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15
Mar
‘I’ve got the best job in the world’: James Belshaw on 250 Harrogate appearances
Harrogate Town goalkeeper James Belshaw celebrated his 250th appearance for the club against Port Vale last week.
The Nottingham-born footballer joined Town in 2017, from Tamworth, while they were in the National League North. Within three years, he had helped them to two promotions, first into the National League, then into League Two.
Belshaw played a big part in the defeat of his boyhood club Notts County in the 2019/20 National League Play Off Final, in which Harrogate Town won 3-1. This secured a place in the EFL for the first time in the club’s history.
The Stray Ferret spoke to Belshaw this week about his return to Harrogate and reaching the appearance milestone.
Club growth
James Belshaw shares company with Warren Burrell, George Thomson, Josh Falkingham and Jack Muldoon as players with over 250 appearances for Harrogate Town.
For any club this is an impressive milestone, but in a league where turnover of players is very high, and many players are signed on short contracts, the achievement is amplified somewhat.
Belshaw said:
It’s a really proud moment for me.
That being said, my numbers look insignificant compared to some of the boys here like Warren and Tommo. There’s five of us that have over 250 appearances for the club. It’s a real testament to what we try to do here.
Having five players at this milestone highlights Harrogate’s shrewd recruitment strategy over the years, as a team that cannot financially compete with some of the other clubs in League Two.
James told the Stray Ferret how he had seen the club evolve in his time there. He said:
It’s been a really successful time for the club. I’ve seen it grow organically in the years that I’ve been here from a National League North side to a full-time professional football team in the EFL.
When I first joined, we’d have maybe 400-500 people at our games. Last Saturday we had over 4,000.
Back then, I think Harrogate used to be a bit of a second team, where most of the people coming to watch us were predominantly Leeds fans. Now, I feel like we’re really starting to build a core set of fans. It’s really nice to see.
Returning to Harrogate
Belshaw spent a three-year period away from the club, joining Bristol Rovers in 2021.
Recently relegated into League Two, the goalkeeper’s 17 clean sheets across the season earned The Pirates a promotion back into League One in his first season. He was awarded Bristol Rovers Player of the Year Award for his impressive performances.
After a rocky final year at the club, though, Belshaw returned to Harrogate in 2024.
We asked him what made him want to return to the club:
It’s a club I’d enjoyed so many good times with. I remember I was contacted by Lloyd [Kerry] telling me the club wanted me back on an emergency loan and it was a bit of a no-brainer really.
I got to be back with some of my best mates in football. Some of these lads were at my wedding.
Even when I was away, Harrogate was a club I always looked out for the results of. It’s a club that means a lot to me.
Photo: Harrogate Town AFC
Harrogate Highlights
When it comes to career highlights with Harrogate, Belshaw pointed to the two promotions he has been part of.
In particular, that day at Wembley during the covid pandemic.
He said:
It’s got to be the two promotions. Becoming a full-time club and a fully professional player was a proud moment for myself too.
We got promoted in 2020, so Wembley was empty because of covid. That took a little bit of the excitement out of it unfortunately, but nothing can play down what we achieved for Harrogate on that day.
Manager's support
Harrogate manager Simon Weaver has been an influential figure in the club’s rise through the leagues. And, throughout his time, he has been full of praise for his goalkeeper.
In an interview after Town’s win against Carlisle last week, Weaver said “you could have a full video of Belly’s magic moments and I’m very thankful as the manager of Harrogate Town to have him in our goal".
Belshaw said it was important to him to have the manager's backing. He said:
It’s really important as a player to have your manager’s support, especially as a goalkeeper.
It can be a lonely position at times and can be easy to get your head down after a bad performance. That’s why it’s so important to have your manager’s backing and he’s been nothing but supportive of me.
He’s been a really important figure in my career.
Looking forward
Despite being 35, Belshaw shows no signs of slowing down.
When asked if he felt like he can continue to push and get to the 300 appearance mark, he was unequivocal in his desire to reach another milestone with Harrogate.
He said:
I’m shooting for way more than 300. I’ve always said I’ve wanted to play until I’m 40.
That’s five seasons of around 50 games. Touch wood, but I’ve been pretty lucky with injuries in my career. So, if my body will let me and the manager and the club still want me, let’s see about 500!
I’ve got the best job in the world. I made my EFL debut at 30 so I’m just making up for lost time.
As for the team, the aim for this season is simple — survival.
Belshaw said the players had sat down with the manager last week to discuss targets. This season's goal is simple, he says.
We’re doing everything we can to get safe as quickly as possible. The manager sat down with us this week and discussed targets for the remainder of the season and the main thing was to get to safety quickly.
We’re already building for next year. The squad looks a lot healthier now and we have a lot of players that are very promising for our future.
Obviously, last year, we were so close to the play offs. We were right in the running until about two or three weeks to go. We want to aim for that next season. We want to be pushing for the play offs again.
We know who we are in terms of club size, but we’ve got a good squad and there’s no reason to say we can’t go in and compete with the big boys.
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