Harrogate Town made 'sizeable progress' during 2023/24 campaign, says Simon Weaver

The Sulphurites rounded off their 2023/24 campaign with a 2-2 draw at Salford City on Saturday, a result which took their points tally to 63 and saw them narrowly miss out on a first-ever top-half-of-the-table placing.

They won 17 and drew 12 of their 46 league matches this term, a return that is significantly better than their previous best of 57 points, which they racked up on their way to a 17th-paced finish during 2020/21, their first-ever year in the Football League.

The following season, Town accrued 53 points as they finished 19th, repeating that again in 2022/23, when they ended up with 52 points having been involved in a gruelling scrap for survival for the vast majority of the campaign.

Yet this term, Harrogate emerged as genuine play-off contenders, with that “dream” of a top seven finish only dashed on the penultimate weekend of the season.

And Weaver is understandably proud of how his team has performed, and of how things have gone off the field.

“I’m very pleased. It's a big step up, it's actually quite a sizeable progression, I think,” he said.

"On and off the pitch, the club is in good shape. We're well supported now and we feel that there's a real warmth to the club, which it wouldn't be worthwhile if there wasn't, to be honest.

"We've got supporters who understand that there's going to be bumps in the road along the way, but we have got that strong mindset now amongst the players and staff that it's okay, we're going to be all right because we're back each other and there is trust there.

"The players have taken ownership, people are taking ownership off the pitch and to finish halfway in 13th, we can be proud of that step.

"Of course, we want to go away, rest up, then do our homework again, research players and make sure that we improve next season, because it's all about continual progression and striving for more. But, I think it's another good season for Harrogate Town and probably one of our best.”