Harrogate Town AFC

After football paused last weekend following the death of Queen Elizabeth II Town are back in action tomorrow evening when we face Salford City.

Our opponents

The Ammies have made a strong start to the campaign and come into the game in fourth place on 14 points, having won four of their opening seven fixtures.

They have won one, drawn one and lost one of games on their travels so far, including a defeat at Doncaster in their last outing.

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The club have narrowly missed out on the playoffs the past two seasons and were once again active in the transfer window. New arrivals were the likes of Callum Hendry, Elliott Watt and Richard Nartye, although they did lose top scorer Brandon Thomas-Asante who signed for Championship side West Brom on deadline day.

Previous meetings

Last season Salford triumphed at The Envirovent Stadium in late-November as goals either side of half-time from Matty Lund and Jason Lowe sealed a 2-0 win before repeating the scoreline at home in mid-April thanks to a brace from Matt Smith.

The Ammies also had the upper hand in 2020/21 as a solitary James Wilson strike was good enough to take all three points at The Envirovent Stadium in mid-December with Ed Francis's last-minute equaliser good enough to earn Town a 2-2 draw at The Peninsula Stadium later in the season.



The man in charge

After Gary Bowyer left the club at the end of the season Salford turned to Neil Wood as their new Head Coach.

Wood was a former Manchester United trainee, who made a number of loan appearances for a variety of clubs before returning to United in a coaching role working his way up to the Academy side before joining Salford ahead of the 2022/23 season.

Ones to watch

With Thomas-Asante's goals having departed there will be increased reliance on summer arrival Callum Hendry, who has struck twice so far this season. Odin Bailey, a signing from Birmingham City, started last time out.

Midfielders Connor McAleny and Ryan Watson have also added two goals apiece, with Elliott Watt posting two assists.

Ibou Touray, with the club since their non-league days, has started brightly on the left-hand side. Jason Lowe will anchor the defence.

Recent history

The club has of course had a rapid rise to reach this level, appearing at the North West Counties League level little over a decade ago.

The club were initially founded in 1940 as Salford Central, playing in local area leagues before joining the Manchester League in the 1960's where they enjoyed a sustained period of success. They then became founder members of the North West Counties League in 1982 before moving up to the Northern Premier League.

The takeover of the club by the ‘Class of 92' in 2014 whilst members of the Norther Premier League kickstarted the rise to Football League status and the club reached National League North in 2016 before achieving league status in 2019.

Team news

Simon Weaver continues to be without Will Smith, Josh Falkingham, Max Wright and George Thomson whilst George Horbury is serving the first match of his suspension after he was sent off in our last match against Sutton.

After spells on the side-lines in recent weeks both Alex Pattison and Stephen Dooley will be hoping to return to the fold.