The start of a bright future. That’s what Mick O’Connell wants the new Toolstation NCEL Division One season to be for Harrogate Railway.
O’Connell is the latest manager to called in to rescue Railway from the free-fall they have been on since the departure of Billy Miller in 2015. The Rail’ have suffered two relegations and escaped another because of a reprieve in that time. They were also in the relegation zone last season when the campaign was expunged.
Morale has been at a low ebb at Station View, but O’Connell hopes to change the landscape for the better this year.
“We want to stabilise the club first and foremost,” O’Connell told Non League Yorkshire.
“The club has been in dire straits for the last three or four years fighting relegation every year. We need to bring more positivity around the club, more energy around the club. If we finish top half this year we’d be delighted with that and we’d build on that next year.
“We have put a four-year plan in place because it is not going to happen overnight. We are literally starting from scratch. But we seem to be going the right way and we seem to have a good group.
“When you look back at recent history at Railway, eight out of ten weeks they get beat. We want to change the culture. If anyone comes to Station View they’re going to have to work hard for three points and I haven’t seen that in teams in the last few years. Teams have lacked a bit of backbone and we’re working hard to change that culture and that mindset.
“If we get a positive vibe and win more games than we lose and we get more people watching the games, that is a success in itself. We have to take baby steps.”
O’Connell replaced Des Macorison, whose reign started well, but tailed off over the winter months, in February. Those remain from last season who do include Kieran Greenway, goalkeeper Joe Wilton, Dan McDaid and the evergreen Steve Bromley who has resisted reading the retirement brochures for another year.
Several youngsters have joined as well further experience in Adam Shaw and Aodhan Brownlee and O’Connell is happy with his squad.
“When I came in, I make no secret of it, some of the players weren’t good enough to play at this level,” he said.
“They were probably playing one level too high and we have recruited players who are more than good enough at this level and the level above.
“We have recruited some older players who have played in the Premier Division or the Northern Premier League. We have players who have played in academy set-ups and can handle themselves well.
“We have a good mix of technically gifted players and very workman-like players. Our balance is good and I’m looking forward to kicking on…I think experience players are key for any squad.
“We need people who know the league and we have a good balance at the minute between young and old. Our recruitment this summer has been good. We haven’t just recruited players, we’ve recruited characters and brought people in who had to fit into how we want to play and have the mentality we want.
“We had the opportunity to bring in several players, but we didn’t because although I didn’t personally know them, I didn’t hear great things so we knocked those moves on their head.
“We wanted 18 or 20 in pre-season and we wanted to work with them all through pre-season and keep 99% of them for the whole season. If we lose players this year it will because somebody from higher up the pyramid has put seven days in for them and I’ll never stand in their way.”
Whilst positive about Railway’s chances of a stabilising campaign, O’Connell is well-aware of how tough the league will be.
“I would 100% agree it has got stronger,” he said.
“I think Div One is a Division where if you take out the top four or five, anybody can beat anybody on any given day.
“I think there’s probably five or six teams who could win the league and there’s a lot of top budgets. Hallam have recruited well and there’s players dropping down two Divisions to play for them.
“I think the Northern Premier League will suffer a little because lads can get the same money or more in the Northern Counties and they’re only travelling an hour maximum. Whereas in the NPL you’re travelling to Liverpool on a Tuesday night.
“I’ve spoken to one club in the NPL and there’s people turning down going there to go to Northern Counties Div One teams because they get more money. The NPL will suffer, whereas the Northern Counties will get stronger.”
Harrogate Railway’s First Five Fixtures
September 19th – Cleator Moor Celtic (H) – FA Vase
September 22nd – North Ferriby (H)
September 26th – Brigg Town (H)
September 30th – Winterton Rangers (A)
October 3rd – Worsbrough Bridge (H)
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please 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. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
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. As we slowly return to ‘action’, 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.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and because of the cancelled Lucille Rollinson Memorial Tournament, we are down on projected income for the year and we have incurred losses in the last few months.
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. Several of our players are suffering from effects of the lockdown and we are determined to be in the strongest position possible to provide services for them.
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.