StemCell Therapy

AS HE watched Eccleshill lift the West Riding County Cup at Valley Parade in 2014, Conor Sellars could not have imagined that he would be back one day in the home dug-out.

And it might have also been stretching it to think that Harrogate, beaten by a last-minute penalty that night, would now be on an equal footing with City in League Two.

They were in the National League North when Sellars spent a season playing at Wetherby Road.

But there were some experienced names in the line-up, including former City midfielder Adam Bolder and Scotland international and current Portsmouth goalkeeper Craig McGillivray.

Ive played a few reserve games at Valley Parade but I do remember that night, recalled Citys joint boss. It was nice to be playing there but it was a tough one to take losing 1-0 (to a last-minute penalty).

We had players who had played in the Championship or maybe the Premier League and obviously Craig went on to the Football League and is having a good career.

There were a lot of players from different backgrounds who had played at different levels.

I think Harrogate have always attracted good players along the way, although maybe not myself.

Simon Weaver was his manager at the time and will still be there on the sidelines for Citys Saturday lunchtime visit as he approaches his 12th anniversary next month at the Harrogate helm.

It is a remarkable achievement, even more so in the hire em, fire em environment of the modern game and something that new managers like Sellars and Mark Trueman can aspire to.

Sellars added: Its brilliant. Mark and I obviously know Simon and how long hes been there.

I had some good discussions with him while I was a player there and enjoyed working with him.

I used to really like his desire and how committed he was.

We were part-time at the time in Conference North but he lived and breathed it. His intensity in his work was great to see.

Success is maybe not just an immediate thing. Its something built over years of hard work and putting your identity and stamp on it.

We have to get results, we have to show intent and improve. We know that.

But we also want to build something long term at this club and hopefully were given the chance to do so.

Could they still be in the job after a dozen seasons like Weaver?

Why not? he said. But thats why it is such a good story seeing Harrogate go up the leagues.

This year was a massive test for them but I think theyve shown everybody that they deserve to be in this division.

Its been fantastic to see the development. When I was there, they always spoke about moving forward and trying to get into the National League and then into the EFL and theyve done that.

The midweek hiccup against Crawley has left City four points adrift of the play-offs. But Sellars insists they are still in the mix going into a six-game shoot-out.

Its hard to predict and I wouldnt want to do that. It can go in lots of different directions.

We just hope it can go in the most positive one.

We have confidence that we can do that but were also realistic to know that everything is not going to be a smooth as wed like.

From the day that we took over until now, we feel were in a good position. Its a bonus that were trying to get into the play-offs.

But again, I think it shows the hard work of everybody involved.

Continued here:
Bradford City duo inspired by Weaver longevity at Harrogate - Bradford Telegraph and Argus

This entry was posted on April 17, 2021 at 1:54 am and is filed under Longevity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |