Jack Emmett leaves Harrogate Town having lived the dream with his hometown club

In making it as a professional and going on to achieve something truly special with his hometown club - on Wembley's hallowed turf, no less - the 27-year-old midfielder departs Wetherby Road for the good of his health with a CV that will be the envy of so many who love the game.

As the one homegrown talent who made it all the way through from Harrogate's National League North days to the promised land of the Football League (EFL), Emmett is a firm fans' favourite at the EnviroVent Stadium. The local boy done good. And some.

He and his team-mates have earned two unexpected promotions in the space of three years and there is without doubt a fairytale feel about Town's rise from sixth-tier obscurity to a team who found themselves going toe-to-toe with Premier League West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup earlier this season.

Affable, modest and always smiling, Emmett has embodied everything that has been good about the Sulphurites' recent ascent up the pyramid.

That he is such a likeable character makes his premature parting ways with the club on health grounds all the more saddening. And all before he even had the chance to prove himself as a League Two footballer.

"I'm gutted to leave, especially so soon after the club has been promoted into the Football League," Emmett told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"I feel proud of everything that we've achieved and it's been a privilege to have been a part of making history with my hometown team.

"Obviously this has been a tough decision to make but it is the best thing for me and, I believe, for the club.

"We've tried to get to the bottom of the problem with my fatigue. We've tried a lot of different things but haven't been able to sort it and I've become very aware that I cannot consistently perform at the level required.

"My contract is up at the end of the season, but I didn't want to stay here until then and take a wage when I know that realistically I'm not going to be able to play or contribute anything.

"I didn't want to be a burden, so I spoke to the gaffer and told him I thought it was best if I went."

Emmett's departure by mutual consent may only have been confirmed this week, but the former Harrogate Grammar School pupil's battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has been on-going for years and the writing has been on the wall since before Christmas.

"I've been suffering with serious tiredness after games on and off for a long while now and over time it has just been getting worse," he explained.

"Initially I just thought it was due to over-training and for a period I just tried to get on with it. We started having tests done, but nothing has ever come back, so the diagnosis is that it must be chronic fatigue.

"My body just hasn't been reacting well to the level of exercise I have needed to do and it has got to the point where it has been stopping me from performing as well as I would have liked.

"I didn't play as much as I would have liked last season because I wasn't able to. There were times when I felt okay if I didn't train too much, but this season it has been more difficult.

"It's getting to the point where it's become difficult to live with. I'd get home from training and basically feel like I was ill. I had no energy to do anything and I'd be so exhausted I would struggle to concentrate on anything.

"It reached the point where I couldn't carry on like I was."

Without the demands of full-time football to worry about, Emmett is now taking some time out and resting up in attempt to let his body heal itself.

He is not ruling out a return to the game or to Town in the future, but at the moment his only focus is on getting well again.

"Everything is just so uncertain at the moment, I just don't know how I will recover," he said.

"I might be able to get back to normal, but who is to say that the fatigue wouldn't just come back again if I started playing again.

"I loved playing professional football for Town and I hope to be able to do it again one day, but we'll have to wait and see.

"I can reflect happily on everything that I've achieved at the club and I'll still be around the place and coming to games on a Saturday."

As well as the two promotions, Emmett leaves Town with an impressive 229 appearances to his name.

Having progressed through the Sulphurites' youth system and initially made his senior debut against Solihull Moors in December 2011, he left the club to go to university in Loughborough in pursuit of a career in accountancy.

He would then re-join Harrogate for pre-season in August 2014, later signing professional terms at Wetherby Road in the summer of 2017.

Having been used predominantly as a winger during his early years at the club, the 2017/18 campaign saw Emmett deployed in central midfield where he formed an effective partnership with Josh Falkingham.

Alongside his captain, he was named joint Players' Player of the Season as Town progressed to English football's fifth tier for the first time in their history.

Although his ever-increasing struggles with fatigue have limited his game-time during the last two seasons, he has continued to play his part out on the pitch, helping the Sulphurites reach the National League Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium this summer, where the club secured their historic promotion to the EFL.

Emmett's final appearance in Harrogate colours came during a 3-1 EFL Trophy success over Leicester City under-21s on October 6.