Harrogate Town’s history boys promoted after Wembley win

Harrogate Town will play in the English Football League for the first time in their history after beating Notts County 3-1 today at Wembley Stadium.

Town dominated the first half and went into the half-time break leading 2-0 thanks to goals from George Thompson and Connor Hall.

After conceding early in the second half and weathering a significant Notts County storm, Town clinched promotion from the National League after an incisive counter-attack saw on-loan midfielder Diamond make it 3-1 with twenty minutes to go.

For what was billed as the biggest game in the club’s history, Town fans missed out on songs and beers on the bus down to London and the walk up Wembley Way.

Even a planned screening of the game at the CNG Stadium was cancelled by North Yorkshire County Council at the last minute, so Town fans could be forgiven for thinking that just perhaps promotion just wasn’t meant to be.

But Town have relied on more than luck or superstition over the past few seasons and put in an accomplished performance to see off Notts County who have spent 156 of their 157 years playing in the EFL.

Town named an unchanged side with Aaron Martin, in only his second game for the club, getting the nod up front over the experienced Jon Stead.

It was a confident start from Town at the home of English football and it only took them five minutes to score after George Thompson swept home a cross from Ryan Fallowfield to give Town the dream start.

Aaron Martin should have made it 2-0 when he was through clean on goal in the 9th minute but he dragged his shot wide.

Jack Diamond was tripped on the edge of the box which led to a free-kick and Town’s second goal. Connor Hall put the ball away to continue Town’s dream start.

Town players did not rest on their laurels and continued to control the first half. Aaron Martin had a clear chance to make it 3-0 on 40 minutes, but his shot struck the post.

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Notts County’s Callum Roberts scored a curling free-kick immediately following the half-time breaking bringing Town right back to earth. Town dealt with some heavy pressure throughout the first 15 minutes of the second half but managed to weather the storm with a lead still intact.

Bringing the veteran Jon Stead on at the hour mark to replace Aaron Martin was a canny move from manager Simon Weaver, and his team began to look much more settled. Muldoon almost made it three after a scramble in the box.

The tension that had been building throughout the second half was extinguished when on-loan Sunderland winger Jack Diamond made it 3-1 on 70 minutes after a brilliant counter-attacking move.

Town managed to see the game out comfortably – although James Belshaw made a razor-sharp save to keep County out on the 76th minute.

Harrogate Town will play in League Two next season for the first time in their history — and after playing at Wembley with such confidence and style, they will fear no team.

For the fans, they have trips to Bradford City, Bolton Wanderers and Oldham Athletic to look forward to, should social distancing guidelines be relaxed. Even though they couldn’t be at Wembley today they will be celebrating long into the night.

 

Match preview: Harrogate Town vs Notts County

Harrogate Town will play Notts County at Wembley later today with the winner playing in the English Football League next season.

Not quite a David vs. Goliath occasion — the National League play off final will be a meeting between two clubs that have tasted different fortunes throughout their histories.

On Sunday, the Magpies will be hoping to return to league football where they have spent 157 of their 158 years, whereas Harrogate Town hopes to enter a new frontier.

Notts County are the oldest professional football league club in the world and are even former FA Cup winners, but there won’t be any fans who can remember them lifting the trophy in 1894.

Harrogate Town will walk out at Wembley for the first time this weekend. Picture Credit: Matt Kirkham Harrogate Town

They’ve been managed by some of the biggest names in English football including Howard Wilkinson, Howard Kendall and Sam Allardyce.

County were relegated from League Two in 2019 but bounced back strongly in the National League finishing just three points behind Town in third position.

In their one league encounter this season, County beat Town at the CNG Stadium 2-0, with goals from Kristian Dennis and Enzio Boldewijn.

They were due to play each other again over two legs in the semi-final of the FA Trophy, which was curtailed due to the lockdown in March. It still might go ahead which could lead to another day out at Wembley for the winning club.

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County beat Barnet in their play off game last week to reach Wembley and looked impressive with goals from Kristian Dennis and Callum Roberts.

They are the best-supported club in the division with an average attendance of 5,200 whereas Harrogate welcomes around 1,300 to the CNG.

But social distancing is a great leveller and they won’t be able to count on extra fans at Wembley with the game played behind closed doors.

Town are the current favourites with the bookies at 6/4 with Notts County at 7/4 which manager Simon Weaver isn’t fazed by.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“That’s fine and it means we must have played well and done well in the season. We know Notts County have a very strong squad and a lot of strength in depth.

“They have without doubt a lot more league experience than us but we hope to cause them problems.”

Striker Aaron Martin made his debut for Town in the tie with Boreham Wood, and he will hope to start ahead of Jon Stead and Mark Beck following an energetic performance.

But Jon Stead has big-game experience from his time in the Premier League which Weaver may look to count on.

Notts County manager Neal Ardley is expected to name the same side that beat Barnet last week.

 

MPs watch: NHS ‘on the table’ in US trade talks?

Every month the Stray Ferret has been trying to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

In July, lockdown restrictions were eased which saw a raft of businesses reopen in the district, including pubs, restaurants and hairdressers. It was also the last month in Parliament before the summer recess and several crucial votes were cast.

This month, we have included Conservative MP Nigel Adams as several villages in his Selby and Ainsty constituency fall within the Harrogate district — including Huby, Spofforth, Kirby Overblow and Sicklinghall.

We asked Mr Adams as well as Harrogate & Knaresborough MP, Andrew Jones and Ripon MP Julian Smith, if they would like to highlight anything in particular, but we did not receive a response from any of them at the time of publication.

So here is what we know after analysing their online presence and activity in Parliament.

Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough here is what we found on Mr Jones:

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Julian Smith, MP for Ripon and Skipton.

In Ripon here is what we found on Mr Smith:

Nigel Adams, MP For Selby and Ainsty

In rural south Harrogate here is what we found on Mr Adams.

 

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Where to watch Harrogate’s historic play-off final on Sunday

Harrogate Town will play Notts County at Wembley on Sunday in the National League play off final — but fans will agonisingly miss out on a special day out to the home of English football due to social distancing restrictions.

The club has offered a limited number of fans the chance to watch Sunday’s play-off final with fellow supporters at The CNG Stadium.

If you can’t make it to the ground, below is a list of bars and venues in Harrogate that are showing the game live, which will be broadcast on BT Sport at 3pm.

The Harrogate Arms, Parliament Street (online bookings only)

Bilton Working Men’s Club, Skipton Road (non-members welcome)

Manhatten Snooker Club, Beech Avenue (non-members welcome)

Mojo, Parliament Street (online bookings only)

Prince of Wales, Starbeck High Street

Harlow Hill Sports and Social Club, College Street 

Bilton Cricket Club, Bilton Lane

The Woodlands Hotel, Wetherby Road

The following pubs are showing the game but are already fully booked:

The Alexandra, West Park

The Last Post, Cold Bath Road 

Did we miss a pub or bar that is showing the game? Email contact@thestrayferret.co.uk to let us know.

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Knaresborough air pollution still illegal, despite Bond End changes

Air pollution at Bond End in Knaresborough remains at illegal levels, despite a mini-roundabout being put in to cut toxic vehicle fumes.

These were the findings of Harrogate Borough Council’s latest air quality report that has been submitted to the government. It tracked levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at various monitoring sites across the district throughout 2019.

NO2 is an air pollutant produced mainly by exhaust fumes and has been linked to myriad health conditions including heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s.

The UK still adheres to EU legal limits for air pollution stating no monitoring site should exceed 40 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) over the course of a year — which was breached at Bond End in 2019.

Bond End has been a hotspot for congestion for many years, with regular tailbacks towards the River Nidd.

HBC declared an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) for the road in 2010, which the government requires councils to do to try and improve areas with particularly bad air pollution. In September 2018, North Yorkshire County Council replaced traffic lights at Bond End with a mini-roundabout to reduce congestion and improve the flow of traffic.

There are four sites monitoring air pollution at Bond End which all reported decreases in 2019. However, one remained above the legal limit at 40.47 µg/m3. The other three monitors at Bond End measured 38.6 µg/m3, 31.2 µg/m3 and 24.27 µg/m3 in 2019.

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Across the Harrogate district, the report revealed that air pollution is falling. Concentrations within the Harrogate AQMA at Wetherby Road fell, as did Ripon’s AQMA along Low Skellgate, High Skellgate and the junction with Westgate.

During the height of lockdown in March and April, government air pollution monitors reported 50% drops in major towns and cities. However, numbers have almost returned to normal levels since restrictions have eased.

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95 homes at Granby Farm will destroy ‘green corridor’

A residents group has told the Stray Ferret that 95 homes proposed for Granby Farm near Harrogate High School will destroy a vital “green corridor” that connects the Stray to the countryside.

Richborough Estates has submitted plans for 95 homes to be built on the land that is designated for development within Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan.

In a site assessment produced by HBC when formulating the Local Plan, the council said because the site “is an important part of the green infrastructure network” of Harrogate, any development on the site should maintain 50% open fields — yet plans submitted propose only 25% is kept green.

Gary Walker, from Granby Residents Association, said HBC should refuse the plans on this basis to “create a legacy” for the town.

He said:

“We believe a green corridor needs to be maintained. We don’t feel the current plans address that objective. There’s an opportunity for the council to create a legacy for the town by providing an access route for the Stray through to Nidd Gorge that could be enjoyed by the people of Harrogate.

 

“People are totally opposed to the proposals. We accept the field will be developed, however we are extremely disappointed the proposal on the table doesn’t meet the council’s recommendation for green space. The council could miss a big opportunity to create a green corridor and help the environment and wildlife.”

Richborough proposes 38 homes will be affordable and 57 will be sold at market rate. All the market rate properties would be either four or five-bedroom houses.

The public consultation for the plans will end on August 14.

The Stray Ferret asked Richborough to comment but it had not replied at the time of publication.

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There are several developments in the Kingsley area of Harrogate — which could see over 650 homes eventually built.

Richborough is also the developer for a separate application for 155 homes on Kingsley Road.

Last month it was told by HBC to “go away and rework” its proposals due to overdevelopment. Updated plans will go before HBC’s planning committee next week.

Harrogate Town manager: ‘Promotion can put us on the footballing map’

Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver has said promotion to the English Football League on Sunday would make Harrogate known for football as well as tea shops.

Town play Notts County at Wembley on Sunday with the winner playing in League Two next season.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Weaver said playing in the EFL for the first time in the club’s history would be a major boost to Harrogate.

He said:

“It would put us right on the footballing map. We often get the mickey taken out of us saying we’re a town full of tea shops but hopefully we’ll be known for the brand of football and the style we play and that’s the aim of getting in the football league.

Weaver hailed the “amazing” performance of his team last Saturday for beating a physical Boreham Wood side 1-0 in the play-off semi-final at the CNG Stadium.

After not playing since March, the players looked sharp, which Weaver expects to continue into the final.

He said:

“It was amazing that they put on a show after such a long absence. I couldn’t have been prouder of everyone’s attitude.”

Weaver has managed Town for over 500 games — and it will be a sweet occasion to lead his team out on Sunday at the famous Wembley Stadium, despite Town fans being unable to attend due to social distancing restrictions.

He said:

“I’m sure they will be watching and listening where they can but we’ll have them at the forefront of our minds. It’s painful them not being there but we’ll have to focus our minds on the day and do our best for the supporters and make them proud back home.”

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A key strength of Town’s squad over the past few years has been its stability: the majority of the team that won promotion to the National League in 2018 are still present and Weaver said if they do get promoted he won’t be making wholesale changes.

He said:

“Either way we won’t rip up what we’ve got. I think we’ll be very competitive should we be lucky and good enough to win on Sunday.

“We’d be looking at boosting the size of squad so we’d probably need two or three players. Defensively we only have four in the squad right now.”

If the game ends 0-0 on Sunday, Town will be faced with a penalty shootout for the first time since 2012 when they were knocked out of the F.A Cup second round by Hastings.

Fortunately, the squad had a penalties expert on hand to come and give them advice before the Boreham Wood game — England manager and Harrogate local Gareth Southgate.

Weaver said:

“I’ve known him for a few years and thought it might be nice for him to talk about his experiences for 40 or 50 minutes. He’s a really nice guy and talked about how they dealt with penalties in the last England tournament.”

Harrogate Town vs Notts County kicks off at 3pm on Sunday and will be shown live on BT Sport.

Exclusive: Ex-MP Phil Willis on how Harrogate can thrive again

In his first interview since he left office ten years ago, we spoke to former Harrogate & Knaresborough Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis about Harrogate’s retail woes, whether the House of Lords should move to York and what he thinks makes an effective constituency MP.

Read part one of the interview here, where Lord Willis of Knaresborough, as he is now known, discussed why he thinks Harrogate’s convention centre has lost its way.

What makes an effective constituency MP?

You did not need to be a great sociologist to see that Harrogate was a Tory-leaning town so I saw no future trying to spend my time outdoing the opposition.

I saw my job as an MP to really represent those who required representation. It didn’t matter to me what their politics were.

More than that, I actually enjoyed people. I enjoyed being at the summer fair, the Christmas bazaar or going to church on a Sunday. I enjoyed visiting elderly people’s homes and having a laugh with residents.

If you don’t enjoy these things then actually being the MP is a pretty miserable job, quite frankly.

Can Harrogate’s high street be saved?

Anyone who thinks the high street can go back to what it was, even 10 years ago, is living with false hope. High streets throughout Britain are undergoing a revolution.

There’s a limit to how many coffee shops you can have because in order to enjoy that there has to be other things going on.

I was delighted to see the Everyman cinema come in. It’s a good experience in a part of the town that was slightly off-centre. I do feel the answer for Harrogate is, how do you get people to come in and stay? It means you have to have some attractions.

Simply having more of the same is really not the answer. Harrogate starts from a very good place. It hasn’t got huge 1960s and 70s shopping centres that are tired. Our centre is very attractive but I don’t see research into the future of the town going on.

It’s not something that politicians should do, it’s something for business people and local people — and you have to inspire them to work at it.

Do you have any regrets from your time as an MP?

I never live with regrets. I’ve always had that philosophy. You do your best and sometimes you get things wrong or right. As a constituency MP I genuinely believed my team and I did make people feel they were represented.

If they had an issue then we would deal with it. I’ve never claimed to create miracles — but there were literally thousands of people who were better off during our time there.

Should the House of Lords move to York?

If we think as a nation the one thing we need to do is provide a retirement home for elderly politicians then I do think we’ve hit rock bottom! I don’t think it’s going to happen.

The House of Lords is becoming more irrelevant with every day. This government has adopted a US-style where Parliament is a nuisance rather than being what it should be — which is holding up the flames of democracy to the government’s feet.

Would local government devolution benefit Harrogate?

During my time, the relationship between HBC and North Yorkshire County Council was always fraught. There was no doubt NYCC saw itself as being of far greater importance than HBC and sometimes decisions were taken that were not always to Harrogate’s benefit.

The whole two-tier system was flawed right from the outset in 1974. As we move forward to the devolution era, will we make the same mistake again? Instead of making democracy closer to people will we take it further and further away?

Once people feel they do not have ownership of decisions, then you get mass cynicism and people say, what is the point of all this?

I’m a great lover of local government. It wasn’t always totally successful but I don’t think the models being drawn up will bring us closer to the people. Unless local people are involved in the services which they pay then you will not get the quality they need.

Is Harrogate’s Local Plan good for the town?

When you design a Local Plan and you base it on what is best for us politically then you lose out. Local Plans have got to be designed with a number of broad concepts in mind.

Harrogate has a lot of incredibly wealthy people but it’s serviced by a lot of people on modest salaries who want to live in homes they can afford — they’ve not had that.

As council leader, I did deals with the late George Crowther to put in affordable housing on the old general hospital site. I just think unless you provide good housing for local people then your town dies a bit really.

It’s a truism that development is never popular with those who don’t want it, but it has got to be evenly distributed. Unless you have a plan that is long-term that you can sell to the people as their plan, not our plan, then you won’t get a buy-in. You look at the 3,000 homes in Green Hammerton and think to yourself — what’s all that about? Does that serve Harrogate?

One reason I won the election to be council leader in 1990 was because we refused to sell land to a supermarket at where is now Stonefall Cemetery.

We turned down £15m, but when you look at how many people have the ashes of their loved ones spread there over the last 30 years, you realise that was a price worth paying.

We still got a supermarket but we didn’t get the money for it — but that’s not what councils are in business for. They’re in business for weighing things up and making sure they’re creating an environment for people to live in. That’s my philosophy.

Do you miss being an MP?

I miss enormously being the MP in Harrogate. I enjoyed those 13 years very much indeed. They were exciting times and I felt an enormous connection to the people of Harrogate.

I owe them an enormous debt for the way they supported me in what I was trying to do. I remember it with huge fondness. I had a love affair with Harrogate.

Ripon MP defends controversial NHS Trade Bill vote

Ripon and Skipton Conservative MP Julian Smith has written to the Stray Ferret defending his decision to vote in Parliament against protecting the NHS from a future trade deal with the United States.

Last week an amendment was put forward to the government’s Trade Bill to ensure the NHS principle of being “free at the point of delivery” was not compromised by any future trade deal. The amendment failed by 251 votes to 340.

Included in the amendment were attempts to protect NHS staff from having their wages or rights cut as the result of a trade deal, protections around the pricing of medicines, and stopping confidential patient data being sold off to private companies.

However, Mr Smith said that he did not believe the amendment would have been legally binding.

He said:

“I recognise the strength of feeling about the provisions in new clause 17. However, for what I believe are sensible and practical reasons, I felt it best not to support the clause.”

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Mr Smith said he does not believe any future trade agreement will lead to standards in the NHS being lowered.

He added:

“No future trade agreement will be allowed to undermine the guiding principle of the NHS:  that it is universal and free at the point of need. I welcome the government’s clear and absolute commitment that the NHS will be protected in any future trade agreement. The price the NHS pays for drugs will not be on the table and nor will the services the NHS provides.

“It is important to bear in mind that the Trade Bill is a continuity bill. The powers within the bill could not be used to implement new free trade agreements with countries such as the US.

“Instead, the bill only allows for trade agreements that we have been party to through our EU membership to be transitioned into UK law.

“My ministerial colleagues have no intention of lowering standards in transitioned trade agreements, as the very purpose of these agreements is to replicate as close as possible the effects of existing commitments in EU agreements. None of the 20 continuity agreements signed have resulted in standards being lowered.”

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones also voted against the amendment. Mr Jones did not respond to the Stray Ferret when asked for comment.

 

Exclusive: Ex-MP Phil Willis calls on ‘amateur councillors’ to step back from convention centre

Former Harrogate & Knaresborough Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis has called on “amateur councillors” at Harrogate Borough Council to step back from their involvement with the convention centre.

In his first interview since he left office ten years ago, Lord Willis of Knaresborough, as he is now known, told The Stray Ferret that local businesses need to have a greater say in how the “highly specialised and highly competitive” business is run — or else Harrogate’s unique vibrancy could fail.

He said:

“I’m at a loss to what the council’s about anymore. You need to have some clear direction as to what it is they want to achieve and what are the time scales, then work back from there.”

Lord Willis, who was Harrogate & Knaresborough’s MP from 1997 to 2010, still lives near York and said he has kept an eye on local politics.

He said it made “good sense” for HBC to allow the NHS use the site as a Nightingale hospital – but said there “was no long term planning to see what happens when they move out”.

He added:

“It’s that lack of looking forward that as an outsider very much worries me.

“It’s too easy to just collect the rent. In the short term it was good for the town and the NHS. But it was quite obvious, literally within a month of it opening, that it wouldn’t do any business.”

Before becoming MP, Lord Willis was the leader of HBC running a Liberal Democrat council. In 1990 when he took up the role, the conference centre was haemorrhaging money.

He estimates that two out of every three pounds of council tax that was collected at that time went to financing its debts.

During this period, Lord Willis was chair of the convention centre board and said they placed more decision making in the hands of local businessmen, including John Hardy and Richard Hanwell.

Lord Willis said they brought the dynamism required to make the convention centre a success in the 1990s.

He said:

“They were right wing in a political sense but very successful businessmen. They really influenced the way in which we had to use the conference centre. I was in awe of the way business people made it work.”

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Regarding the convention centre’s future, Lord Willis said HBC has failed to come up with a modern vision for the site.

He suggested they could be trying to target more American-style comic book, movie or videogame events.

He said:

“We’ve moved into a digital age but I don’t get the sense we’ve gone after that market.

“They are hugely popular everything from Star Wars to more niche conventions. You need people to think outside the box as to where is our next people coming from. I just don’t see that.”

Last week HBC announced it planned to spend £1.1 million on detailed design and project work for the facility, potentially leading to a major £47 million investment.

However, Lord Willis said this is only worthwhile if HBC has a sound plan, which he doubts.

He said:

“It’s not about bringing in a set of consultants, it’s about bringing key individuals who have an interest in looking at the business’s strengths and weakness.

“It’s not just money. It’s how you invest that money and recognising it might be three years before you get a return on it. That takes a lot of political selling.

“The council has already made the faux pas of getting rid of the council offices and building a new palace. That’s done nothing for the town and all it has is a semi-derelict building.

“It’s that lack of thinking ahead.

The Stray Ferret has asked current Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones for his thoughts on the future of the convention centre but he has so far declined to comment.

Tomorrow The Stray Ferret will publish part two of our interview with Lord Willis, where he talks about how Harrogate town centre could be reinvigorated and whether the House of Lords should move to Yorkshire.