Why Harrogate Town’s last-minute transfer business could help ensure that the club retains EFL status

The Sulphurites completed what has been a significant overhaul of their squad by snapping up no fewer than four new faces during the final hours of transfer deadline day.

Dior Angus, Danny Grant, Josh Coley and Samuel Folarin all arrived at Wetherby Road on September 1, with the latter two unveiled just moments before the summer window slammed shut at 11pm.

Those signings took the total of new recruits to have joined Town since the end of 2021/22 to 16, but, more significantly, they filled what was a worryingly big void in the forward department.

The departures of Aaron Martin, Danilo Orsi and Mark Beck meant that Luke Armstrong and Jack Muldoon were the only recognised senior strikers at Weaver’s disposal prior to deadline day, leaving Harrogate looking rather light up top.

But, with Angus, Grant and Folarin all capable of playing as a centre forward – among other positions - and winger Coley also comfortable as a number 10, Town’s front-line now has a much stronger look about it.

And Weaver insists that it was crucial that the club held its nerve and waited for the opportunity to swoop for the right players – even though it meant holding on until late in the day - rather than gambling on lower-league alternatives.

They had failed to score in six of their eight competitive outings this term prior to a 2-1 defeat Sutton United last time out, and it was clear that more firepower was required.

"We’ve been looking for more attacking options all summer, but as I kept saying, we had to remain patient,” he explained to the Harrogate Advertiser.

"It was a case of holding our nerve because if we had made approaches for these players earlier in the window, then we wouldn’t have got them.

"The timing had to be right and it was about waiting until we were in a position to be able to get the right deals done.

“The alternative, if we wanted to sign players earlier in the summer and get someone in quicker, would have been dropping down into the National League and National League North and taking much more of a gamble on lads who don’t have that Football League pedigree.

"If I’m being honest, I think we could well have ended up going down if we’d gone down that route. We needed forwards in and it was quite a hectic deadline day, but I feel that it was really important that we got these deals done for quality players who we believe will make a big difference in the attacking third.”

Weaver helped broker some of those deadline-day transfers shortly after coming out of theatre following surgery on his leg and admits that he felt slightly worse for wear during negotiations over the phone.

But, he was full of praise for the work undertaken by former midfielder Lloyd Kerry, who took over as Town’s head of recruitment this summer following his retirement from playing.

"Lloyd played an immense role in recruiting these players and deserves a huge amount of credit,” Weaver added.

"But, that is one of the reasons why we really wanted him to be our head of recruitment, because we knew how dedicated a professional he is.

"He was here at the ground until gone 11pm on deadline day making sure that everything was sorted and taken care of.

"Our secretary, Abi [Smith], was also there until late, along with Rachel [Davis], our physio, making sure that we got it all sorted.

"They all went above and beyond. We’ve only got a small workforce here, but these are good people, who work so hard for this club.”

Town return to League Two action on Tuesday night when they entertain Salford City, 7.45pm kick-off.