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06
Dec
Behind the success: How Harrogate Railway are steaming onwards
The difference between this season and last has been astronomical for Harrogate Railway.
They finished 12th in the NCEL Division One last year with 17 wins — a total they could match today with almost half the season still to play.
Winning their three games in hand would put them top of the league.
In June, Railway announced the return of chairman Rob Northfield, and the club has been on an upward trajectory since.
Yet the joint managers, Rob Youhill and Fraser Lancaster, remain the same, as does most of the squad, aside from a few new signings.
So what’s behind the drastic upturn in form?
The Stray Ferret met Mr Northfield and Mr Youhill this week to find out.
‘One-team mentality’
During his three spells as Railway chairman, Rob Northfield has held to one philosophy – togetherness.
He says fostering a ‘one-team mentality’ is essential:
Everybody has to be in place. As soon as someone starts blaming others or walks away when something goes wrong, then there’s no team. For me, it’s everyone working together.
Harrogate Railway celebrate after a late winner at Louth Town.
When we spoke to Rob Youhill in September, he said the squad’s mentality had shifted.
This week, he admitted he hadn’t realised until last season’s end that there was “not even 1% belief” they could win the league — a suggestion that drew laughter from a player last year.
Now, promotion dominates the dressing room conversation.
Recruitment bolsters belief
The club’s recruitment strategy has helped.
When he returned, Mr Northfield told the managers to sell their transfer targets the ‘dream’ of winning the league – not an easy pitch after a 12th-place finish.
But, as Mr Youhill put it, “some of our signings made the dream a little more realistic". Four of them — Ben Parkes, Harry Lee, Dom Creamer and Brad Walker — arrived from Harrogate’s division-higher neighbours, Knaresborough Town.
He said recruiting locally is often cheaper and brings greater loyalty, and that Harrogate Railway’s growing “family feel” is attracting players from nearby clubs.
Ben Parkes.
New arrivals have also raised standards. Mr Youhill said:
The under-23s are doing really well, top of their league. We brought a couple of them to training, and everyone was like bosh, bosh, bosh, bosh, bosh – firing. You bring a 17-year-old in, and everyone’s like, ‘Ok, I see my position [at risk].’
We brought Brad [Walker] in last week, and everyone was flying again. And the standards just go up. So, we can facilitate that, but the players have to buy into it – and they have bought into it unbelievably.
Shared values
Mr Northfield believes a football club works best when he doesn’t interfere with the managers. His role, he says, is simply to ensure everyone works well together — all pulling in the same direction.
Mr Youhill said that the managers and the chairman are “lucky” to share similar values: not blaming people or pointing fingers, communicating well and endorsing positive communication.
Mr Youhill said:
It would be really daft for Rob to run the club in this way, and then for us to get into the dressing room and say the complete opposite.
I'd like to think me, Fraz [Lancaster], and the management team are quite thoughtful. I don't shout at all on the sideline.
Fraser Lancaster (left) and Harris Eggleston.
He added that constant shouting becomes a broken record that players stop responding to.
Tactics
Winning 76% of your games doesn’t come from mindset alone — it needs action on the pitch.
With dangerous wingers and tireless midfielders, Harrogate Railway have adapted their tactics to suit their strengths.
After studying Harrogate Town last season, they chose to mirror their style: winning second balls in midfield, releasing the wingers quickly and flooding the box for crosses.
It’s paid off — the Rail now have the third-best attacking record in the league.
Fans watch on as Dom Creamer gets his first of the season against Route One Rovers.
Off-field growth
Winning the league would be a huge achievement for Harrogate Railway — but Mr Youhill says it means little if the club itself hasn’t ‘moved forward’ with them.
That progress includes boosting attendances, attracting more sponsors and advancing community projects like the proposed 3G pitch.
These are areas where Mr Northfield has made the biggest impact. He set a £30,000 sponsorship target for this season — more than double last year’s figure — and the club hit it in just four weeks.
On the pitch, improved performances have lifted gates as well: attendances are up 41% this year, with the possibility of 500 fans at Station View in the coming seasons if the trend continues.
Both Mr Northfield and Mr Youhill have urged people to buy into the project — one they clearly believe in.
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