Harrogate Town will be looking forward to focusing on football after what has been a difficult summer off the pitch.

With concerns over fan safety at Wetherby Road seemingly concluded, Simon Weaver's men host Rochdale AFC tomorrow afternoon in what will be many supporters' first chance to watch Town play league football in the flesh.

The club finished last season in 17th, which was their first-ever campaign in League Two, and the bookmakers are predicting them to finish in the same position this season.

But tempting odds of 7/1 to gain promotion reflects the unpredictability of the division and fans will expect the team to steer well clear of the relegation positions.

New signings

Last season's new signings were more miss than hit and Weaver will be hoping more of his new arrivals can make an impact during this campaign.

Town averaged just over a goal a game last season and striker Luke Armstrong has joined from Salford to complement Aaron Martin and offer a more clinical goal threat. Armstrong spent last season on loan at Hartlepool in the National League, scoring a commendable 13 goals in 28 appearances, which included a goal at Wembley in their play-off final that saw them promoted.

Talismanic forward Jack Muldoon has been handed a new contract but fringe strikers Jon Stead and Mark Beck have left the club, retiring and joining York City on loan respectively.

Seven new signings have joined the squad so far, including the highly-rated Lewis Page who is West Ham United academy graduate.

The new signings are:

Mark Oxley (goalkeeper), Rory McArdle (defender), Luke Armstrong (striker), Danilo Orsi (striker), Alex Pattison (midfielder), Lewis Page (defender), Nathan Sheron (midfielder).

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Number 1

Manager Simon Weaver has shown a ruthlessness as he begins to dismantle the core of his squad that saw them rise up from the National League North.

Many Town fans were surprised when popular goalkeeper James Belshaw left the club to join Bristol Rovers who play in the same division.

He's been replaced with Mark Oxley, an experienced stopper who's played in the EFL for Southend United. However, he had a debut to forget in a pre-season friendly against Rotherham, which led some fans to cast envious glances towards what they've lost in Bristol.

The twelfth man

Town fans were of course robbed of the experience of visiting Wembley stadium for the National League play-off final, which coincidentally was a year ago this weekend.

They then had to contend with watching the majority of the season on laptop screens and mobile phones via the EFL's streaming service while coronavirus restrictions continued.

The club have announced they have already sold a record amount of season tickets for the new season — and thousands of fans cheering on the team each week should make a difference to the club's home form, after a season of empty stands.

Details of Town's 46 league games are available to view here.