Bradford City may not feel the same way, but Harrogate Town will always view derby games as a big deal

The Yorkshire rivals go head-to-head at Valley Parade in the first round of the FA Cup on Saturday lunchtime (12.30pm), the second of three derby clashes that will take place this season.

There is only slightly more than 20 miles between the two clubs, though they have been separated by a much greater chasm in the footballing pyramid for almost the entirety of their histories.

For the majority of their existence, City have operated in the top three tiers of English football and were a Premier League outfit as recently as 2001, while Harrogate’s first 106 years were spent exclusively in non-league.

Yet, since 2020, the two teams have been League Two rivals, and underdogs Town have had much the better of the head-to-head meetings, winning four out of four prior to last month’s 2-1 league defeat at Wetherby Road.

There is £41,000 in prize money at stake this weekend, but given where they have come from, that won’t be the primary motivating factor for Weaver and his men when they take to the field in West Yorkshire.

"It’s a big game on Saturday, it’s the FA Cup, it’s a Yorkshire derby and we’re playing in a fantastic stadium,” the Sulphurites boss told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"I think that everybody who has been on our journey with us, particularly those who were there in the Conference North days, will always look at a fixture against Bradford City as a big one.

"I don’t think that they [Bradford] will see it in the same way because when you’re talking about Yorkshire derbies, they have played the likes of Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday in the Premier League. We’re talking about massive clubs.

"But for us, if you look at the size of Bradford City, their fan-base, their history, their stadium, then derbies don’t get much bigger. So, I think there is a bit extra on these games.

"However, we’re both at the same level now, we’re in the same league and we’ve enjoyed some good results against them in the last few years. I’m sure they’ll go into Saturday expecting to get a positive result, but we’re heading into it with confidence ourselves.”

If Town are to secure what would be a third competitive victory at Valley Parade in as many attempts, they will have to do so without up to as many as eight members of their first-team squad.

Midfielder Josh Falkingham is the latest player to be added to Harrogate’s injury list having picked up a knock this week and the Sulphurites skipper is rated as a doubt for Saturday.

Defender Joe Mattock (hamstring) has resumed light training, but is unlikely to be risked, while this weekend’s game comes too soon for midfielders Josh Austerfield (ankle/foot) and George Thomson (hamstring).

Stephen Dooley, Max Wright, Dior Angus and Will Smith all remain some way away from a return to action.

Last term, Harrogate triumphed 3-1 in West Yorkshire courtesy of goals from Warren Burrell, Lewis Page and Jack Diamond, while the 2020/21 campaign saw them come away with a 1-0 success thanks to Lloyd Kerry’s second-half strike.

Town also won both of the previous two seasons’ derby encounters on home soil, but were beaten 2-1 at Wetherby Road the last time the sides met.

Andy Cook’s early penalty was cancelled out by Jaheim Headley’s emphatic 47th-minute equaliser, however the Bantams nicked all three points somewhat against the run of play when Tyreik Wright struck on the counter-attack.