2020–21 Harrogate Town A.F.C. season

The 2020–21 season was the first season Harrogate Town played in the Football League following their promotion from the National League in the previous season. They competed in League Two, the fourth tier of English football, alongside the FA Cup, EFL Cup, and EFL Trophy. The club began the season at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, whilst a grass pitch was installed at their traditional Wetherby Road stadium in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

Harrogate Town

2020–21 season
Chairman	Irving Weaver
Manager	Simon Weaver
Stadium	Keepmoat Stadium (until 6 October) Wetherby Road
League Two	17th
FA Cup	Second round
EFL Cup	Second round
EFL Trophy	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Jack Muldoon (15) All: Jack Muldoon (15)
Home colours Away colours
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

Background

A socially distanced crowd at Wetherby Road in December 2020.

The 2019–20 season saw Harrogate Town finish second in the National League, and thus qualified for the play-offs.^[1] They defeated Boreham Wood 1–0 in the semi-final,^[2] before a 3–1 victory over Notts County in the final secured Harrogate's promotion to the Football League for the first time in their history.^[3]

Since the EFL require all matches to be played on grass pitches, the club played all their home matches for the first month of the season at Doncaster Rovers' Keepmoat Stadium whilst the club replaced their synthetic pitch at Wetherby Road.^[4]

At the end of June 2020, defenders Maxim Kouogun, George Smith and Matty Taylor were all released following the expiry of their contracts, whilst the contract of midfielder Sam Jones was terminated with immediate effect.^[5]

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	Name	Previous club[a]	Fee	Ref.
11 August 2020	MF	Connor Kirby	Sheffield Wednesday	Free transfer	[6]
11 August 2020	DF	Jake Lawlor	Wrexham	Free transfer	[7]
13 August 2020	MF	Tom Walker	AFC Fylde	Undisclosed	[8]
14 August 2020	DF	Kevin Lokko	Dover Athletic	Free transfer	[9][10]
11 September 2020	GK	Melvin Minter	Kings Langley	Free transfer	[11]
3 October 2020	DF	Calvin Miller	Celtic	Free transfer	[12]
15 December 2020	DF	Ed Francis	No club	Free transfer	[13]
7 January 2021	DF	Jay Williams	Kettering Town	Undisclosed	[14]
18 January 2021	MF	Simon Power	Norwich City	Undisclosed	[15]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Date until	Ref.
11 September 2020	DF	Dan Jones	Salford City	End of season	[11]
5 January 2021	FW	Josh March	Forest Green Rovers	11 March 2021	[16][17]
6 January 2021	MF	William Hondermarck	Norwich City	End of season	[18]
8 January 2021	FW	Josh McPake	Rangers	End of season	[19]
8 January 2021	DF	Mitchell Roberts	Birmingham City	End of season	[20]
1 February 2021	FW	Josh Andrews	Birmingham City	End of season	[21]

Loans out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Date until	Ref.
25 September 2020	MF	Scott Brown	Warrington Town	End of season	[22]
23 October 2020	GK	Melvin Minter	Darlington	16 January 2021	[23][24]
10 November 2020	MF	Joe Leesley	Boston United	End of season	[25][26]
30 November 2020	MF	Tom Walker	Notts County	3 January 2021	[27]
11 January 2021	MF	Calvin Miller	Notts County	End of season	[28]
21 April 2021	MF	Connor Kirby	Altrincham	End of season	[29]

Transfers out

Date	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
26 September 2020	MF	Liam Agnew	Blyth Spartans	Mutual consent	[30]
28 September 2020	DF	Matt Taylor	Warrington Town	Free transfer	[31]
7 January 2021	MF	Jack Emmett	No club	Retired	[32]

Friendly matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Time	Opponent	Venue	Result[b]	Scorers	Attendance	Ref.
21 August 2020	16:00	Middlesbrough U23	Away	2–0	Falkingham 27', Muldoon 30'	0[c]	[33]
25 August 2020	19:45	Brighouse Town	Away	0–0	—	200	[34]
29 August 2020	15:00	Sunderland	Away	0–1	—	0[c]	[35][36]

Competitions

League Two

Main article: 2020–21 EFL League Two

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
13	Port Vale	46	17	9	20	57	57	0	60
14	Stevenage	46	14	18	14	41	41	0	60
15	Bradford City	46	16	11	19	48	53	−5	59
16	Mansfield Town	46	13	19	14	57	55	+2	58
17	Harrogate Town	46	16	9	21	52	61	−9	57
18	Oldham Athletic	46	15	9	22	72	81	−9	54
19	Walsall	46	11	20	15	45	53	−8	53
20	Colchester United	46	11	18	17	44	61	−17	51
21	Barrow	46	13	11	22	53	59	−6	50

Updated to match(es) played on 31 May 2021. Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) 12-point sending off offences^[37]

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
46	16	9	21	52	61	−9	57	8	5	10	24	29	−5	8	4	11	28	32	−4

Last updated: 8 May 2021.
Source: BBC Sport

Results by round

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	A
Result	W	D	D	L	W	W	W	L	D	L	L	D	L	W	L	L	L	W	L	W	L	D	D	L	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	L	L	L	D	L	L	D	W	L	D	W	L
Position	1	3	6	12	8	7	4	6	8	11	14	12	14	12	15	17	17	17	17	16	18	18	18	20	20	14	15	13	15	13	12	11	11	10	11	13	15	15	16	17	17	16	17	17	16	17

Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2021. Source: 11v11
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

The League Two fixtures were announced on 21 August 2020, with Harrogate's first fixture being away to Southend United.^[38]

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Time	Opponent	Venue	Result[b]	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
12 September 2020	15:00	Southend United	Away	4–0	Muldoon (2) 25', 69', Kerry 44', Martin 60'	0	Antony Coggins	[39]
19 September 2020	15:00	Walsall	Home[d]	2–2	Martin 32', Muldoon 42'	0	James Adcock	[40]
26 September 2020	15:00	Port Vale	Away	0–0		0	Ben Toner	[41]
3 October 2020	15:00	Bolton Wanderers	Home[d]	1–2	Thomson 61'	0	Ben Speedie	[42]
12 October 2020	19:45	Bradford City	Away	1–0	Kerry 74'	0	Darren Drysdale	[43]
17 October 2020	15:00	Barrow	Home	1–0	Muldoon 22'	0	Declan Bourne	[44]
20 October 2020	19:45	Grimsby Town	Away	2–1	Muldoon (2) 25', 43'	0	Seb Stockbridge	[45]
24 October 2020	15:00	Colchester United	Away	1–2	Stead 61'	0	Will Finnie	[46]
27 October 2020	19:00	Stevenage	Home	0–0		0	Graham Salisbury	[47]
31 October 2020	15:00	Newport County	Away	1–2	Smith 44'	0	Paul Howard	[48]
3 November 2020	19:00	Tranmere Rovers	Home	0–1		0	Ross Joyce	[49]
14 November 2020	15:00	Crawley Town	Home	1–1	Muldoon 85'	0	Martin Coy	[50]
21 November 2020	15:00	Leyton Orient	Away	0–3		0	Neil Hair	[51]
24 November 2020	19:00	Mansfield Town	Away	1–0	Miller 27'	0	Carl Boyeson	[52]
1 December 2020	19:00	Scunthorpe United	Home	2–5	Muldoon 35', Hall 90+2'	0	Paul Howard	[53]
5 December 2020	15:00	Forest Green Rovers	Home	0–1		410	Marc Edwards	[54]
12 December 2020	15:00	Morecambe	Away	0–1		0	Ollie Yates	[55]
15 December 2020	19:45	Exeter City	Away	2–1	Kiernan 31', Muldoon 75'	1,559	Lee Swabey	[56]
19 December 2020	15:00	Salford City	Home	0–1		495	Trevor Kettle	[57]
26 December 2020	15:00	Oldham Athletic	Away	2–1	Thomson (2) 30', 71'	0	Ben Speedie	[58]
9 January 2021	15:00	Cambridge United	Away	1–2	Muldoon 10'	0	Carl Brook	[59]
19 January 2021	19:00	Exeter City	Home	0–0		0	Scott Oldham	[60]
22 January 2021	19:00	Salford City	Away	2–2	Muldoon 37', Francis 90+3'	0	Marc Edwards	[61]
26 January 2021	19:00	Tranmere Rovers	Home	2–3	McPake 25', March 72'	0	Andy Haines	[62]
30 January 2021	15:00	Newport County	Home	2–1	March 34', Martin 66'	0	Christopher Pollard	[63]
6 February 2021	15:00	Crawley Town	Away	3–1	Martin 13', March 30' (pen.), Power 45+3'	0	Dean Whitestone	[64]
9 February 2021	18:00	Cheltenham Town	Home	0–1		0	Graham Salisbury	[65]
16 February 2021	19:00	Carlisle United	Home	1–0	March 28' (pen.)	0	Seb Stockbridge	[66]
20 February 2021	15:00	Scunthorpe United	Away	1–3	March 27' (pen.)	0	John Busby	[67]
23 February 2021	19:00	Mansfield Town	Home	1–0	Martin 46'	0	Ross Joyce	[68]
27 February 2021	15:00	Grimsby Town	Home	1–0	Beck 77'	0	Trevor Kettle	[69]
2 March 2021	19:00	Barrow	Away	1–0	Muldoon 84'	0	Robert Lewis	[70]
6 March 2021	15:00	Stevenage	Away	0–1		0	Scott Oldham	[71]
9 March 2021	19:00	Colchester United	Home	3–0	Beck 1', Smith 45+1', McPake 56'	0	Simon Mather	[72]
13 March 2021	15:00	Forest Green Rovers	Away	1–2	Williams 90+1'	0	Christopher Pollard	[73]
20 March 2021	15:00	Morecambe	Home	0–1		0	Josh Smith	[74]
27 March 2021	15:00	Southend United	Home	0–1		0	Leigh Doughty	[75]
2 April 2021	15:00	Walsall	Away	0–0		0	Will Finnie	[76]
5 April 2021	15:00	Port Vale	Home	0–2		0	Rebecca Welch	[77]
10 April 2021	15:00	Bolton Wanderers	Away	1–2	Beck 13'	0	Sam Allison	[78]
13 April 2021	19:00	Leyton Orient	Home	2–2	Jones 58', McPake 74'	0	Anthony Backhouse	[79]
17 April 2021	12:30	Bradford City	Home	2–1	Muldoon 22', McPake 89'	0	James Adcock	[80]
20 April 2021	19:00	Oldham Athletic	Home	0–3		0	Carl Boyeson	[81]
24 April 2021	15:00	Carlisle United	Away	1–1	Muldoon 11'	0	Chris Sarginson	[82]
30 April 2021	19:00	Cambridge United	Home	5–4	Kiernan (3) 9, 20, 32' (pen.), Beck 13', Lokko 84'	0	Ollie Yates	[83]
8 May 2021	15:00	Cheltenham Town	Away	1–4	Muldoon 7'	0	Ben Speedie	[84]

FA Cup

Main article: 2020–21 FA Cup

The draw for the first round was made on 26 October.^[85] The second round draw was revealed on Monday, 9 November by Danny Cowley.^[86]

Win

Draw

Loss

Round	Date	Time	Opponent	Venue	Result[b]	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
First round	6 November 2020	19:45	Skelmersdale United	Home	4–1	Miller 1', Beck 45+3', Lawlor 68', Martin 73'	0	Bobby Madley	[87]
Second round	28 November 2020	15:00	Blackpool	Home	0–4	—	0	James Oldham	[88]

EFL Cup

Main article: 2020–21 EFL Cup

Win

Draw

Loss

The first round draw was made live on Sky Sports on 18 August 2020, with Harrogate being drawn away to fellow League Two side Tranmere Rovers, with the match set to be played on 5 September 2020.^[89] The draw for both the second and third round were confirmed on September 6, live on Sky Sports by Phil Babb.^[90]

Round	Date	Time	Opponent	Venue	Result[b]	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
First round	5 September 2020	15:00	Tranmere Rovers	Away	1–1 (8–7 p)	Kerry 69'	0	Tom Nield	[91]
Second round	16 September 2020	18:00	West Bromwich Albion	Away	0–3		0	Thomas Bramall	[92]

EFL Trophy

Main article: 2020–21 EFL Trophy

Win

Draw

Loss

The regional group stage draw was confirmed on 18 August.^[93]

Pos	Div	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1	Hull City	3	2	0	0	1	6	2	+4	6	Advance to Round 2
2	ACA	Leicester City U21	3	2	0	0	1	6	5	+1	6
3	L2	Harrogate Town	3	1	0	1	1	5	5	0	4
4	L2	Grimsby Town	3	0	1	0	2	3	8	−5	2

Source: EFL.com

Round	Date	Time	Opponent	Venue	Result[b]	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
Group stage	8 September 2020	19:45	Grimsby Town	Away	2–2 (4–5 p)	Kiernan 81', Lokko 86'	0	James Bell	[94]
Group stage	6 October 2020	19:45	Leicester City U21	Home[d]	3–1	Stead 16', Jones 20', Kiernan 58'	0	Andy Haines	[95]
Group stage	10 November 2020	19:00	Hull City	Home	0–2		0	Peter Wright	[96]

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Last updated 9 May 2021.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		EFL League Two		EFL Cup		EFL Trophy		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ENG	James Belshaw	40	0	38	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
13	GK	ENG	Joe Cracknell	13	0	8	0	2	0	2	0	1	0
25	GK	ENG	Melvin Minter	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
2	DF	ENG	Ryan Fallowfield	34	0	31	0	2	0	1	0	0	0
3	DF	ENG	Dan Jones	25	2	21	1	1	0	2	1	1	0
5	DF	ENG	Will Smith	35	2	32	2	2	0	1	0	0	0
6	DF	ENG	Warren Burrell	50	0	43	0	2	0	3	0	2	0
12	DF	ENG	Jake Lawlor	21	1	17	0	0	0	2	0	2	1
20	DF	ENG	Connor Hall	44	1	41	1	2	0	0	0	1	0
22	DF	ENG	Ed Francis	21	1	21	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	DF	ENG	Kevin Lokko	8	2	3	1	0	0	3	1	2	0
27	DF	ENG	Jay Williams	7	1	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	DF	ENG	Mitchell Roberts	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
4	MF	ENG	Josh Falkingham	47	0	43	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
7	MF	ENG	George Thomson	52	3	46	3	2	0	2	0	2	0
8	MF	ENG	Jack Emmett (retired)	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
8	MF	IRL	William Hondermarck	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	ENG	Brendan Kiernan	35	6	30	4	0	0	3	2	2	0
15	MF	ENG	Connor Kirby (out on loan)	22	0	16	0	1	0	3	0	2	0
17	MF	ENG	Lloyd Kerry	37	3	31	2	2	1	3	0	1	0
19	MF	SCO	Calvin Miller (out on loan)	13	2	10	1	0	0	1	0	2	1
21	MF	ENG	Scott Brown (out on loan)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	MF	ENG	Tom Walker	11	0	7	0	1	0	3	0	0	0
24	MF	ENG	Liam Agnew (released)	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF	SCO	Josh McPake	22	4	22	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	MF	IRL	Simon Power	13	1	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
9	FW	SCO	Mark Beck	32	5	26	4	2	0	2	0	2	1
10	FW	ENG	Aaron Martin	42	6	36	5	2	0	3	0	1	1
11	FW	ENG	Joe Leesley (out on loan)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	FW	ENG	Jon Stead	24	2	19	1	2	0	3	1	0	0
18	FW	ENG	Jack Muldoon	47	15	42	15	2	0	1	0	2	0
24	FW	ENG	Josh March (loan expired)	13	5	13	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	FW	ENG	Josh Andrews	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Top scorers

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by squad number when total goals are equal.

Last updated 9 May 2021.

Rank	Position	Nationality	No.	Player	EFL League Two	EFL Cup	EFL Trophy	FA Cup	Total
1	FW		18	Jack Muldoon	15	0	0	0	15
2	FW		10	Aaron Martin	5	0	0	1	6
	MF		14	Brendan Kiernan	4	0	2	0	6
3	FW		9	Mark Beck	4	0	0	1	5
	FW		24	Josh March	5	0	0	0	5
4	FW		28	Josh McPake	4	0	0	0	4
5	MF		7	George Thomson	3	0	0	0	3
	MF		17	Lloyd Kerry	2	1	0	0	3
6	DF		3	Dan Jones	1	0	1	0	2
	DF		5	Will Smith	2	0	0	0	2
	FW		16	Jon Stead	1	0	1	0	2
	MF		19	Calvin Miller	1	0	0	1	2
	DF		26	Kevin Lokko	1	0	1	0	2
7	DF		12	Jake Lawlor	0	0	0	1	1
	DF		20	Connor Hall	1	0	0	0	1
	DF		22	Ed Francis	1	0	0	0	1
	DF		27	Jay Williams	1	0	0	0	1
	FW		30	Simon Power	1	0	0	0	1
	Own goals				0	0	0	0	0
	TOTALS				51	1	5	4	61

Cleansheets

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by squad number when total cleansheets are equal.

Last updated 9 May 2021.

Rank	Position	Nationality	No.	Player	EFL League Two	EFL Cup	EFL Trophy	FA Cup	Total
1
	GK		1	James Belshaw	11	0	0	0	11
2
	GK		13	Joe Cracknell	2	0	0	0	2
TOTALS					13	0	0	0	13

Disciplinary record

Includes all competitive matches.

Last updated 9 May 2021.

Position	Nationality	Number	Name	League Two		EFL Cup		EFL Trophy		FA Cup		Total
MF		4	Josh Falkingham	8	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	9	1
DF		6	Warren Burrell	7	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	8	1
MF		17	Lloyd Kerry	6	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	7	1
DF		5	Will Smith	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	4	1
DF		20	Connor Hall	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
DF		3	Dan Jones	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	0
DF		2	Ryan Fallowfield	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
FW		10	Aaron Martin	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
MF		15	Connor Kirby	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
MF		7	George Thomson	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
DF		22	Ed Francis	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
FW		24	Josh March	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
DF		12	Jake Lawlor	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF		27	Jay Williams	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF		29	Mitchell Roberts	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF		28	Josh McPake	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF		26	Kevin Lokko	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF		19	Calvin Miller	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
			TOTALS	50	5	1	0	2	0	5	0	58	5

Notes

1. Brackets around club names denote the player's contract with that club had expired before he joined Harrogate
2. Harrogate Town's score shown first
3. Match played behind closed doors
4. Match played at the Keepmoat Stadium.