Harrogate Town finished their 2023/24 League Two season with something of a whimper, winning only one of their last five games. Midway through the campaign there was plenty of promise that Harrogate could be involved in the playoff shake-up, but a significant drop-off in form has led to the club settling for a safe mid-table finish.
There will be a hint of regret within the Harrogate squad that they aren’t involved in the playoff mix, especially since Doncaster Rovers were 15 points behind them as recently as 4th February.
After the first leg of the League Two playoffs, Harrogate’s Yorkshire rivals, Doncaster Rovers, are given the best chance of gaining promotion. The in-form side won their first leg 2-0 against Crewe, with Betfred pricing them as 4/6 favourites to return to the third tier at Wembley this month. Betfred, still owned by founder, Fred Done, remains a leading expert on all things EFL. That’s despite the brand branching out into other forms of gaming. This includes its online casino, which ranks inside the top ten in the UK by casinoalpha, a comparison portal of the most reputable gambling sites in the licensed UK market.
How it all started
After the opening ten league games of the season, few would’ve predicted Simon Weaver’s men would be in and around the top seven of League Two this term. They amassed just 13 points from ten games, although the sheer competitiveness of the division meant they were still just four points off the playoff places at this stage.
Come Christmas, Harrogate remained just five points off the playoffs, sitting in 14th place with 30 points from their opening 22 matches.
Wind the clock forward to mid-February, Harrogate looked like they could make a genuine fist of a playoff bid. They were level on points with seventh-placed Notts County, who were riding the crest of a wave after their National League promotion.
Mansfield knocked the confidence of the Sulphurites
The 13th of February looked like the beginning of Town’s slide down the League Two table. A jaw-dropping 9-2 defeat at eventual promotion-winners, Mansfield Town, seemed to knock the confidence of Weaver’s men. They wouldn’t win a league game until 23rd March after the debacle at the One Call Stadium.
This was their ultimate undoing, even though a 5-1 home win over Gillingham in early April sparked hopes of a revival. These dreams were almost immediately dashed by a defeat five days later at Notts County.
Summarising the 2023/24 season
With the season done and dusted, Weaver, the EFL’s longest-serving boss, described the campaign as a season of “sizeable progress” and it’s hard to argue. Town had never even finished in the top half of League Two, let alone compete for the top seven. Their return of 63 points eclipses their previous record points total by six points.
Weaver believes the club is in “good shape” to go again and build on this year. Attendances at Wetherby Road continue to grow, rising from 2,296 in 2022/23 to 2,710 in 2023/24. This represents a 15% rise year-on-year. Next year, they’ll be keen to take a leaf out of Crawley Town’s book, with the Surrey club clinching a playoff place with average attendances a shade over 3,000.
