Harrogate Railway will focus on developing young players and giving them opportunities in men’s football next season and Mick O’Connell expects other clubs to follow the same philosophy.
O’Connell is preparing his first full season in charge of Harrogate, whenever that may begin, and he has a clear plan of where he wants to take the club.
Although the next Railway squad will contain experience in the likes of striker Steve Bromley, O’Connell wants to lead a youth revolution at Station View.
“We’re focussing on the young players, but we need to get the balance right with youth and experience,” O’Connell told Non League Yorkshire.
“We’re probably two or three players short at the minute, but we’re in positive conversations with two or three players. Until we get a date for the new season we can’t really approach them to sign.
“In fairness to (chairman) Mick (Edwards), he’s said if we need a centre-forward who will demand big money he’ll pay it, but I don’t want people who demand massive money.
“I think some of the money that has been bandied around at this level for the last few years has been stupidity. You’ve probably heard it a million times. Some of the money is not sustainable.
“The pandemic is going to have a massive effect on clubs and I don’t think it will have a big impact on us as we’re run on a shoestring anyway.
“This pandemic might be for the best for Non League Football because I personally think the Non League bubble has burst. Clubs higher up are struggling with budgets and that’s going to have a massive effect right down the food chain.
“I have spoken to two or three managers from a few levels above where we are and they have said they will be taking the same stance by going and getting players from academies. They’ll have four or five marquee players and building a team of young players around them.
“I want hungry players who are willing to come in and learn and work hard. I see so many players at this level who come in and demand big fees and they come and go.
“Young lads have lost out on opportunities at this level because of this. Unfortunately it is the nature of the beast, committees and boards want everything done yesterday and everything is in a rush.
“Unfortunately managers don’t get time and they’ll bring in the same faces from the circuit. We want to change that and give young lads opportunities. There are a lot of good kids around who just need that leg up.
“I want continuity and start off with 20 lads who will be with us for the whole of the season.”
O’Connell is the latest in a long of successors to Billy Miller, whose glorious reign ended in 2015, but signalled a major decline in Railway’s fortunes. Railway have suffered three relegations (one reprieve) in five years and the club were in a grave situation when the Toolstation NCEL Division One campaign ended abruptly.
Railway were second bottom and although they had all the teams above them to play, a vast number of wins and a few snookers were required. The season had started with huge positivity as Des Macorison had recruited an impressive squad, but once as star striker Joe Jagger left for Brighouse Town, results completely collapsed.
O’Connell replaced Macorison in February and he is hopeful of being the man to finally end years of doom and gloom.
“The club has had a lot of second chances so it is now or never,” he said.
“We need to change how we approach things and how we do things by changing the philosophy. If we end up in the West Yorkshire League, there’s a massive chance the club won’t exist anymore. We can’t let that happen.
“The football club has fallen so far behind in recent years through no fault of anyone’s and it has ended up where it has ended up.
“The club has been in free-fall and there has been no consistency or continuity whatsoever. Every-time a new manager has come in, they’ve brought in 20 new players which has meant there has never been a settling in period for anyone.
“I think the players in the last two or three years just haven’t been good enough and that’s the top and bottom of it. There’s been one or two players who could compete at this level, but then others haven’t coped.
“What we need to do is strip it back and start again. We’re going to do things the right way. We’re looking a long-term picture rather than the usual short-term fixes.
“You can never be 100% sure your plans are going to work, but I’m confident in my ability to make players better. From a coaching aspect, myself and Josh have worked at a decent level of under 18s football.
“In the job I had at Darlington and the job (assistant manager) Josh (Walsh) has at Harrogate Town, it is about developing players so they can compete in the first team.
“I’ve had plenty of lads leave me and go to your Middlesbrough’s, Sunderland’s, Newcastle’s and Doncaster’s and do well. In terms of making players better, that’s what we are all about.”
Alongside his incredible man-management skills and tactical knowledge, a major aspect of why Miller was so successful was his working relationship with Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver.
Most notably in Miller’s second season (2013/14) at the helm, one reason Railway did so well in the NPL Division One North was because of the players Weaver lent them. Peter Crook, now a top National League stopper, was the best goalkeeper in the league and he won several games on his own. Paul Beesley and Harry Coates were two other notable names.
The relationship between Town and Railway has remained in place with a few of Miller’s successors such as Lee Ashforth, but no-one enjoyed the same success.
O’Connell says that the link is back and will bode well for Railway going forward.
“The first thing I did was bring Josh (Walsh) in so we now have the relationship with Harrogate Town back,” he said.
“They are going to be giving us some of their younger players on work experience. Harrogate Town are a club going in the right direction and they’re attracting some very good kids who have been released from some top academies.
“I just see that because of where we are that we need to build up positive relationships and I’ve also had positive conversations with Halifax and Guiseley. So we’re tapping into National League clubs who hopefully will give us young players so they can get experience.
“We will bring them in on work experience so you don’t need to pay loan fees.”
If you have enjoyed this interview and the Non League Journey interview series, please watch the video at the bottom of the page and consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams so when the green light to return is given, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and we have incurred losses which we cannot recover. We have not been hit as badly as other organisations, but we do need raise £2000 to put us back at the level we were at in mid-March and enable us to make a difference once again to our players’ lives in the future, without having financial worries. As each day goes on, a substantial number of our players become further isolated so we need to be ‘ready for action’ when restrictions are lifted.
Any amount raised above £2000 will be put towards new projects (when the world returns to normal) designed to further benefit people with disabilities and learning difficulties. You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.