Wormley Rovers FC vs. Harpenden Town FC

Premier Division Cup

Date: 22 October 2024

Kickoff: 19:45

View from the chair

Welcome everyone to The Lane for tonight’s cup game vs Harpenden Town.

A particular warm welcome to the players officials and supporters of Harpenden Town who, unbelievably, we play for the fourth time this season and we still have another league game to play against them too.

No game for us last Saturday but last week’s victory over Ampthill Town was a good response after the MO Irish result. To come back from 1-0 and 2-1 down shows great character from the team and yet another two goals for Finbar King.

Welcome to new signing Noah Mosanya I am sure we are all looking forward to seeing him link up with the team but especially with his brother Reece.

I get to see how incredibly hard Ryan and his team are working to improve the squad, to improve players both individually and as a unit and there is something incredibly pleasing about watching young players develop and thrive in an environment where we want them to improve.

There is certainly a togetherness amongst the whole squad that has carried over from last year and that is something very special.

Congratulations to Danny Haigh who picked up Player of the month for September.

Please enjoy the game

#COYW

Welcome to our opponents

Club history

Harpenden Football Club was established in 1891 and were founder members of the Herts County League in 1898. In 1908, the club added Town to the name and joined the Herts County League Western Division. The club won the Herts County League Western Division championship in 1911, 1912 and 1921.

In the 1950s, Harpenden Town won the Herts County League title three times (1951, 1953 and 1955) before joining the South Midlands League in 1957.

Two South Midlands League titles followed in 1961-62 and 1964-65 and the club added the Herts Charity Shield and South Midlands League Shield in 1968.

In 1981-82, Harpenden were relegated to Division One and it wasn’t until 1989-90 that they won the title and returned to the Premier Division.

In 1991 the Centenary Stand was built and floodlights were installed at Rothamsted Park for the first time. The club were founder members of the Spartan South Midlands League’s Premier Division when the two leagues merged in 1997 and Harpenden Town entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1998-99, beating Burnham in their first tie.

After relegation in 2005-06, the club spent 11 seasons in Division One, gradually getting closer to regaining Premier League status. They were eighth in 2013-14, then sixth, then fourth before edging out Baldock Town by a single point to finish runners-up to Biggleswade and claim promotion in 2016-17 under manager Danny Plumb.

The team’s impact on the Premier Division during the 2017-18 season was immediate as they challenged Berkhamsted for the runners-up spot behind runaway champions Welwyn Garden City. Harpenden fell just short, missing out on promotion to Step 4 by three points. The club also won the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division Cup. Hopes of another promotion push faded the following season with a 14th-place finish, then came two seasons curtailed by the Covid pandemic.

Micky Nathan, who was appointed manager shortly before lockdown, then steered Harpenden to fifth place in 2021-22 and 11th last season.

To mark the 130th anniversary in 2021, the team adopted green and gold stripes – which had been the club’s colours in its early days – as the new home kit.

Oaklands Ladies joined the club in summer 2022, becoming Harpenden Town Women. They reached the first round proper of the FA Cup in the 2023-24 season before losing to Luton Town and missed out of the promotion to the Eastern Region Women’s Football League Premier Division by a single point when Dussindale and Hellesdon Rovers pipped them to the title.

In summer 2023, the club embarked on the biggest project in its history, overseen by chairman Roman Motyczak, who has been at the helm for a decade. Harpenden Town played their final game on the grass pitch at Rothamsted Park in March before installation of a state-of-the-art 3G pitch. The creation of terracing, a covered standing area and new seating in the Centenary Stand have transformed the ground. Six months after their final home game on grass, Harpenden Town welcomed Dunstable Town for our first match on the new pitch in September 2023. A big crowd of 427 enjoyed sun-kissed conditions and a 4-0 home win.

Harpenden Town finished the 2023-24 season with a run of seven consecutive league games to finish third in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division – equalling their highest finish since the league was founded in 1997 – to clinch a home play-off semi-final against Leverstock Green. Although Harpenden lost the match 3-1 to the side that eventually won promotion, the evening saw a record crowd of 917 pack Rothamsted Park. A fortnight later the Harps met Leverstock Green again in the final of the West Herts St Mary’s Cup at Hemel Hempstead Town and won 3-1 to lift the club’s first silverware since the 2018 Premier Division Cup.

Match Day Squads

Wormley Rovers FC

Keeper: All Green or All Purple

Red Shirts | Black Shorts | Black Socks

Joshua Asiedu
Reece Barrett
George Beattie
Lee Brennan
Cormac Clark
Zion Dos Santos Sinclair
Bradley Empson
Danny Haigh
Archie Hammond
Adam Hart
Charles Hill
Prince Will Madu
Luke Marshall
Kaidyn Michael
Reece Mosanya

Noah Mosanya
Tom Mulqueen
Louis Offer
Connor Scully
Carlos Simeon
Ryan Stevenson
Craig Tolley

Manager: Ryan Wade

Asst Manager: Tony Faulkner

Coach: Adam Hart, Lee Protheroe

Physio: Stephanie Symeou

Harpenden Town

Eman Olajide (GK)

Israel Ajana
Harry Andic
Liam Gauthier
Matt Gilbert
Joshua Rodrigues
Benjamin Spaul
Fynn Sweeting
Charlie Ward
Danny Webb
Taylor Keely
Alvin Kyeremeh
Daniel Palmer
Kyle Rahho
Herbie Townsend
Jake Anthony
Ryan Plowright

Manager: Micky Nathan

Asst Manager: Lee Hawkes

Coach: Peter Russell, Chris De Freitas, Ivan Arapov, Ryan Haggar