Harrow Borough F.C.
Full name | Harrow Borough Football Club | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Boro, The Reds | ||
Founded | 1933 | ||
Ground | Earlsmead Stadium, South Harrow | ||
Capacity | 3,070 (350 seated) | ||
Chairman | Peter Rogers | ||
Manager | Jordan Berry | ||
League | Southern League Premier Division South | ||
2022–23 | Southern League Premier Division South, 19th of 22 | ||
|
Harrow Borough Football Club is an English football club based in Harrow, London. They were founded in 1933 and compete in the Southern League Premier Division South. Harrow Borough's home ground is Earlsmead Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,070. Harrow Borough moved into Earlsmead Stadium in 1934 and have kept it as their home stadium since then. Harrow Borough's colour is red, which is the colour of their home kit. Their crest depicts the coat of arms of the London Borough of Harrow.
Harrow Borough have rejected the chance to join the Football Conference, now known as the National League, twice due to financial reasons. Harrow have won the Isthmian League Premier Division once, in 1983-84. They have won the Middlesex Senior Cup, Middlesex Charity Cup, Harrow Senior Cup and George Ruffell Memorial Shield. Their most recent cup achievements have been winning the Middlesex Senior Cup and Middlesex Charity Cup, both in 2015 and reaching the first round of the FA Cup in 2021–22, for the fifth time in their history, when they lost to Portsmouth. Their most recent league achievement has been reaching the Isthmian League Premier Division Playoffs in 2010–11.
History
Early history – Roxonian F.C. to Harrow Town F.C.
The club was originally formed in 1933 under the name Roxonian F.C. and played their first season in the Harrow and District League finishing runners up. The next season saw the club move into a new ground, Earlsmead Stadium, and a new league. They started in the Spartan League Division Two West and in 1938 they would finish second. As only the Champions were promoted they would have to wait till the following season when they finished top under their new name of Harrow Town F.C. to progress. The eruption of war in the 1940s saw Harrow Town's ascent cut short, relegating the team to Middlesex Leagues until the war finished. The war years saw Harrow Town compete in the West Middlesex Combination and then the Middlesex Senior League. After the end of the war, the club finally made its rightful position at the top level of the Spartan League. They remained in the Spartan League until finishing runners up in 1958 and being promoted to the Delphian League.
1960s and 1970s
When the Delphian League disbanded in 1964 Harrow Town were accepted into the Athenian League, where they were promoted to Division One at the first attempt having finished runners up and only missing out on the top spot on goal difference. In the 1960s the club began to run into financial trouble. Coming close to liquidation, Harrow Town was forced to sell their second pitch at Earlsmead to the council to try and survive. Earlsemead Primary School was later built on this land. Now reduced to one pitch, the club, renamed to Harrow Borough F.C. and gaining them the nickname ‘Boro’, managed to make some gains and got elected to the Isthmian League in Division Two in 1975. In 1979 they were promoted, having finished second, to what was now called the Premier Division where they have played ever since. Harrow Borough redeveloped their ground after selling the second pitch.
1979–2004 – Success and stability
Their first few seasons in the Premier Division saw steady progress. In 1982–83 the club finished third in the league and won the Middlesex Senior Cup. Harrow also had its furthest ever run in the FA Trophy reaching the semi-finals only to lose in the second leg to the eventual winners Telford United.
In 1983–84, the club's most successful season to date, they won the Isthmian League championship by seventeen points. The same year saw Harrow have its greatest ever
During this period the importance place on ensuring the long term security of the club led to them turning down the financially risky promotion to the
After Boro's decline in the late 1980s, a new manager, Harry Manoe, was appointed and Harrow saw a resurgence. In 1993 they did a double, winning both the Middlesex Senior and Charity Cup beating Chelsea 4–1 in the semi-finals of the latter. The early nineties also saw an improvement in league form after several disappointing seasons previously.
Since the turn of the century, the club have failed to match earlier league successes and have gone on a slow decline, finding themselves often drawn into relegation battles. In 2000 they avoided relegation by only a single goal on goal difference, earning them the nickname "Houdini Boro". In 2003
2005–2010 – Cup finals and success
Having missed out in the finals of the Middlesex Senior Cup in 2001, Harrow would finally bring home silverware in the form of the Middlesex Charity Cup in 2006, beating
Having won the competition in 2006 and 2007, Boro were entered in the Middlesex Super Cup, a cup which faces off the winners of the
In the 2008–09 season, Boro managed to reach the final of the
The 2009–10 season saw the introduction of the Harrow Borough youth team, playing their football in the Isthmian Youth League West Division. Their first season youth football led them to finishing in 6th place.
2010–11 – League improvement
Harrow Borough finished the 2009–10 season in 14th place in the Isthmian League Premier Division. In the summer and pre-season following, Borough managed to reduce debts. After starting the season slowly, the 2010–11 season saw the club qualify for the first round of the FA Cup for only the third time in their history.
After being knocked out of the FA Cup in November, Harrow Borough sparked an unbeaten run into January before losing to Folkestone Invicta.[2] Following this, Borough sold young striker Troy Hewitt to Queens Park Rangers.[3] Borough managed to end the 2010–11 season strongly despite losing Troy Hewitt and finished on a good run of form. A 1–1 draw on the final day of the season against Cray Wanderers was enough to secure a play-off spot away to Tonbridge Angels. Harrow Borough lost 3–2 after extra time in the semi-finals to Tonbridge. After going 2–0 down early on, veteran striker Rocky Baptiste scored two goals to force extra time, but Tonbridge scored a late winner. In June 2011, long serving manager David Howell left Borough, along with assistant Ken Charlery, to join St Albans City.
2011–12 – New manager
In June 2011, David Howells successor was announced.
Anderson stepped down in January 2015 following 3+1⁄2 years in the job, citing the poor run of form as the reason for leaving.
2015–2017 A change in management, survival, double cup success and reprieve
With Harrow struggling in the relegation zone, Anderson resigned in January 2015. After 30 applications for the job, a shortlist of 8 was drawn up by the board.
The 2016-17 season started positively with Harrow Borough reaching the first round proper of the FA Cup for the first time in five years. Harrow faced
Ground
Harrow Borough play their home games at
The stadium's address is: Carlyon Avenue, South Harrow, HA2 8SS.
Club crest
In 1933, the club bore the coat of arms of the London Borough of Harrow. The shield represents various parts of Harrow. The green, horizontal bar represents the presence of the green belt in the town. A flaming torch can also be found on the shield, symbolising knowledge for Harrow School. A quill pen refers to Pinner and the famous authors who have lived there and finally, a small cluster of trees reflect Harrow Weald and the mound on Harrow-on-the-Hill. The motto reads as "Salus Populi Suprema Lex" which translates from Latin as "The well-being of the people is the highest law".
Harrow Borough wear a slightly modified version of this badge on their playing kit, using a simple red and white colour scheme but the same pictures and symbols can be found as in the logo.
Rivalries
Harrow Borough's two main rivals are Wembley and Wealdstone, although neither of these two teams currently play in the same league as Harrow Borough.
Wealdstone are considered to be Harrow Borough's main, long-standing rivals due to the geographical proximity between the two clubs. However, Wealdstone have regularly played at a higher level and league fixtures between the teams have been rare, historically. The last match played in the "Harrow derby" was a 3-0 home victory for Wealdstone in the Isthmian League Premier Division in the 2013-14 season.[8]
Wembley has also been a local rival but the rivalry has somewhat diminished as Wembley's fall down the leagues means there are currently very few fixtures between the two clubs.
Notable former players
Honours
League
- Isthmian League
- Premier Division– Winners 1983–84
- Division One – Runners up 1978–79
- Premier Division– Playoff Semi-finalists 2010–11
- Athenian League
- Division Two- Runners up 1964
- Spartan League
- Runners Up 1958
- Division Two West – Winners 1939, Runners up 1938
- Harrow & District League
- Division One – Runners up 1934
Cup
- Middlesex Senior Cup – Winners 1983, 1993, 2015, Finalists 2001, 2019, 2023
- Middlesex Charity Cup – Winners 1980, 1993, 2006, 2007, 2015, Finalists 1979
- Harrow Senior Cup – Winners 1996, 1998
- NW Middlesex Invitation Cup Finalists – 1957, 1958, 1960
- George Ruffell Memorial Shield Winners 2007/08
- Isthmian League CupFinalists 2009
Managers
- D.J. Canney 1900–1934
- F.S. Green 1935–36
- Teddy Thompson 1936-9
- J. High 1939–41
- F.J. Hinch 1941–42
- J. High 1942–43
- W. Saunders 1942–46
- Eric Boden 1946–50
- G.H. Blacklee 1950–51
- F.W. King 1951–1952
- A. Bridges 1952
- D. Russell 1952–53
- H. Clancy 1953–1955
- Tom Loftus-Tottenham 1955–59
- Bernie Reeves 1959–65
- R. Clark 1965–67
- F. Avery 1967–68
- T. Williams 1968
- R. Churchill 1968–72
- D. Richards 1972–74
- M. Boreham 1974–75 (Caretaker)
- G Taylor 1975–77
- Micky Tomkys 1977–85
- Keith Chamberlain 1985–90
- Tom McAlister 1990–91
- Peter Lawrence 1991–92
- George Borg 1992–93
- Harry Manoe 1993–96
- Bob Dowie 1996–98
- Alan Paris 1998–99
- Edwin Stein 2000–03
- David Howell 2003–11
- Dave Anderson 2011–15
- Steve Baker 2015–2023
- Jordan Berry 2023–
Club records
- Biggest victory: 13–0 v Handley Page (A), 18 October 1941
- Biggest defeat: 0–8 (on five occasions)
- Largest attendance: 3,000 v Wealdstone, F.A. Cup, 1946
References
- ^ "Five Potential Giant Killings". ITV.com. 5 November 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
- ^ "Folkestone Invicta 1–0 Harrow". harrowboro.com. 22 January 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011.
- ^ "R's Tie Up Hewitt Deal". qpr.co.uk. 14 March 2011.
- ^ "New Manager Announced". harrowboro.com. 23 June 2011. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
- ^ "Harrow Borough hope to make managerial appointment next week". Harrow Times.
- ^ "HARROW BOROUGH REVEAL NEW MANAGER - News - Harrow Borough Football Club". www.pitchero.com.
- ^ "Boro to remain in the Isthmian League Premier Division - News - Harrow Borough Football Club". www.pitchero.com.
- ^ "Wealdstone vs Harrow Borough H2H stats".
Sources
- Harrow Borough at the Football Club History Database
- Harrow Town at the Football Club History Database