Zico Asare snapped up by National League rivals Woking FC after Harrogate Town release
Zico Asare is set to come face-to-face with his old Harrogate Town team-mates next season after being snapped up by National League rivals Woking.
The 25-year-old defender was one of eight out-of-contract players to be told that they were free to leave Wetherby Road last month following the Sulphurites’ relegation from League Two.
But, the former England youth international already has a new home, with the Cards offering him a two-year deal as they look to build on last season’s 10th-placed finish.
Having come through Premier League Fulham’s academy, it was Asare’s form in the National League for Maidenhead United that persuaded Harrogate to pay an undisclosed fee to secure his services in the summer of 2024.
The right-back went on to play 54 times for Town across the two seasons that followed, with the majority of those games coming during his first year at Wetherby Road.
Despite being unable to quite nail down a starting position on a consistent basis, he still managed to rack up 34 appearances in all competitions in 2024/25, though 11 of those were as a substitute.
He featured on 20 occasions in all competitions last term, however the signing of Chanse Headman from Brentford during the winter transfer window and the return to fitness of first-choice right-back Lewis Cass saw Asare slip right down the pecking order during the second half of a campaign which ultimately ended in disaster.
That was despite him enjoying an extended run in the Sulphurites’ team through November and December, at a time when the club was contending with an injury crisis which left them heavily depleted.
His exploits prompted Sulphurites boss Simon Weaver to compare him to a “Rolls Royce” and describe his form as the “best of his Harrogate Town career”, though he soon found himself watching on from the stands.
Asare last set foot on the pitch on New Year's Day, arriving as a second-half substitute in a 2-0 home defeat to Tranmere Rovers and failed to even make a match-day squad after January.
His one goal in Town colours came when he rifled a stunning long-range strike in off the post in the dying minutes of a 2-1 loss at MK Dons in January 2025.