It has been a testing week for Harrogate Railway.

Defeat away to Brighouse Town followed by another loss, this time at home to Scarborough Athletic and a car accident in horrific weather conditions on the M62 involving four of our players on the way back from the Brighouse game, have put a lot of things into perspective.

for them to get to know how to play to each others’ strengths. Lee and the team are working hard in training to get that understanding.

Secondly, the car accident. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The car suffered extensive damage and it is a testament to modern vehicle design that the occupants walked away okay. The non-league community responded with messages of concern and their support. That is something that makes these leagues so special. We would like to thank everyone for their kind words, thoughts and prayers.

We’ve also had a player leave and one join us this week. As I said, a testing week, but one that we have come through as a club together.

Finally, in this our 80th year, the club is growing and healthy. We’re excited to bring you more and better quality content in your printed match day programme, a new online extended programme, through our social media (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Soundcloud, Instagram and on our website and blog).

Firstly, the games lost are something that hurts the players and fans. But it has to be remembered that this is a newly assembled side, with plenty of young up and coming players and it will take time

But we want to hear from you. What content would you like to see here? Let us know. Send your ideas to media@therailfc.com So, enjoy the game and please come back to Station View for the next match!

5

BRIGHOUSE

Brighouse Town 3 Harrogate Railway 1 Harrogate Railway were handed their first defeat of the season on Saturday afternoon as Ernest Boafo’s hattrick secured a 3-1 win for Brighouse Town.

Harrogate took the lead within the opening ten minutes when Ryan Sharrocks finished off a well worked team goal, however, Boafo levelled ten minutes before the break with a powerful near post strike.

The turning point of the contest came a minute before the interval when Jason Mycoe was penalised for a foul on Daniel Facey and Boafo converted the resulting spot-kick.

The final blow was dealt to Railway on 75 minutes when the impressive Boafo completed his hat-trick after capitalising on a rare Tom Goodwin error to put to bed any hoped of a comeback.

Lee Ashforth made three changes from the mid-week draw at Spennymoor Town with Mike Morris deputising for the injured Simon Parkes, while Cameron Lyn and Vincent Dhesi returned to the line-up.

77

Brighouse Town Match Report There were chances at either end in the early exchanges, first when Sharrocks’ volley was caught by Paul Hagreen, then as Steve Hollingworth controlled well with his chest and shot wide.

Sharrocks then opened the scoring after nine minutes with a goal involving all four Railway attackers.

Cameron Lyn set off on a trademark run down the right and sent in a low cross that Vincent Dhesi poked towards Roy Fogarty. The striker showed strength and composure to hold off the surrounding defenders and offload to Sharrocks who tucked his strike away in the bottom left corner.

Brighouse immediately looked for a response, but were twice denied shooting room by Alex Low and Dan Thirkell’s well timed blocks.

Tom Haigh then tried his luck from range, as did Mycoe at the other end; rushing forward from right back and powering

just wide of the left post.

Mid-way through the half Brighouse started to show signs of an equaliser as Facey’s low attempt was gathered at the near post by Goodwin, before the stopper kept out Boafo’s 25 yard drive minutes later.

There was little Railway’s ‘keeper could do about Boafo’s next attempt, however, as the tricky forward dropped a shoulder to beat his marker in the Railway box and smashed into the roof of the net to level.

A minute before the half-time whistle the tides turned as Brighouse were awarded a penalty.

Facey had the ball with his back to Mycoe and went down under the defender’s challenge with the referee deeming the incident a foul, despite Mycoe appearing to have played the ball.

Boafo stepped up confidently and blasted his spot-kick down the middle to give Paul Quinn’s men a 2-1 lead at the break.

First Defeat of the Season The home fans thought their side had added a third when Haigh’s corner reached Adam Field at the back post only for the defender to drill the first chance of the half into the side netting.

The hosts continued to threaten as substitute Leon Henry wrestled his way into the Railway area and fizzed a cross past Goodwin’s goal.

Boafa was hungry for a hattrick and almost had it when the striker latched on to a long ball and powered over the Railway bar.

Brighouse’s pressure finally paid off in the 75th minute when Boafa grabbed his third and put the contest to bed.

The forward will not have believed his luck as Goodwin’s dropped cross landed at the feet of Boafo to fire into an empty net.

opening created by Lyn beating his man and shooting ambitiously over from 40 yards.

Harrogate Railway: Goodwin, Mycoe, Hunter, Morris, Thirkell, Low, Lyn, Stockdill (Clamp 55), Fogarty (Outerbridge 45), Dhesi, Sharrocks (Brown 77) Subs not used: Kidd, Donaldson Goals: Sharrocks 9 Brighouse Town: Hagreen, Thornton, Stor, Hewitt, Field, Allison (Pollard 75), Hall, Haigh (Harris 69), Boafo, Hollingworth (Henry 60), Facey Subs not used: Stead, Baldwin Goals: Boafo 35, 44, 74 Referee: L. Watson Attendance: 154

Railway tried to reduce the deficit, however, a series of free kicks and corners came to nothing, with the visitors’ best 9

SCARBOROUGH

Harrogate Railway 0 Scarborough Athletic 6 Harrogate Railway suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Scarborough Athletic on Monday night in a one-sided contest at Station View.

Four goals in 13 first half minutes, including a hattrick for Thomas Corner, put the result beyond doubt with just 21 minutes on the clock.

Second half substitutes Alex Peterson and Ryan Blott added to the scoring after the break to round off a miserable night for Railway.

Scarborough have been in sterling form this season, and a fourth straight victory moves Monday night’s visitors to the top of the EvoStik NPL North.

Lee Ashforth made two changes from Saturday’s eventful trip to Brighouse with Jordan Outerbridge replacing the injured Lawrance Hunter at left-back and Charlie Clamp replacing Mike Morris.

13

Scarborough Match Report The first opportunity very nearly fell to Railway, who have made a habit of scoring early this season, however, Chandler Hallwood reacted quickly in the Scarborough goal to deny Vincent Dhesi a shooting opportunity.

The visitors then showed their intentions and overall quality, marching up the other end and forcing Tom Goodwin to make a good save to his left.

Bryan Hughes and Paul Foot’s men got their first goal of the night after just eight minutes when a hanging cross from left of the penalty area was nodded in at the back post by Corner.

It took just four minutes for ‘Boro to add a second, when Gary Bradshaw capitalised on a loose ball in the Railway defence and poked past the onrushing Goodwin.

14

Another four minutes passed and the Seasiders found the back of the net again as Corner excellently flicked Nathan Peat’s long free kick over

Goodwin and over the line.

The hosts looked shellshocked at this point, and conceded a fourth goal that coincided with Corner completing his hat-trick, as the prolific striker capitalised on Goodwin’s misjudgement of a low cross and tapped into an empty net.

A terrible start then got worse for Railway as Roy Fogarty was forced to depart the action due to a nasty looking gash to the head.

Brimming with confidence, Scarborough continued to dominate the contest and could have extended their lead had Railway’s defenders not piled bodies in the way to block a goal-bound shot from range.

Another defensive error at the back for Railway allowed Joseph Fox to try his luck, although his attempt was straight at the busy ‘keeper.

Ashforth’s side did manage to test Hallwood before the interval, with the hard-working

Painful Night For Railway Ryan Sharrocks cutting in on his right and saeing his strike well saved at the near post.

A rather subdued start to the second half featured Stephen Mallory’s free kick kept out by Goodwin as Railway attempted to tighten up.

The hosts carried on plugging away, despite the score-line and dominance of their opposition, with Dhesi side-footing over from outside the area.

Scarborough got a fifth after 63 minutes when Fox’s free-kick dropped kindly to substitute Peterson eight yards out for the striker to coolly slot home.

Another substitute striker, Blott, then rounded off the scoring for Scarborough, although there was a hint of controversy about the goal.

A direct through ball from the ‘Boro defence looked to have been brought down by the hand of Blott, although there was nothing controversial about the striker’s explosive turn of pace and exquisite dink over Goodwin.

With ironic chants of ‘we want seven’ from the travelling Scarborough supporters, the visitors didn’t let their tempo drop and, be it not for Goodwin catching Fox’s powerful effort at the second attempt, would have granted their fans’ wishes.

Harrogate Railway: Goodwin, Mycoe (Brown 54), Outerbridge, Low, Clamp, Thirkell, Sharrocks, Stockdill, Fogarty (Bromley 25), Dhesi, Lyn (Kidd 70) Subs not used: Ibrihimi, Morris Booked: Stockdill 72 Scarborough Athletic: Hallwood, Plummer (Metcalfe 45), Robson, Peat, Qualter, Mallory, Fox, Davidson, Corner (Peterson 56), Bradshaw (Blott 56), Rowe Subs not used: Lamplaugh, Skelton Goals: Corner 9, 16, 21, Bradshaw 12, Peterson 63, Blott 71 Booked: Blott 66 Referee: M. Dwyer Attendance: 301

17

Harrogate Railway are proudly supported by G H Brooks

Club opening hours: Monday and Tuesday closed (subject to football) Wednesday 7pm until 11pm Thursday 7pm until 11pm Friday 6pm until 11pm Saturday noon until 10pm Sunday noon until 8pm Events coming up at the club: 8pm Friday 11th September - Junior U12 parents poker night Events - Functions - Meetings - Parties - Group Events Telephone Joanne on 07920 114184 to book

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21

2014/15 First Division North League Table

Home

Away

All

Goals

#

Team

Pd

W

D

L

W

D

L

W

D

L

F

A

Diff

Pts

Adj

1.

Salford City

42

17

2

2

13

3

5

30

5

7

92

42

50

95

0

2.

Darlington 1883

42

16

3

2

12

4

5

28

7

7

99

37

62

91

0

3.

Bamber Bridge

42

14

3

4

11

5

5

25

8

9

88

58

30

83

0

4.

Northwich Victoria

42

12

5

4

13

2

6

25

7

10

75

39

36

82

0

5.

Spennymoor Town

42

13

5

3

9

6

6

22

11

9

76

45

31

77

0

6.

Scarborough Athletic

42

14

1

6

9

5

7

23

6

13

80

61

19

75

0

7.

Mossley

42

12

2

7

11

4

6

23

6

13

79

63

16

75

0

8.

Harrogate Railway Athletic

42

11

5

5

8

5

8

19

10

13

85

75

10

67

0

9.

Warrington Town

42

10

5

6

9

3

9

19

8

15

65

55

10

65

0

10.

Droylsden

42

13

2

6

7

1

13

20

3

19

98

84

14

63

0

11.

Lancaster City

42

10

3

8

8

5

8

18

8

16

65

53

12

62

0

12.

Farsley AFC

42

12

5

4

6

2

13

18

7

17

73

64

9

61

0

13.

Clitheroe

42

8

7

6

6

3

12

14

10

18

73

81

-8

52

0

14.

Brighouse Town

42

9

3

9

5

6

10

14

9

19

64

81

-17

51

0

15.

Burscough

42

6

5

10

6

7

8

12

12

18

62

73

-11

48

0

16.

Kendal Town

42

8

5

8

4

5

12

12

10

20

81

92

-11

46

0

17.

Ossett Albion

42

8

3

10

5

4

12

13

7

22

49

72

-23

43

-3

18.

Ossett Town

42

9

2

10

3

4

14

12

6

24

48

83

-35

42

0

19.

Radcliffe Borough

42

6

7

8

2

4

15

8

11

23

49

91

-42

35

0

20.

Prescot Cables

42

5

9

7

2

3

16

7

12

23

47

86

-39

33

0

21.

New Mills

42

3

3

15

3

4

14

6

7

29

56

107

-51

25

0

22.

Padiham

42

4

3

14

2

3

16

6

6

30

50

112

-62

24

0

2014/15 Results Date

Opponents

H/A

L/W/D

Score

Kick Off

Competition

21-Aug

Scarborough

A

L

3-2

19:45

League

16-Aug 23-Aug 30-Aug 30-Aug 06-Sep 08-Sep 13-Sep 20-Sep 22-Sep 27-Sep 01-Oct 04-Oct 07-Oct 11-Oct

14-Oct 18-Oct 25-Oct 28-Oct

01-Nov 03-Nov 08-Nov 15-Nov 22-Nov 24-Nov 29-Nov 01-Dec 06-Dec 13-Dec 20-Dec 26-Dec 28-Dec 01-Jan 03-Jan 10-Jan 24-Jan 19-Jan

07-Feb 10-Feb 14-Feb 23-Feb 28-Feb

07-Mar 14-Mar 21-Mar 04-Apr 06-Apr 11-Apr

14-Apr 18-Apr 25-Apr

Mossley

Droylsden

Farsley AFC

Garforth Town Burscough Clitheroe Clitheroe

Prescot Cables Brighouse

Colwyn Bay

Darlington 1883

Warrington Town Ossett Albion Kendal Town

Bamber Bridge

Spennymoor Town Droylsden Clitheroe

Brighouse

Scarborough

Radcliffe Boro Salford City

Ossett Town Goole

Northwich Victoria Frickley Athletic Lancaster City New Mills Brighouse

Spennymoor Town Salford City

Farsley AFC

Ossett Albion

Warrington Town Bamber Bridge

Spennymoor Town Padiham

Ramsbotom Utd Darlington 1883 Prescot Cables New Mills

Ossett Town Padiham

Kendal Town Burscough

Spennymoor Town Radcliffe Boro Mossley

Northwich Victoria Lancaster City

H A H A A H H A H A A H A A H H H A H H A A H H H H A H A H H A H A A H A A H H A A H H H A H A A H

D L L

W W W W D L L L L

W L

D L

W L

D

W L

W W W W W W W W D

W L

W D

W W D L L L

W L

W D

W W L

D D

W

5-5 6-1 2-4 1-2 1-3 1-0 3-1 2-2 1-2 3-2 7-1 1-2 2-3 4-3 1-1 2-3 4-3 2-1 1-1 3-0 4-3 1-4 4-0 2-1 2-1 7-1 0-1 3-0 1-4 1-1 1-0 4-2 2-1 0-0 1-2 5-1 1-1 3-1 1-5 1-2 1-2 3-1 2-0 0-0 4-0 1-3 0-1 2-2 2-2 3-0

15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 19:45 15:00 15:00 19:45 15:00 19:45 15:00 19:45 15:00 19:45 15:00 15:00 19:45 15:00 19:45 15:00 15:00 15:00 19:45 15:00 19:45 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 19:45 15:00 19:45 15:00 19:45 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00

League League League

FA Cup League League

FA Cup League

WRCFA Cup FA Cup League League Leagur

League League

FA Trophy League League League League League League League

Doodson Cup League

Doodson Cup League League League League League League League League League

Doodson Cup League

Doodson Cup QF League League League League League League League League League League League League

23

SPENNYMOOR TOWN HISTORY Spennymoor Town FC was born in the summer of 2005 following the demise of both UniBond Premier Division club Spennymoor United AFC and Northern League Second Division club Evenwood Town FC. The club was originally formed in 1904, chiefly at the instigation of local councillor and businessman Thomas Grant, who negotiated use of the Brewery Field, used previously

by Tudhoe Rugby Club. Spennymoor United were six times Northern League Champions, four times winners of the old North Eastern League, on 16 occasions Durham Challenge Cup holders. They 18 times reached the FA Cup first round, twice the second and in 1937 at West Brom in front of a 23,000 crowd, the third.

Spennymoor have since faced Wigan Athletic, Tranmere Rovers, Chesterfield & Rotherham United in the same competition. Spennymoor United also reached the semi-finals of the F.A.Trophy in 1978 (the first North East and the only North-

ern League side to do so), Won the Northern League Cup five times, JR Cleator Cup, Northern Counties East Premier Division and the UniBond League Cup. A portfolio of players have played for the club and moved onto the Football League over the years, most in particular Johnny Dixon who captained Aston Villa in their 1957 F.A.Cup Final victory over Manchester United, meanwhile John Collins – the father of comedian Frank Skinner – also played for the club just before the Second World War. Following the Northern League’s decision not to be part of the pyramid, Spennymoor joined the Northern Counties East League and won the Championship at their second attempt in 1993 for promotion to the UniBond First Division, before promotion was secured on the last day of the season to the UniBond Premier Division with a victory over Ashton United in front of a near 1,000 Brewery Field crowd.

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Spennymoor Town History The same season, Spennymoor became the first club from the First division to win the UniBond League Challenge Cup, beating Hyde United 3-1 in the Final at Harrogate Town.

Bad news followed at the end of the century when the club lost its main sponsor and faced two disastrous seasons without financial support which told on the field as the club was relegated into the UniBond first division.

The club did, however, bounce back under the leadership of Jamie Pollock to gain promotion back into the Premier division in 2003 and the season after the Moors were in the play offs for entry into the newly formed Nationwide Conference North, but lost to Bradford Park Avenue 3-1.

The Moors social club was burned to the ground in an arson attack on Christmas Day 2003 and from then on the club had no income and, despite the appointment of a new chairman, things got worse. In 2005 the club could not fulfil their fixtures and Spennymoor

United AFC were removed from the UniBond League and the club sadly went out of existence after 101 years of senior soccer.

Out of the gloom, people were working hard to get the club back on track and the supporters formed an independent group with the intention of putting a club together as a supporters trust. Evenwood Town, who were also having great difficulties, had ambitions to move to the Brewery Field and both groups submitted their plans to the local council.

Following an historic meeting at the Penny Gill in Spennymoor the supporters agreed to stand down and let the Evenwood proposal proceed.

The Northern League and FA approved the plan; that Evenwood Town would take the name of Spennymoor Town FC Ltd and play at the Brewery Field in United’s colours of Black & White stripes in the ANL division 2. Since then the FA have twice declined permission to rename the club Spennymoor United.

Spennymoor Town History

The first season saw the club finish 8th in the Northern League 2nd Division; meanwhile following the return of Jamie Pollock as Manager in 2006, Spennymoor blew apart the 2nd division clinching the title with record points and winning their last 17 games and being unbeaten for 6 months of the season. Pollock’s summer departure saw Spennymoor United legend Jason Ainsley promoted to team manager this coincided with the signing of a long term lease guaranteeing the club a home for the foreseeable future.

The season brought a 12th place in the league and the heart break of a last minute defeat at Gateshead in the semi-final of the Durham Challenge Cup. Season 2008-2009 was, as has come to be expected, another turbulent season following the departure of

the club chairman. Spennymoor survived to defy the odds and finish the season having just lost out on the league title finishing with the third best points haul together with Whitley Bay and having had a fantastic run in the FA Vase which included a trip to Devon in the last 16 where Bideford ended the Moors Wembley dream.

The 2009-10 season saw the arrival of former Aston Villa player Bradley Groves as Club Chairman with former England, Newcastle and West Ham United Striker Paul Kitson as President. Manager Jason Ainsley brought a number of new players to the club which saw the Moors top the table from October and win the Northern League Championship by a clear 13 points and become only the third club in the league’s history to hit the 100 point mark.

27

Spennymoor Town History The success continued into the 2010 – 11 season with the Moors retaining the league title this time with a record breaking 103 points.

The club exited the FA Cup in the very early stages this season but did progress to the later stages of the FA Vase which included long journeys to Cadbury Heath and Poole Town.

The 2011 – 12 season proved to be a thriller with a third successive championship and more domestic silverware to add to the collection. The season started well with a rare victory in a penalty shootout over Newcastle Benfield in the Cleator Cup and a game against Newcastle United reserves in front of a bumper crowd.

28

The club also had a decent run in the FA Cup progressing to the 3rd Qualifying round where we went out to Witton Albion but the run included one of the best performances of the season when we won against Ashton in the previous round 3-0.

The FA Vase was probable the biggest disappointment this year when we lost a rare Vase home tie against fellow Northern League side Ashington in the third round.

The Durham Challenge Cup on the other hand was another highlight when we defeated Gateshead Reserves 3-0 in the final at the Eppleton Centre in Hetton to take the trophy for the first time in 15 years.

Spennymoor Town History The league title was only secured on the last game of the season at home to Vase finalists Dunston UTS. The Moors had not topped the table once during the season and to clinch it by winning the last 8 games in a row made it even sweeter.

The 2012-13 season proved to be the most successful in the clubs short history, despite only being runners up in the league to a runaway Darlington side; the Moors enjoyed success at Wembley Stadium in the FA Vase, won the League Cup, retained the Cleator Cup and were also runners up in the Durham Challenge Cup.

With the league being extended to 24 teams this year with the inclusion of Durham and Darlington, fitting in all of the games was always going to be difficult. Along with the cup runs and the loss of winter games due to the bad weather, the season was eventually extended into the middle of May as the club played over 80 games if we include pre-season friendlies.

One other record was broken during the season and that was the attendance at a league game.

The home tie against Darlington was witnessed by 2670 supporters and is the one and only time we have segregated a league game.

Spennymoor Town History It was in the FA Vase however that the club were to make history. Other than the 1st round away to Bridlington and a trip to Guernsey in the semi-final, in all of the other rounds we actually got home ties playing Newcastle Benfield, Billingham Synthonia, Lordswood, Bemerton Heath Harlequins and Gornal Athletic respectively.

The first leg of the semi-final was a daunting task both on the pitch and off it, logistically.

Having explored every avenue we eventually chartered our own flight to carry 39 players and staff and 39 supporters.

The second leg was a tense affair with the game being scheduled for 5:30 to allow the game to be shown back in Guernsey.

Shildon had already suffered a defeat to Tunbridge Wells in the other semi-final so we knew it wasn’t to be an all North East Final. It was Stephenson who finally broke the deadlock with the only goal of the game in front of a 1700 strong crowd who went into raptures at the goal and the final whistle. We were finally going to Wembley for the very first time.

The Town Council really got behind the club for the Wembley trip and donated the use of a Following a very dodgy landvacant high street shop for the ing on the Island we found the duration of the build-up. Selling home team drying out the pitch Wembley merchandise and bus the following day with a helitickets it was a bustling entercopter. Our 39 supporters were prise and whenever we took dedrowned out in the 4300 crowd livery of the black & white shirts but it was a superb perforthere were queues the length mance on the pitch that saw the of the high street. Eventually Moors run out 3-1 winners. The we filled 24 busses of supportgame was also beamed back ers for the trip with many more to the clubhouse and numerous travelling independently. Some pubs in Spennymoor where 5000 supporters out sang the many more fans savoured the 12000 from Tunbridge Wells. victory.

They also looked magnificent decked out in the black & white.

Spennymoor Town History The noise when Graydon smashed in the second goal to win the game was deafening.

With Daniel Moore breaking his ankle weeks before the game, he and Chris Mason the captain on the day lifted the trophy in the Royal Box together.

The bank holiday Monday after the Final saw the Moors back in League action on the morning but after a quick wash and brush up it was back on with the suits for an open top bus tour of the town followed by a civic reception.

Nobody could have predicted the turn out by the townsfolk that day.

Everywhere there were banners, flags and scarves and

the whole of the town virtually came to a standstill when the bus reached the town hall. Totally unprecedented scenes greeted the players and officials that day and it was nothing short of magnificent to see the town get behind the team in such a way.

The league form was starting to suffer at this point and while it was still mathematically possible to catch Darlington in reality it was a bridge too far. The club took the opportunity to play a few of the U17 Academy players to give some of the first team a break and they slotted in to the team very well which bodes well for the future.

The 2013 – 14 started where we left off with the club retaining the Cleator Cup against Whitley Bay, with the league champions Darlington declining the invitation to compete.

Following the very late end of the previous season, preparations for the new season had to be rushed through which affected form to some extent and the team suffered an early defeat away to West Auckland. With the emergence of Celtic Nation, Marske’s early form along with Shildon putting up a strong team it was clear from the start that the push for promotion was not going to be easy.

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Spennymoor Town History The FA Cup threw up a home tie against Lancaster from the Evo-Stik Division one and Moors suffered a rare home defeat going down to a single goal to a well organised Lancaster.

on to a 23 game unbeaten run to finally overhaul the points total set by Celtic Nation when the club clinched the league title for the fourth time in five years topping the 100 points mark again.

The defence of the FA Vase started with a falter with a nil all draw away to Winsford, though the return tie saw a seven nil victory at the Brewery Field.

One of the key moments of the season was the away game at Celtic Nation where a 1000 plus crowd witnessed the Moors come back from 3 – 1 down with 10 minutes to go to finish up 3 – 3 with Kallum Griffiths smashing a 25 yard shot into the bottom corner with barely a minute left on the clock.

Bridlington and Causeway were the next two teams to fall to the Moors but in the 5th round we suffered another home defeat to Newcastle Benfield to end this year’s run.

The defeat however spurred the team

The support for the club increased again rising to an average of 425 for

the home games making the Moors the highest supported club in the league and the second highest support in the whole of Step 5.

Spennymoor Town also made their third consecutive appearance in the Durham Challenge Cup final and like last year lost the tie to a late goal this time to Shildon who won the trophy for the first time since 1972.

The club are now looking forward to starting life in the Evo-Stik Division One in the 2014 – 15 season with the first phase of the clubs ambition to achieve 3 promotions in 5 years complete.

Spennymoor Town History At the start of the first season in the Evo-Stik league the club chairman Brad Groves set out the targets for the year.

These were to have a good run in the FA Cup and FA Trophy and to reach the playoffs.

crowd.

Telford were too strong in the midweek replay though we did feature in the first round draw.

In the FA Trophy the Moors made it through to the first round and were the lowest placed club in the competition at that stage.

A lack lustre performance saw the club lose away to Hyde in December.

In the FA Cup following wins over Tadcaster, Bishop Auckland and Dunston, Moors were drawn at home against Telford of the Conference.

Moors were two goals up going into extra time when the Referee somehow found eight minutes of added time to everyone’s disbelief, which allowed Telford time to draw level in front of an 863 strong

The first game in the league saw us drawn away to Padiham in Lancashire where a positive start gained the first points of the campaign.

The second game however was the first real test when we played Darlington 1883 at home the following Tuesday.

The crowd of 1882 saw Darlington take the points and left Moors in no doubt what the league was all about.

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Spennymoor Town History The season saw some excellent victories both home and away and the club were well in contention towards the end of the season, but then a run of bad results saw the title hopes slip away leaving the club in the fifth and final playoff place.

The playoff game against Darlington has been hailed by many of the 1987 crowd as the game of the season in

would have been struggling to recover.

a fiercely competitive game which swung backwards and forwards.

Spennymoor were 2 – 1 up with 5 minutes to go and if Kallum Griffiths shot from 40 yards had hit the net rather than the bar then Darlington

As it turned out, two Darlington substitutes made the difference with two very late goals to seal the victory.

All in all it was a very successful season for Spennymoor with all of the targets met.

The Reserve side also had a successful first season in the Wearside League finishing fifth.

Club Round-Up ue Cup Team res, with the Leag Ladies’ FirstLadies have had a change to their fixtuStation View on Sunday 30th ay York City at Harrogate Railw ey will now play Th . ed on stp po having been f is at 2pm August. Kick-of

Junior Tea m

s The U16 1st te am squad decide d to have two te & District leag ams this season ue as we are, an , one in the Har d one in the Gar to test the boys rogate forth League fo . r a bigger chal lenge and Ian Wade helped get funding from two years to he West Riding in lp set up an un the form of a gr der 10 girls team ant for £1500 ov strength with ge . Amanda Ford er tting interested has gone streng players which th to has resulted in two U10 girls We will have th teams. e following team s next for this se ason: U8 Boys who are entering in the Harrogate & Wharfedale Ju U10 Girls x 2 nior friendly le new teams ente ague. ring in the Har rogate & Distri U12 Boys new ct junior girls le team entering in ague.

Division 2 in th league. e Harrogate & District junior boys U13 Boys x 3One team in th e H ar and a team in D rogate & Distri ct junior boys ivision 2 and a league Divisio 3rd team in the n1 local Martin H U15 New team ouse friendly le and manager is ague.

Steve Davey (H legend. ugger) who is a former Railw ay U16 New team in the stronger Garforth League Division 1.

U16 x 3 teams, two in Division 1 and one in D ivision 2.

U18 girls team in the Harroga te & District ju nior girls league .

Sherwood

ue Sherwood’s leag

season kicks off

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on 7th Septembe

eat players, so the lookout for gr

ays on The club are alw in touch! t ge se ea pl team

g out for the

if you fancy tryin

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Harrogate Railway Reserves 4 Ossett Town Reserves 0

Fatlum Ibrihimi (2) Greg Kidd Ollie Smith

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40

Harrogate Railway

Spennymoor Town

01 Tom GOODWIN 02 Simon PARKES 03 Lawrance HUNTER 04 Nathaniel PELLS 05 Dan THIRKELL 06 Alex LOW 07 Ryan SHARROCKS 08 Jack STOCKDILL 09 Stephen BROMLEY 10 Charlie CLAMP 11 Jordan OUTERBRIDGE

01 Daniel LOWSON 02 Kallum GRIFFITHS 03 Christopher MASON 04 Michael HOGANSON 05 Stephen CAPPER 06 Lee MOORE 07 Joseph TAIT 08 Paul JOHNSON 09 Jordan ROBINSON 10 Shane HENRY 11 Lewis DODDS

12 Fatlum IBRIHIMI 14 Vincent DHESI 15 Greg KIDD 16 Harry BROWN 17 Mike MORRIS

12 Scott KERR 14 Anthony PEACOCK 15 Dominic CAPPER 16 James RISBROUGH 17 Gavin COGDON

Manager Lee ASHFORTH

Managers Jason AINSLEY

Match officials

Referee Mark Dwyer Assistants Mark Findley Gavin Hock Assessor George Pye

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