In all seriousness

[Desmond2-2]

When Harrogate get promoted( through the play offs ) how can they seriously expect to survive on the crowds they attract. Ok I know we aren’t anyway near the best supported club in non league,but we are starting to get some excellent attendances,yesterday Harrogate lying second in the league and playing some great football had a crowd of 1,249,really poor this and league status would be a non starter on crowds like that surely. So do us all a favour Harrogate and announce you have no intention of going up................................please.

[Mark Johnson]

Would Harrogate have to re-lay their pitch if they were promoted? Im sure you can't play 3G pitch L2 and above?

[Lancaster Branch]

Yes, they’d have to re-lay it.

[Middleton Nick]

Probably not go up. If they make the play offs, I would expect BW to beat them......IMO

[barrowfan]

Yes, they’d have to re-lay it.

I think they are given a year or two to change the pitch.

[Lancaster Branch]

As far as I know you get a period of grace for certain improvements but the pitch has to be grass from day one.

[Matty Bassdriver]

As far as I know you get a period of grace for certain improvements but the pitch has to be grass from day one.

Correct - see section 15:
https://www.efl.com/-more/governance/ef ... 4---clubs/

[Mark Johnson]

https://www.thenonleaguefootballpaper.c ... ll-league/

Article about that from about a year ago

[optomisticsupporter]

I think I have said this before, The Harrogate Chairman in an interview on T.V. when they had a chance to go up through the play offs said "we know we have to relay it" and we had a firm on standby to relay it immediately the season finished if we did get Promoted, so the club are obviously aware of the conditions to be able to play in league 2.

[BAFC_98]

I don't think they need to worry about league 2. They will lose in the playoffs.

[Bradders]

Let’s just hope they stay In the trophy and we can wave goodbye to plastic pitches once more.

[Suffolk Blue]

Harrogate as with Borehamwood are essentially clubs with very well oiled and long standing benefactors who dont really see the lack of a natural groundswell of local community support as an impenetrable barrier to progression. The Weavers have had Harrogate for many years now and must've sunk untold millions into the club. The need to rip up their pitch wont phase them. Neither will the lack of much prospect of fans coming through the gates in their thousands if they get to League 2. Because to the Weavers, Harrogate is both their vocation and their obsession.

We live in very strange times when it is possible given the right circumstances for clubs with a powerful backer but effectively very little support to find themselves in League 2 in place of a very well established club with good local support but being financially vulnerable. Membership of the EFL these days has increasingly less to do with tradition and far more to do with demonstrating financial compliance with a set of rules which can be relatively easily overcome.

Until very recently we used have this discussion regarding Fylde who fit into a similar mould. Whether such a model is actually sustainable in the long term must be pretty doubtful, but this logic is easily defeated by the massive egos of the individuals involved. It does create a potential time bomb for the EFL however.

As may have been mentioned before, Harrogate's owners have essentially lent money to the club and therefore own every nut bolt and blade of grass at the club as well as every inch of its on field assets. It is inevitable that at some point the desire to invest will fade or be changed and at that point Harrogate could find themselves in hock to a disinterested owner with loans that cannot be paid and with a lack of interested investors especially if the club's league position at the time is not great. Its a potentially terminal scenario and ironically is self perpetuating because that way of developing the club doesn't lend itself to building long term community support. It also brings in glory seekers and hangers on and they dont tend to stick around when things get tough.

But its quite legal and financially legitimate. So to suggest that Harrogate couldn't afford to go up is not true in any sense that the EFL would consider relevant. I'm sure they can and they will if given the chance.

[Amber SUFC]

Every club in EFL get nearly a million pounds a year in sponsorship payments.They will be ok

[BAFC_98]

Every club in EFL get nearly a million pounds a year in sponsorship payments.They will be ok

They wont be going up so yes they will be ok down here with you next season.

[Sefton Aubergine]

Every club in EFL get nearly a million pounds a year in sponsorship payments.They will be ok

Very rare any league 2 club gets that kind of money in sponsorship. I know of a few clubs that get under £75,000 from main club and stadium sponsors.