Harborough Town F.C.

Association football club in England

Football club

Harborough Town

Full name| Harborough Town Football Club
Nickname(s)| The Bees
Founded| 1975
Ground| Bowden Park, Market Harborough
Chairman| Peter Dougan & Greg Tickner
Manager| Mitch Austin
League| Southern League Premier Division Central
2023–24| Northern Premier League Division One Midlands, 3rd of 20 (promoted via play-offs)
Website| http://www.harboroughtownfc.org

Home colours

Away colours

|

Bowden Park Clubhouse end and clubhouse Main stand side

Harborough Town Football Club is a football club based in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England. They are currently members of the Southern League Premier Division Central and plays at Bowden Park.

## History

[edit]

The club was established in 1975 as a youth team under the name Harborough Town Juniors,[1] with the modern club formed by a merger with adult team Spencer United in 2008.[2] Spencer United joined Division Five of the Leicester & District Mutual League in 1976.[3] They were Division Five champions in 1977–78 and were promoted to Division Two.[3] A third-place finish the following season saw them promoted to Division One. Although the club were relegated back to Division Two three seasons later, they were Division Two runners-up in 1987–88 and promoted to the Premier Division.[3] In 1996 they joined Division One of the Northamptonshire Combination.[3]

Spencer United were Northamptonshire Combination Division One champions in 1997–98,[4] earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2002 the club were renamed Harborough Spencer United.[3] They were relegated back to Division One after finishing bottom of the Premier Division in 2004–05, and were subsequently renamed Harborough Town Spencers in 2006.[3] During the 2007–08 season, the club were amalgamated into Harborough Town, adopting their name. They ended the season as Division One runners-up, earning promotion to the Premier Division.[5]

In 2009–10 Harborough were Premier Division champions,[5] earning promotion to Division One of the United Counties League.[6] Although they finished bottom of Division One in their first season in the league, the club were Division One runners-up in 2011–12 and were promoted to the Premier Division.[6] In 2021–22 they were Premier Division South champions, earning promotion to Division One Midlands of the Northern Premier League. The 2023–24 season saw the club finish third in Division One Midlands, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beating Hinckley Leicester Road on penalties in the semi-finals, they defeated Anstey Nomads 2–0 in the final to earn promotion to the Premier Division Central of the Southern League.

In 2024–25 Harborough qualified for the first round of the FA Cup for the first time,[7] and went on to beat Tonbridge Angels 4–1 to reach the second round. The club gained further media attention when, on 5 November 2024, they announced the signing of former Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, Queens Park Rangers and Brazil midfielder Sandro.[8]

## Ground

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The club play at Bowden Park. In 2024 the club was granted planning permission to expand the ground, including a new 154-seater stand.[9]

## Honours

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* United Counties League
* Premier Division South champions 2021–22
* Northamptonshire Combination
* Premier Division champions 2009–10
* Leicester & District Mutual League
* Division Five champions 1977–78

## Records

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* Best FA Cup performance: Second round, 2024–25[6]
* Best FA Trophy performance: Second round, 2023–24[6]
* Best FA Vase performance: Fourth round, 2021–22[6]
* Record attendance: 1,600 vs Bury, FA Cup fourth qualifying round, 12 October 2024[10][11]

## See also

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* Harborough Town F.C. players

## References

[edit]

1. ^ About Us Archived 22 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine Harborough Town F.C.
2. ^ Harborough Town United Counties League
3. ^ a b c d e f Harborough Town Spencer Leics Football
4. ^ Season 1997-1998 Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Northamptonshire Combination
5. ^ a b Northamptonshire Combination 2003–2012 Non-League Matters
6. ^ a b c d e Harborough Town at the Football Club History Database
7. ^ "Harborough reach FA Cup first round for first time - qualifying round-up". BBC Sport. 12 October 2024.
8. ^ "SANDRO SIGNS FOR HARBOROUGH TOWN FC!! | Harborough Town Football Club". Retrieved 23 November 2024.
9. ^ "FA Cup heroes given green light for stadium revamp". BBC News. 16 October 2024.
10. ^ "Harborough Town Secure Historic FA Cup Win". Harborough FM. 12 October 2024.
11. ^ "👏 Thank you to 1️⃣,6️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ fans today for the support seeing #UpTheBees triumph with a penalty converted by Ben Stephens". Harborough Town via Twitter.

## External links

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* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Southern League

2024–25
clubs|

| Premier
Central|

* AFC Sudbury
* AFC Telford United
* Alvechurch
* Banbury United
* Barwell
* Bedford Town
* Biggleswade Town
* Bishop's Stortford
* Bromsgrove Sporting
* Halesowen Town
* Harborough Town
* Hitchin Town
* Kettering Town
* Leiston
* Lowestoft Town
* Redditch United
* Royston Town
* Spalding United
* Stamford
* St Ives Town
* Stourbridge
* Stratford Town

|

Premier
South|

* AFC Totton
* Basingstoke Town
* Bracknell Town
* Chertsey Town
* Dorchester Town
* Frome Town
* Gloucester City
* Gosport Borough
* Hanwell Town
* Havant & Waterlooville
* Hungerford Town
* Marlow
* Merthyr Town
* Plymouth Parkway
* Poole Town
* Sholing
* Swindon Supermarine
* Taunton Town
* Tiverton Town
* Walton & Hersham
* Wimborne Town
* Winchester City

Central|

* AFC Dunstable
* Aylesbury United
* Barton Rovers
* Beaconsfield Town
* Berkhamsted
* Biggleswade
* Enfield
* Flackwell Heath
* Hadley
* Hertford Town
* Kidlington
* King's Langley
* Leighton Town
* Leverstock Green
* North Leigh
* Northwood
* Real Bedford
* Stotfold
* Thame United
* Ware
* Welwyn Garden City

South|

* Bashley
* Bemerton Heath Harlequins
* Bideford
* Bishop's Cleeve
* Bristol Manor Farm
* Cinderford Town
* Cribbs
* Didcot Town
* Evesham United
* Exmouth Town
* Falmouth Town
* Helston Athletic
* Larkhall Athletic
* Malvern Town
* Melksham Town
* Mousehole
* Shaftesbury
* Tavistock
* Thatcham Town
* Westbury United
* Willand Rovers
* Yate Town

Seasons|

* 1894–95
* 1895–96
* 1896–97
* 1897–98
* 1898–99
* 1899–1900
* 1900–01
* 1901–02
* 1902–03
* 1903–04
* 1904–05
* 1905–06
* 1906–07
* 1907–08
* 1908–09
* 1909–10
* 1910–11
* 1911–12
* 1912–13
* 1913–14
* 1914–15
* 1915–16
* 1916–17
* 1917–18
* 1918–19
* 1919–20
* 1920–21
* 1921–22
* 1922–23
* 1923–24
* 1924–25
* 1925–26
* 1926–27
* 1927–28
* 1928–29
* 1929–30
* 1930–31
* 1931–32
* 1932–33
* 1933–34
* 1934–35
* 1935–36
* 1936–37
* 1937–38
* 1938–39
* 1939–40
* 1940–41
* 1941–42
* 1942–43
* 1943–44
* 1944–45
* 1945–46
* 1946–47
* 1947–48
* 1948–49
* 1949–50
* 1950–51
* 1951–52
* 1952–53
* 1953–54
* 1954–55
* 1955–56
* 1956–57
* 1957–58
* 1958–59
* 1959–60
* 1960–61
* 1961–62
* 1962–63
* 1963–64
* 1964–65
* 1965–66
* 1966–67
* 1967–68
* 1968–69
* 1969–70
* 1970–71
* 1971–72
* 1972–73
* 1973–74
* 1974–75
* 1975–76
* 1976–77
* 1977–78
* 1978–79
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
* 1981–82
* 1982–83
* 1983–84
* 1984–85
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
* 1995–96
* 1996–97
* 1997–98
* 1998–99
* 1999–2000
* 2000–01
* 2001–02
* 2002–03
* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22
* 2022–23
* 2023–24
* 2024–25

Related|

* Southern Football League Cup

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