Harrogate Town prioritising 'goals and excitement' during summer recruitment drive

The Sulphurites, who are preparing for their first season as a non-league club in six years, know that they need to strengthen considerably in the final third if they want to compete for an immediate return to the Football League.

Weaver’s men were relegated from League Two last term as the lowest scorers in the entire division having managed to find the back of the net just 39 times in 46 matches.

And while part of the blame for those failings as an attacking force lay with their misfiring strikers, for a big chunk of the campaign Town struggled for creativity and simply did not fashion enough opportunities to threaten the opposition goal.

Thus, the Harrogate chief has put addressing that issue to the very top of his close-season to-do list.

"The aim is to really refresh the squad and bring more goals to the team, and bring more excitement. That is what the objectives are,” Weaver told BBC Radio York.

"We didn’t score enough last season and we are also looking to add to width to our game and need natural delivery from both sides, which was something that was missing when we looked back on last season.

"It was probably only the latter part of the season when we delivered a enough balls into the box to disrupt the opposition and create enough chances.

“There are four or five signings that are pretty close, and we are keen on pressing the button.”

Town’s first capture of the summer was former Chesterfield midfielder Bailey Hobson, a player with a reputation for scoring goals from the centre of midfield, which is something that was certainly lacking last term.

"He is another player who can run 12km in a game,” Weaver added.

"And I don’t think that we have had a natural goal-scoring midfielder, running off the back of the opposition since probably Andy Gascoigne played for us years ago – and the fans loved him.

"I wanted a midfielder who could really do that and want to get into goal-scoring situations and lift the crowd.”

Including Hobson, Town have 18 senior professionals on their books heading into 2026/27, while long-serving midfielder George Thomson has been offered a new contract.

And Weaver believes that all of those players will have a part to play next term, insisting that, at this stage, he is not looking to move any of them on.

"We just need to add now, because we have got some vacancies in the squad,” he said.

"It’s an exciting time to look at prospects in line with the identity of the team during the last 15 games of last season.”

Amongst those who appear set to remain at Wetherby Road are central midfielders Jack Evans and Bryn Morris, who were expected to attract plenty of interest from suitors in the Football League given their pedigree and performance levels last season.

But Weaver is confident that, as things stand, both men will be staying put.

"We have had no offers for any of the players, though I am sure that they will have interested teams who will have been looking at them,” he continued.

"But we want to bounce back at the earliest opportunity, and we need good characters in there like Jack Evans and Bryn Morris.

"I am delighted that Jack is under contract with us for another two years and it is important that we build around him.

"He’s a brilliant character, he is our skipper, and he will lead the charge and our fightback.”