On this day in Yorkshire- August 30th 1919- Harrogate Town FC plays its first match

While this may not be the biggest football moment of all time, it was a significant one for the spa town of Harrogate. They had been starved of football until as late as 1919, so their opening match  was a big day for sport in the town. Forming a football club in Harrogate had not been without its problems. In 1907 a team was registered, called the “Harrogate Town Club,” but soon disbanded. Another attempt was made in 1914, when a team known as Harrogate AFC were formed and accepted into the Northern League. Come their first fixture against Bishop Auckland in August 1914, though most of their squad had signed up to the army and were therefore unavailable. Finally after the conflict, a meeting was held at the Imperial Cafe, on the site of “Betty’s” and Harrogate Town FC was formed. Their first game was scheduled for 30th August 1919 against Horsforth FC, Entry to the Starbeck Lane Ground was 5d into the ground and the hosts won 1-0, thanks to a header from L Craven. They soon gained entry into the West Riding League and have featured in the higher reaches of the non-league pyramid ever since.

Cover Picture (definitely not from 1919) mtaylor848 wikipedia creative commons.