Harrogate Railway Past Programme - Sep/Oct - 2016

Sept/Oct 2016

WIDER VIEW the

The Gaffer

Big Sam has nothing on James Grayson

Men In Black

Aaron Bannister talks about being a referee

Mr Railway

Harry tells us about his 70 years at Station View

PRIDE | PASSION | TRADITION

THE

WIDER VIEW 4

EDITOR’S VIEW Changes at Station View and a non-league transfer window

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THE INTERVIEW Stephen Bromley is on fire - we catch up with him to chat

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MATCH REPORT Bridlington Town visit Railway in the NCEL Premier League

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MEN IN BLACK Aaron Bannister tells us what motivates him to be a referee

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AROUND THE GROUND More hidden places around Station View shown

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THE GAFFER Non-League Yorkshire's James Grayson charity game report

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RAILWAY CLUBHOUSE Need somewhere to host an event our clubhouse is the perfect place

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TRACK RECORD A brief look at Railway’s history, bang up to date!

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STANDING VIEW Harry Wood has been at Railway for 70 years, find out more

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OCTOBER FIXTURES Who are Railway playing in October? Here's our quick guide

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WHO ARE RAILWAY Club details, who's who and links to social media to find out more

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER Read previous issues of our monthly magazine and match day programmes online

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EDITOR’S VIEW / OPINION

All Change!

It's October and we're publishing The Wider View again. This issue has been delayed due to the various changes at Railway.

Since our last monthly magazine, we've seen the departure of our manager, Lee Ashforth and Martin Powell, as well as a number of players from the team.

Simon Parkes, George Mason, Harry Brown, Alex Low and Danny Stimpson have all left, to name just a few.

Everyone can agree that the club was not getting the results that we need in the NCEL Premier League and we had found ourselves in the relegation zone.

Performances hadn't actually been that bad, but the team seemed to have forgotten how to win.

In fact, for certain games, Railway have struggled to put more than one player on the bench as a substitute.

It's this aspect of the game that surprises me.

I know that the financial rewards for playing for Harrogate Railway are not anything more than basic, certainly when compared to other teams in the league who seemingly pay relatively large amounts of money per week to their key players.

Then there is the issue of contracts.

Some teams seemingly have the financial ability to contract players and provide a level of stability to their squad.

With Paul Beesley coming in as player/ manager and now Liam Ormsby joining as assistant manager, there is a new impetus at the club.

When you don't have players contracted, there is always the prospect of your in-form players being picked off throughout the season or at least the destabilising attention of seven days being put in to allow other teams to talk to players.

Two wins and two draws have seen Railway climb the table a little and the manner that the results have been ground out shows that the team is learning how to earn points.

This constant movement between teams replicates the old league transfer system and something that I believe was a bad thing for clubs, supporters and most importantly players.

It has to be realised that we haven't brought in a completely new team of highly paid players to turn things around.

Maybe it is time to introduce transfer windows to non-league football.

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With set windows of opportunity to get players, it would help settle teams down

and stop the bigger teams spotting a star player in one of the less financially capable teams and taking them.

The other option maybe to allow transfers to happen outside of set transfer windows, but then make a team taking a player pay a small fee to do so.

movement of players during the season from team to team and I do think that there needs to be some sort of control put in place to discourage this.

I believe many teams would welcome this. Let me know what you think, tweet us as @therailfc_media.

I believe that there is simply too much

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GREG KIDD

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STEPHEN BROMLEY THE INTERVIEW

STEPHEN BROMLEY / INTERVIEW

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Full name Stephen Bromley Nickname Brommers What do you do for a living? How does it impact on playing football?

I'm a Police officer of 13 years service and work for North Yorkshire police.

The juggling of shift work and playing at the level I play at is quite impactive especially when I've just finished a nightshift and have to go play to only go back to work after that game, it's quite hard but worth being tired for.

How long have you been playing football?

Since the age of 11.

I was a late starter and to be honest I was terrible compared to my mates so they used to just throw me in goals at 5-a-side (by the way I was like a young Gordon Banks back then) First football memory?

Wow, this was going to watch Leeds in the 93/94 season (it was my brothers birthday, poor lad's a Leeds fan).

Which team do you support?

Manchester United...one of my distant relatives lives there so I'm allowed to support them Which coach has had the biggest influence on your football career?

This is an easy one, which is my dad.

Growing up my dad was a coach who managed at a competitive level, he's the one that's guided me through all of my football and any challenges I've had along the way.

I still go to him for advice now, advice on and off the

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STEPHEN BROMLEY / INTERVIEW pitch, football related or not.

Which players have you enjoyed playing with during your career?

I've played with some great players over the years, however it's true what they say in that when you get older you start to enjoy it more.

I think that's because deep down you know it's coming to an end so I would have to refer to people I've played with over the past 5 years or so, which include

Matthew Duerdon (Knaresbrough Town) Dave Thomas (Knaresbrough Town) Seb Carole (Knaresborough Town) Simon Parkes (Harrogate Railway) Nathan Cartman (Harrogate Railway) Matt Heath (Harrogate Railway).

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Best advice given about football?

Yet again, this is advice from my dad and the words I used to hear him say and shout whilst I was on the pitch was 'Hit him back'.

He used to say 'When you do it back to them and you do it right you don't tend to have them do it to you again'.

Every footballer can relate to this I'm sure. (just to get the message across I don't promote violence in football)

Which team have you enjoyed playing for the most? Why? I'd have to say Halifax Town.

This set up my foundations as a player which I'd like to think I bring to the game today.

We were always told to put players under pressure, you see a player won't usually make mistakes on his own, however if you pressure him into making them you'll reap rewards.

I've grabbed loads of goals doing this and it works.

What position do you prefer playing in? Why? If you could choose any position on the pitch – what would it be?

This ones easy for me, my favourite position is Striker, however in my youth I was a left winger and prior to that a wing-back for Halifax Town.

By the way that's the hardest position I've ever played in.

As the club went into administration I was advised by one of the coaches to consider playing left back and in his words 'You'd make it in that position at a higher level'.

Thankfully I've never regretted ignoring that advice as that position bores me.

Which player in the game do you most admire?

There are three :Peter Shmichael as Manches-

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STEPHEN BROMLEY / INTERVIEW

ter United wouldn't have won half the titles in the 90's without him.

David Beckham and Christiano Ronaldo.

I think most football fans respect what these guys do on and off the pitch and they're great ambassadors for the game and let's face it what child football fans doesn't love them.

Do you enjoy playing? What motivates you to play the game?

Like any other player, I absolutely love the game, once you start to enjoy it at such a young age it has you hooked for life.

Most women think we're mad, well my wife does anyway.

Best player you’ve played with?

People at our level normally mention a professional players at this point but I'm going to name someone from the amateur/semi pro level, who now will be aged in his 50's.

He's named Alan Morley snr.

I've watched this guy humiliate midfielders not just once or twice

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in a game but throughout the 90 minutes and this was consistent upon season after season.

I've always wondered why this guy never made it at the highest of the pro level.

I've no doubt that if he was born 20 years later and with the right coaching we'd have been watching him on TV. Best coach you’ve worked with?

Even though I've played at a higher level I'd have to say Billy Miller.

Billy has a presence about him which stands out straight away and you just know he's the boss/ manager.

In the 3 seasons I played for him in the Evo-Stick I wasn't aware of one player who had given him any verbals or backchat, nor would they have done so.

In my opinion Billy's coaching is very up to date and modern, most importantly he brings an air of old school to the changing rooms which is what I admire about him as a manager, all of the best managers around have this about them and it gains respect from their players.

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BRIDLINGTON TOWN / MATCH REPORT

NCEL PREMIER

BRIDLINGT

R

ailway kicked off the NCEL Premier League game at Station View without Paul Beesley, their new manager standing on the side-line as he was ill.

The 90 minutes started brightly with both teams getting the ball on the ground and passing it around. Harrogate Railway settled the more quickly of the two and were soon pressing the Bridlington Town goal.

On ten minutes, Railway had the breakthrough when Dan Barrett ran across the left corner of the Town penalty box and guided the ball between the advancing keeper and defender to make it 1-0.

Bridlington responded immediately, pushing forward, getting more possession and trying to create some clearcut chances.

Their equaliser came in the 22nd minute when confusion in the Railway defence allowed Andy Norfolk to fire

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TON TOWN

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BRIDLINGTON TOWN / MATCH REPORT

the ball home and make it 1-1.

Worse was to come four minutes later.

A mix-up by the Railway defenders saw the ball find its way to Tom Flemming who had a tap-in into an empty net. Bridlington Town were 2-1 up and in control of the game.

Railway struggled to find any real, meaningful possession in the remaining minutes of the half, with Town managing to have a lot of possession, but very few clear-cut chances of their own.

The Rail came out with renewed purpose in the second half, seeing more of the ball and pressing Bridlington back in the search for an equaliser.

However, it was Bridlington Town that scored next and effectively put the game beyond Railway.

Tim Taylor received the ball

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outside the Railway penalty box, ran at the goal and curved his shot around everyone to make it 3-1 to the visitors.

Brett Agnew saw red for Bridlington as he received his second yellow of the game, but despite the numerical advantage, time was against Railway.

Harrogate had a lot of possession in the final 15 minutes of the game, even finding the back of the net at one point.

Brandon Deane, who had poised a dangerous threat throughout the game found himself clear through.

He ran straight and shot under the advancing keeper, however the linesman raised his flag and the goal was disallowed for offside.

Try as they did, Railway were unable to make the breakthrough and the game ended 3-1 to the visitors and the three points were heading out of Station View.

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BRIDLINGTON TOWN / MATCH REPORT

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MIB Men in black

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AARON BANNISTER / INTERVIEW

What motivates someone to become a referee? We caught up with Aaron Bannister and he explains how he became one of the men in black...

Hi, I’m Aaron Bannister and I’m a Level 3 Referee.

I mainly referee in the Northern Counties East League and (Above and right) the Evo Stik North, South and Aaron during the NCEL Premier League Premier Divisions. game against HandI am an Assistant Referee on sworth Parramore the National League North, as well as, as Forth Official on Aaron watches on as the National League Premier. the Railway and Trafford players get to grips I am a Level 2 Tutor, an Ob- with each other.

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server and I also work for the West Riding County FA as Competitions Coordinator.

I started refereeing at the age of 14, as my football career can only be described as woeful (at best!).

My dad is a referee so I went to watch him regularly.

One Sunday morning in South Kirkby, the club assistant decided he’d had enough, so threw the flag on the floor.

My dad asked me to pick it up Mainly gaining respect from and the rest is history. senior players and managers.

same every young referee faces.

I loved it, so I booked on the referee’s course, passed 12 weeks later and I made my way up through the refereeing levels.

I know this is the case, because most of my mates were also young referees and all had similar comments directed at them.

They see a young lad refereeing and automatically think ‘He’s never played the game, he doesn’t understand’ or ‘they get younger these referee’s, not as good as the older During this time, I was chosen guys!’ to be in the West Riding CFA The second statement is probSchool of Excellence and The ably true!

FA National Referee Development Group.

However, there isn’t much I can do about it! I go out and As I reached my late teens/ do my best, week in, week early twenties I came across out. quite a few challenges in refereeing.

The challenges I faced are the

After a couple more years refereeing, I reached Level 4, my first taste of Semi-Professional Football.

I quickly realised the importance of both your on-field performance as well as the off-field performance.

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AARON BANNISTER / INTERVIEW

As a referee at this level, your conduct has to become so much more professional. If you have a poor attitude, you will not survive.

ey”, “we are cheats”, “useless” as well as much, much more.

The only reply to this is that when we get a decision wrong, it’s not on purpose.

The pressure is certainly added and decisions are so much more important to We can’t see everything and we call it as both the clubs and the referees in the we see it. middle.

We are only human and we make misI was lucky enough to earn promotion takes. to Level 3, the level I am at now.

Something else I think people don’t realI still regularly hear comments from the ise is that we often reflect after the game crowd/managers/players that say “we about those ‘big decisions’ and if they don’t care”, “are in for it for the mon- happen to be incorrect, it does matter,

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we do care and we certainly have no bias towards any team!

I would like people to consider that we are marked every game by each club and are often marked on our technical performance by observers.

Again, this comes with an added pressure to referee the game to the letter of the law, but also with a bit of ‘common sense’.

We can lose valuable marks just by something as simple as different colour sock tape on a player or administrating a technical caution.

Whilst some clubs may mark you down because of a 92nd minute penalty!

we can get a closer relationship between the clubs and the referees, as it is desperately needed.

Unfortunately, most players don’t want to learn about the laws of the game and most Referees are not interested in tactics.

You have to find a balance, which at times, can I do think we can learn be very difficult. from each other though.

Looking forward, I hope

In particular, about each

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AARON BANNISTER / INTERVIEW

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other’s expectations and really move forward.

nities for both young and old referees ever increasing.

We are seeing a massive decrease in cautions for dissent and I would like this to continue.

I would recommend anyone who is thinking of doing the course to do so.

The ‘Respect Program’ has had a massive impact and continuing to work with captains is a massive success.

The way the Referee’s Course is run now is superb.

I am actively involved as a Tutor to teach new referees and I can clearly see an increase in ability within the new referees, as well as, the opportu-

It’s a great opportunity and you can be involved at a very high standard if you have the commitment.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article and thanks to Mark for the opportunity to put our view across!

Aaron

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STATION VIEW / AROUND THE GROUND

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HARROGATE RAILWAY / CLUBHOUSE

WELCOME! My name is Teri. Myself and my husband, Buz, manage the bar here at Station View.

Members and non-members alike are all very welcome!

The clubhouse is a light, airy and modern building, ideal for functions and parties, which we host for a variety of occasions to

suit your needs.

The venue is free to hire and parties of over forty adults can claim a ÂŁ50 bar tab.

We offer hot and cold catering in a buffet style at competitive prices.

We can also arrange a disco

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and/or karaoke from Buzstarz Karaoke at a special club price.

There is a special atmosphere here in the clubhouse on matchdays. However, the fund doesn’t stop there!

Our opening hours are given below and we host pool and darts team matches here.

We have a monthly quiz and it is a really fun family event held on a Friday evening. Food is provided, along with a raffle and other games.

Buzstarz often finish the evening with a karaoke sing-song.

Opening hours: Thurs 7pm, Fri 6pm, Sat midday, Sun midday to 6pm.

We host bands and singers regularly - check our calendar of events.

Come and join us, we look forward to seeing you soon!

To make enquiries on how we can help host your event, contact Teri on 07412 384 644 or 01423 883 104

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Harry Wood Mr Harrogate Railway

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OPINION / FAN'S VIEW

STANDING VIEW

You'll see Harry around the club and everyone knows him. If you've got a little time to spare, then it is well worth having a chat as there are plenty of facinating stories that he can tell you.

We were lucky enough to spend some time listening to some of the tales he has to tell...

When did you first get involved with Harrogate Railway?

In 1947, just after the war.

There was a policeman in Starbeck, we used to play in the field and he came and said Why don’t you go join the league. We said we had no money and no kit and that was all we’d hear about it. Then a fortnight later he came and said from now on you are Railway Juniors and that was how it all started.

Well in 1953 I got a very bad injury in my right and I’d been playing for the first team then and that finished me off with playing football was concerned.

At that time people were leaving the railway, you know they were closing this down and they asked me to go on the committee and I was first non-railwayman to be put on.

Then later on it go so bad that they had to put non-railwaymen on the committee and I made chairman.

Over the years we’ve had some great results.

We played Harrison Parks in the Amateur Cup and then of course Bristol City here in

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the FA Cup. We’ve had some really good times and helped a lot of junior players on their way and a lot of ladies teams. So it’s been good and I’ve really enjoyed it.

70 years but I’ve really enjoyed every minute of it.

What have been the highlights for you?

Well I think the highlight was the Bristol City game to be quite honest, there were something like 3,500 here that day, but it was a really cold day.

For a little club like us, to get to play a club like Bristol City it was out of this world.

You’ve seen many changes in the league?

Oh yes, many changes. You know, now to be honest it is all money. At one time no one got a ha’penny for playing and we had good teams playing at that time as well.

But I’m afraid football has changed a lot over the years. So now I’m still vice-president and I still enjoy every minute of it.

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OPINION / FAN'S VIEW How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?

86…87 shortly.

What makes you still come down to Harrogate Railway?

Ever since I’ve been a junior here, I’ve been involved and I’ve got myself up from nothing to committee man and it has just gone on and I’ve enjoyed it and we’ve had some really good football teams down here, some really good people.

Is it still the same for you as when you first started?

As enjoyment is concerned, yes. Yes Still enjoy every minute of it and we’ve done a lot for junior football around here and long may it continue.

You mentioned that you got an injury fairly early on in your football career, would you love to have played for longer?

Oh I’d loved to have played a lot longer. It was 1953 when I got the injury, and it was silly because we were playing Otley and I had the ball and this goalkeeper came out to tackle me and before I knew it I was laid on the floor.

I’d only been married three months and they took me home and the first thing the mother in law said was “you’re a married man now, isn’t it about time you packed up!”

Would you have loved to play in the teams today?

I don’t know whether I would to be honest or not. I still think that money has spoilt it all. We had some marvellous teams down here, marvellous footballers and they didn’t get a ha’penny.

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Can you name some of the footballers?

Kenny Fountain, he went to Sheffield Wednesday. Jonny walker, he went to Manchester United. Some went to Huddersfield and Bradford.

There were some marvellous teams and lads up here, but those days are gone, it’s all about money.

Around the War, did that make a difference with the games being played here?

I was too young, but we used to have a lot of soldiers down, infantry regiments here playing each other, Middlesex regiment came here once and RAF Number One. How has the ground changed over the years?

Well it still has the swell on it. But there was no stand; we built the stand in around 1951.

There were all trees around and there was a cricket pitch as well.

So what happened, in those days the railway was still going but it was getting weaker and they brought all this stuff up to us. They would bring all the things up to one part of the site and we would have to unload it to another and that is why we have the beaver on the badge because they said we were very hard worked.

You mentioned the cricket team.

Was that a Harrogate Railway cricket team?

That was a Harrogate Railway cricket team.

We won a lot of things, Addison Cups and that.

Did you play in the cricket team?

Yes I played cricket.

Did you enjoy playing?

Very much so. I was a fast bowler.

Which did you prefer to play, football or cricket?

Oh football, definitely. I enjoyed cricket but football was the main thing.

When were you playing?

There were a lot of local teams, Beckwithshaw, Bilton and a some good teams around Starbeck. It was around 1955 or 56.

Everything is so different to what it is now and I’m sure we enjoyed more.

What about the highs and lows at the club?

The worst thing that ever happened to me was that I was chairman at the time and we had a meeting on the Sunday morning and we owed the company over the road £4,000 for the transport and I knew there was no way that we could get this £4,000 out.

So it came to it and I had to say that we had to pull out of the league and go back to the Harrogate and District League and on the Sunday night I was coming out to sell tickets and no one would speak to me and I was called all the names under the sun and not a

lot of them were very nice!

That was the worst thing having to come out of the Yorkshire league in around 1966.

The best time?

I liked the Harrison Park trip. I know it was good here for the Bristol game, but I liked the Harrison Parks because we took coaches down there and then a trainload came down on the same day.

What about the supporters?

We had a lot of good support from the people of Starbeck here. When we had to go back into the Harrogate League the support dwindled.

Would you say the average crowds here were larger back then?

No, when I first started they weren’t much higher. No if we took £3 on the gate that was about it, but it was very cheap to come in, it was only about tuppence to come in in those days.

You now run the shop in the ground?

I enjoy doing that, it’s very good and it allows me to get involved here.

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WHO ARE WE / HARROGATE RAILWAY

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

ROB NORTHFIELD Treasurer

CHRIS PARKES Club Secretary

ANN KIRK

Football Secretary

DAVID SHEPHERD

CLICK TO SEE INSIDE

Commercial Manager

ALAN SMITH Committee

CHRIS ADAMS, SANDI ADAMS, BEN DRURY, DAVE GREEN, GARY JOHNSON, SIMON MERCER, CHRIS WATT, ANGELA WISE, DENNIS WISE Media/Press Officer

MARK P DOHERTY Clubhouse Manager

GARY JOHNSON TERI BUSSEY FIRST TEAM Manager

PAUL BEESLEY Assistant Managers

LIAM ORMSBY Physio

NICOLA MAWSON

All images copyright Caught Light Photography Limited, unless otherwise accredited. Non League Yorkshire article is copyright James Grayson. Referee's article is copyright Aaron Bannister and Garforth game photos Mark Gledhill.

A big thank you to our article contributors - Hal Boxhall-Dockree, David Shepherd, Aaron Bannister, James Grayson/Non-League Yorkshire and Caught Light Photography Limited.

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You’ll find us at the end of Station View you may be surprised by our facilities!

f

@THERAILFC HARROGATERAILWAY THERAILFC

Find us on Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, Wordpress, Snapchat and Whats App. Simply search for TheRailFC. Visit our website at therailfc.com

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THE GAFFER

NON-LEAGUE YORKSHIRE / OPINION

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@NonLeagueNorth Non League Yorkshire www.nonleagueyorkshire.com

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NON-LEAGUE YORKSHIRE / OPINION

James Grayson is “The Gaffer�

M

ost football supporters will admit that they regularly say that they could do a better job than the manager of their particular club.

It is the dream of every user of the computer game Football Manager to actually stand in the dugout in a real life scenario.

Well at the end of August, I got thrown in the deep end as I was given the task of running the Garforth Town Legends team for a Bank Holiday Sunday fixture, which was to raise money for the Yorkshire Cancer Centre Appeal, in memory of Garforth supporter Ralph Backhouse.

Now obviously running a Legends side for a charity game is not as intense as the job that Lee Ashforth had at Harrogate Railway, along with every semi-professional manager out there.

But there is still more to it than 90 minutes and it is no easy task.

Getting players is the hardest part and the task was made even more difficult by the fact that any Evo Stik players that wanted to play were ruled out because they were playing Saturday and Monday on the Bank Holiday weekend.

Initially some of those Evo Stik lads were going to do 15/20 minutes, but their clubs put a stop on that idea.

At one point I had 26 players coming along. That figure soon dropped. Players realised that they had double-booked or they were on holiday and had forgotten when they agreed to play.

Every-time my mobile rang or beeped in the weeks leading up to the game I thought it was a player dropping out - something I am sure that a lot of managers of NCEL, local Saturday leagues and Sunday league sides have similar visions of each week.

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Fortunately, I actively looked for players, even when I didn’t need to.

A few of the current Garforth first team players were recruited,

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along with three of the under 21s so when the day came around we ended up with 18 lads - not bad for a charity game and it was more than the opposition had.

All pictures in this article

by Mark Gledhill Photographs

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The game came around and I won’t deny that I didn’t have much sleep, due to the worry about players dropping out. I got to the ground earlier than I needed to and it was long wait until 1pm when the players finally started arriving. From there, the afternoon flew by.

It was an emotional one too. Ralph was a major part of the club and his passing in February was so sudden that it has taken a long time for the club to get over it.

Ralph was always positive. Even when the opportunity to be negative was there, he wasn’t. As along players gave 100% he was happy.

This was the message I relayed to the players prior to kick off and there’s no doubt that we got more than that.

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The 11-2 victory was nice, but it was the reaction of the crowd that I got a buzz out of. The picture of Lee Connor running to the crowd after scoring a worldly sums the day up for me as everyone has a smile on their face, including Ralph’s brother-inlaw Royce.

The effort from the players was phenomenal. The game could have been played at a lethargic speed.

Instead we got one that was played at 100mph.

Despite the score-line, Bird in Hand Rangers gave everything they had. It was a fitting tribute to Ralph from start to finish.

All the worry and hard work to get a team out was worth it, in the end…but I won’t be applying for any manager jobs any time soon though!

ayson r G s e Jam

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CLUB SPONSPOR / THERAILFC.COM

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Track Record

HARROGATE RAILWAY / HISTORY

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H

arrogate Railway will compete in the NCEL Premier Division in 2016/17 for the first time in 11 years after finishing 21st in the NPL Division One North last season.

received an offer from Tadcaster Albion for his services, where he would go on to lift the NCEL Premier Division title.

The managerial shift came to fruition after Miller

Railway’s new gaffer brought in the likes of Alex

Going into 2015/16, Railway promoted Lee Ashforth to Manager having served as Billy Miller’s Assistant for the previous three years.

One of Ashforth’s first jobs in management was to replace the likes of Matt Heath, Adam Baker and Jordan Armstrong who had followed in Miller’s footsteps to the i2i Stadium.

Low, Jack Stockdill and Charlie Clamp to his newly forming squad as well as naming long serving player Dan Thirkell Captain for the forthcoming season.

The season started positively with draws against fancied Droylsden and Spennymoor Town being followed up by home wins against Radcliffe Borough and Mossley leaving Railway in a strong position by mid-September.

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HARROGATE RAILWAY / HISTORY

Nine matches passed before the club’s next win, however, with November’s 3-2 win at Droylsden keeping Railway above the drop zone.

The weather then played its part in preventing Railway moving up the table as only one game was completed between mid-November and January, with the derby clash with Ossett Town at Station View abandoned at half-time with the home side 3-0 up!

The Railwaymen recorded just one win in the 18 games that followed the abandonment, but still had hope of surviving if they could go to Ossett Town and win in the final month of the season.

After falling a goal behind, Amar Purewal struck the visitors level and gave Ashforth’s men hope of claiming the much needed victory, only for Simon Rogers

54 Sept/Oct 2016 TheRailFC.com

to head in a winner that all but sealed Railway’s relegation.

Railway did go on to record back to back wins against Prescot Cables and New Mills, but their drop back into the NCEL was confirmed with three games of the season remaining.

The club had spent 24 years in the NCEL’s various divisions between 1982 and 2006 before former Manager Martin Haresign guided the club to a third place finish and promotion to the Northern Premier League.

During the NCEL years, Railway shot to fame by reaching the second round proper of the FA Cup in the 2002/03 season when Second Division Bristol City travelled to Station View and came away with a 3-1 win in front of Sky TV’s cameras.

Incredibly the Yorkshire club repeated the feat of reaching English Football’s oldest trophy’s second round just five years later when Railway, under the management of Vince Brockie, defeated neighbours Harrogate Town on the way to setting up a tie with The Stags.

Live on Match of the Day, Mansfield saw off a plucky Railway 3-2 on a soggy Sunday afternoon at Station View.

In the penultimate season of their 11-year stint in the NPL, Harrogate Railway recorded their highest ever finish in English football in 2014/15 when the club placed eighth in the NPL Division One North, finishing above the likes of Warrington Town and Clitheroe.

Under the helm of Billy Miller, Railway’s cause was helped by the scintillating goal scoring form of striker Nathan Cartman, who at one stage of the season was outscoring the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, and lifted the NPL Golden Boot.

Cartman earned a big money move to Darlington 1883 in January 2015 where he has since helped the phoenix club achieve back to back promotions to the National League North.

Railway narrowly escaped relegation to the NCEL just three years previous to their highest finish, but were handed a reprieve after finishing 21st following the demise of Woodley Sports and Durham City.

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