Strikers made in Harrogate set for FA Cup semi-finals

Two footballers who started out on pitches in Harrogate and Knaresborough will be bidding for a place in the Women’s FA Cup final this weekend.

Leah Galton and Rachel Daly have risen from local leagues to play as strikers for two of the biggest clubs in the country.

Galton, who began as a junior with Knaresborough Celtic and then played for Harrogate Railway, has banged in 29 goals for Manchester United Women since she joined them from Bayern Munich in 2018.

She is the joint third highest scorer in the Women’s Super League this season with eight goals.

Manchester United Women will line-up against Brighton & Hove Albion Women at 5.15pm today.

United, who have never won a major women’s trophy but are top of the Women’s Super League, will be fancied to beat lowly Brighton.

Tomorrow, Daly’s Aston Villa Women will take centre stage in the second semi-final against Chelsea Women at 2.15pm.

Daly, who started at Killinghall Nomads and won Euro 2022 with England last year, is second on this year’s leading scorer list with 13 goals.

If Manchester United and Villa win, it could result in the remarkable prospect of two local women playing up front in the cup final at Wembley.

Both semi-finals will be televised live on the BBC.

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Harrogate’s Leah Galton wins WSL Player of the Month

Harrogate-born Leah Galton has won Barclays Women’s Super League Player of the Month for December.

Galton, who plays as a winger for Manchester United, picked up the award after scoring against Aston Villa and Manchester City last month.

The former Knaresborough Celtic and Harrogate Railway forward has found the net for United 23 times since signing in 2018.

It is the third time a Harrogate-born player has won Player of the Month in 2022 after Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly picked up the award for September and November.

Galton, who was a student at St John Fisher Catholic High School, has also represented Leeds United, Sky Blue FC and Bayern Munich in her career.

Meanwhile, United manager Marc Skinner also won Barclays Manager of the Month for the Women’s Super League.

Skinner oversaw an unbeaten month for the club in December, which saw them pick up four points.

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‘Disappointed and bemused’: junior football clubs react to shutdown

Junior football clubs in Harrogate and Knaresborough say they are “disappointed and bemused” at the decision to suspend all matches and training sessions from Thursday.

Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement of a new one month lockdown, the FA released a statement yesterday that said all fixtures and training for youth football must end in line with the lockdown.

Chris McVey, chair of Pannal Ash juniors, a well established club that runs boys and girls teams from ages 5 to 18, told the Stray Ferret the enforced break will have a big impact on children’s lives and he is “struggling to come to terms” with the decision.

“The kids love the training so the boys, girls and the parents are all disappointed. Junior football only happens for a number of years, you don’t really appreciate it until it’s taken away from you. This is an important time in their lives, but when it’s gone it’s gone. They make friends for life playing junior football.”

The links between exercise and mental health are well known and Mr McVey believes the break will have a “massive” impact on children’s mental health.

He added:

“I fear that this time of year, when it’s dark, the kids won’t get out at all. That does affect them mentally just as much as physically.

“After last lockdown, the joy when the boys and girls came back was amazing. It was a real focus being with their friends again and getting fit.”

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Knaresborough Celtic have been a cornerstone of the community for many years. Club chair Matthew Wood told the Stray Ferret he disagreed with the implication that junior football is unsafe and said the lockdown is “a shame for the kids”.

“I have no evidence of anyone catching covid from playing junior football. We have a one-way system, sanitising, we haven’t had any cases. There isn’t much risk, I don’t think.”

With games cancelled during the first lockdown, Knaresborough Celtic gave parents partial subscription refunds. Mr Wood said the club is in a “challenging” financial environment but hope to receive grants from the FA or government, like last time.

“Who knows where we will end up. We still have our bills to pay, maintencnce, grass still needs cutting. A lot of parents dont realise happen.”

Some of their teams will have one last emotional training session tonight at King James’ school’s 3G pitch, which opened in February but hasn’t been fully utilised due to both lockdowns.

He said:

“There’ll be no skills or tactics, we’ll just let them play for an hour then we’ll see them again in the new year, I guess.”

From Knaresborough Celtic juniors to Wembley

If Harrogate Town get promoted to the English Football League on Sunday, Jack Emmett will be the toast of the town.

Jack, 26, is the only Harrogate-born player in the squad and has made about 220 appearances.

After unsuccessful trials with Leeds United and Doncaster Rovers – the latter of which said he was too small to make the grade – he didn’t have any great aspirations when he first trained with Town during sixth form at Harrogate Grammar School.

Accountancy was to be his career; football was a hobby. But his life, along with the fortunes of the club, have transformed since then. He told the Stray Ferret:

“Everything was completely different when I joined. The team, the ground, the crowds, the professionalism… we were a bit of a head it, kick it team trying to get out of the Conference North on a grass pitch with a big slope in the corner.

“Every year since then we’ve built on things. It’s incredible really.”

The club’s decision to go fully professional in 2017 was the key moment, said Jack, who started out at Knaresborough Celtic juniors. Town signed several new players and were immediately promoted in 2018 to the National League.

Now they are heading to the most famous stadium in the world for the chance to play in the fourth tier of the English game.

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Standing in the way are Notts County, the oldest professional team in the world whose black and white striped kit was copied by Italian giants Juventus.

Ordinarily County would have thousands more fans cheering them on so playing at an empty Wembley could work in Harrogate’s favour, said Jack.

“Most people fancy them to beat us,” he said. “But I like going in as the underdog.”

Midfielder Jack, who has a year left on his contract, was a substitute in the 1-0 play-off defeat of Boreham Wood last weekend. But hot weather and Wembley’s big pitch could see the bench play a big part.

With no fans allowed, his family won’t be there to see it. He said:

“They booked a holiday in Wales so they wouldn’t have been able to make it anyway.”

He also feels for the fans.

“It’s such a shame they can’t be there with us. Hopefully we can win it for them. Having grown up in the town I know how much it would mean to people.”