Harrogate Town 'needed' meeting with Independent Supporters' Club, says Sulphurites boss Simon Weaver

The Supporters’ Club’s committee sat down with Sulphurites officials to talk about a variety of on-field and off-field issues, and declared themselves encouraged by what they described as an ‘extremely positive’ discussion.

Present at the meeting were eight members of Town personnel including chairman and owner Irving Weaver, chief executive officer Sarah Barry and first-team manager Simon Weaver, who shares the view of HTISC regarding the event’s usefulness.

“It was a really worthwhile meeting,” he told the Harrogate Advertiser. “I think that when people can sit down together face-to-face and see the colour of each other’s eyes, any tension that might have potentially been there then goes.

"I think both parties understood that there were frustrations on both sides, but that’s because there was plenty of passion in that room, plenty of care for Harrogate Town.

"You could see that there was a better understanding of certain issues because we were able to communicate face-to-face. Sometimes you can’t go to print with some of the things you want to get across or explain.

"I think that both the supporters’ club and ourselves needed that meeting. I think that everyone who was there believes that we’re all fighting for each other and for our future at this level of football.

"Harrogate Town has no divine right to be in League Two. As a team, we have to scrap for every point and, as a club, I feel that togetherness is really important if we are to stay in the Football League."

Matters such as ticket-price increases, match-day experience, attendance figures, ground development and how the club communicates have all been hot topics of conversation amongst Harrogate followers in recent weeks.

And, having consulted with their own members as well as the wider fan community, HTISC’s committee were able to relay a range of concerns, frustrations and questions to Town’s chief decision-makers.

Weaver said that both he and his colleagues were happy to address any concerns raised and will continue to make themselves available to do so, while insisting that the club is “working its socks off” behind the scenes to try and get things right.

"Everything matters when you’re a club as small as we are. Everyone who comes through the gates matters and we want to get it right,” he added.

"As a club, we are working our socks off, working with the council, working with the [North Yorkshire County Council] Safety Advisory Group.

"We want to provide a better match-day experience. There are things we are working towards and things to address, whether that’s talking to some of the stewards and reminding them what Harrogate Town are about as a club

"We are here to listen and I will make myself available to do that. If people want to shout at me because they’re frustrated and then it means that there’s a better atmosphere on a match-day, then I’ll take that.

"We’d love to hear that noise again from the kop. As a manager, as a player, it doesn’t half lift you. We’ve got a lot of young lads in our squad and that noise, that atmosphere, can make a real difference to them in particular.”

Town’s decision to increase match-day admission prices for the 2022/23 season is one that has caused plenty of discontent amongst supporters, with anecdotal evidence and early attendance figures suggesting that a number of fans have voted with their feet.

Addressing this point, Weaver went on to reinforce the club message that the Sulphurites had no real choice but to raise ticket fees as they attempt to transition to a more sustainable business model, one that is less reliant on investment by his father.

"Difficult decisions have had to be made,” he continued.

“We want to be competitive in the Football League. To enable us to be competitive, certain decisions have had to be taken. In the long-run, we believe that we will benefit from these decisions.

"No decisions have been made with the aim or expectation of turning people away. That’s the last thing that we want to happen.

"We want people to understand that we do care about Harrogate Town. That care for the club extends beyond my time and my dad’s time. We care about the future, but also about the present. We know that we need to nail the now.”

Detailed minutes from what was a private meeting will be provided by the Supporters’ Club to its members in due course, but spokesperson Jordan Ford was able to provide the a flavour of what unfolded on the evening.

"It was definitely a very, very positive meeting,” he reflected.

"For eight different members of the club’s staff to be prepared to sit down with supporters and be happy to answer their questions says a lot. And I felt that they were being genuine with what they were saying to us.

“I think that we understand the challenges that the club is facing a lot better now and also that communicating some of the things that we, as supporters, want to know isn’t always as straightforward as we probably thought.

"There are certain things that the club just cannot do and we now have a better understanding of some of the reasons behind some decisions.”