Harrogate Town Under-18s' title success hailed as 'incredible achievement'

The Sulphurites’ academy side was formed less than two years ago, but will finish just its second season in existence as EFL Youth Alliance North East Division champions.

Despite a 2-1 loss to Burton Albion last time out, results elsewhere meant that Paul Stansfield and Josh Law’s men secured top spot for 2022/23.

And first-team boss Weaver was quick to acknowledge just how far the Town youngsters have come in such a short space of time.

“It’s an incredible achievement,” he told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"The first year, it was almost a case of ‘are we taking too much on too late in the year to be able to form a team?’.

"So, to go on and win it in just our second year, is fantastic. I think that exposing those lads to a lot of minutes at a young age last season, they have grown into men.

“There are a lot of exciting prospects coming through.”

While impressed by the efforts of the Under-18s players themselves, Weaver stressed that academy chief Stansfield and lead coach Law also deserve a huge amount of credit for overseeing a campaign during which they have overseen victories in 15 of the 24 games they have played.

“What Paul Stansfield and Josh Law have done over the last two seasons has been quite incredible,” he added.

“Those two have done it all on the footballing side and their leadership has been top-notch.

Nothing is ever a chore for them, they are just hungry, they manage the lads brilliantly and they’ve been a bit of a dream team, those two.

"So we are really grateful for all their efforts, and those of the players, whose attitudes have been brilliant."

Midfielder George Horbury became the first academy graduate to be handed a professional deal by Town when he signed terms last summer, and went on to make five first-team appearances before joining Marske United on loan.

Finn O’Boyle started against Morecambe in an EFL Trophy tie earlier in the campaign, creating a little bit of history by netting a first-half equaliser during a 2-1 win which made him the first academy graduate to score a senior goal for the Sulphurites.

Last season, Emmanuel Ilesanmi, Brad Williams and Ben Tweed all played competitive football at first-team level, with Ilesanmi featuring again this term.

"The intention of the academy is to provide lads coming through into the first team,” Weaver continued. “It doesn’t come without expense, so the aim is to get more lads into the first team.

"George Horbury had one year with the academy before coming into our squad and has gone from strength-to-strength.

"And we have got other lads now who can look forward to a proper pre-season with the first team and really attack it. We want to see more of them running out for the first team in the future.”