'Really satisfying' - Simon Weaver reflects on Harrogate Town's historic homecoming

Back in May 2009, the then-31-year-old had to climb over a fence to take his first look around his new place of work. What he found was overgrown grass on the pitch and not very much else.

Upon closer inspection, Weaver discovered that Town only had two players on their books, neither of whom had any interest in sticking around. There were barely even any serviceable footballs in the building.

On numerous occasions, he was faced with the option of either holding training sessions in a car park or squash court, or simply cancelling them altogether, so badly was the old Wetherby Road turf affected by anything resembling heavy rainfall.

The list goes on.

A lot, of course, can change in more than a decade, but the club that Weaver joined 11 years to go is now completely unrecognisable from the one which was promoted into the English Football League (EFL) this summer.

On Saturday, Town made history, hosting an EFL fixture at the EnviroVent Stadium for the first-time in its 106-year existence.

For Weaver, that special moment, was made all the more enjoyable by the trials and tribulations which he had to endure during the early years of his tenure.

"This is a great moment to be the manager of this football club and it feels all the more satisfying because of the many struggles," the Harrogate boss said after his side's 1-0 win over Barrow on their newly-laid natural grass pitch.

"It's not been an easy ride. You look at the new stand and you look out at the pitch and think back to seven years ago when we re-laid the it and played Altrincham and it poured down with rain. Lumps were coming out of it and it was damaged from day one. We have had a lot of struggles with it.

"So, today was another historic occasion and it's been a really satisfying day.

"Now we're looking at the [League Two] table tonight and we're seventh and we're thinking 'yeah, come on, just keep chalking up points.'

"We have a massive desire keep driving it forwards. The players are an unbelievable group because they continue to expect more of each other."

Town have been forced to play their opening three fixtures as an EFL side at Doncaster Rovers' Keepmoat Stadium while work on their new pitch was completed.

And, while the experience cannot be said to have had any adverse effects on results, Weaver said that both he and his players were delighted to be able to enjoy some genuine home comforts this weekend.

"It was so satisfying to come home because every game has felt like an away game," he added.

"I was speaking to Connor Hall before the game and he just said 'it's great to be home, it means a lot'.

"If we'd have run out towards a full Kop it would have been all the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, so it's such a shame that the fans couldn't be here.

"But, as it is we still had a duty to make sure that we delivered and I'm pleased to say that the lads did that today.