MX23RW : Friday, April 19 20:57:35| >> :600:1003856:1003856:

Harrogate Town to groundshare with Doncaster while stadium is upgraded

The North Yorkshire club will make their Football League debut in September after winning the National League play-off final.

Harrogate will start life in the English Football League next season at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium.

Town have secured promotion to the Football League for the first time in their 106-year history and have begun work on upgrading their CNG Stadium to comply with EFL rules.

The North Yorkshire club began ripping up their artificial 3G playing surface on Tuesday in preparation for a new grass pitch.

The work will not be completed until October and the new Sky Bet League Two season is scheduled to start on September 12.

Harrogate said: "We are now able to confirm an agreement with Doncaster Rovers to use their ground for our EFL home games while our new grass pitch is laid.

"Built in 2006, the Keepmoat Stadium can hold around 15,000 supporters and is located within 50 miles of the CNG Stadium.

"The groundshare will be in place until October 10 when we anticipate our new grass pitch will be ready at the CNG Stadium."

Harrogate beat Notts County 3-1 in the National League play-off final at Wembley on Sunday and had already been granted permission by the EFL to groundshare in the event of their historic success.

Town managing director Garry Plant told the PA news agency: "No it's not sunk in yet and I think it will be a long time before it does.

"We're waiting to see the fixture list, so we can't say how many home games we'll play at the Keepmoat at the moment.

"We've got a new stand, which has nearly been completed, which takes us to 5,000-capacity with 1,000 seats, and the floodlights are being upgraded as we speak.

"These are peculiar circumstances which we find ourselves in and the EFL have been aware of that and have given us the nod, so we can crack on."

Harrogate finished bottom of the Conference North – now National League North – 10 years ago and were spared relegation to the seventh tier due to the financial irregularities of Northwich Victoria, who were demoted instead.

"We have a football team now and one that's going to be attracting a lot of visitors from places like Bradford, Oldham and Grimsby," Plant added.

"We're not just about Bettys tea shop anymore, we've got a professional football team in the English Football League – wow!"

ID:409070: cacheID:409070:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5608:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Doncaster Rovers manager Darren Moore pictured in November 2019
Read Next:
No fresh injury concerns for Doncaster ahead of Coventry clash
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CStockport CountyStockport442611791444789
4MK Dons442281474611374
5Crewe AlexandraCrewe441913126861770
6BarrowBarrow431814115849968
7Crawley TownCrawley44206186965466
8Walsall441811156665165
9Doncaster RoversDoncaster43197176363064
10Gillingham44189174353-1063
11AFC Wimbledon4416141457471062
12Harrogate TownHarrogate441711165562-762
13Bradford CityBradford431612155255-360
14Notts County44177208885358
15Morecambe44179186376-1357
16Newport CountyNewport44167216171-1055
17Tranmere RoversTranmere44166226364-154
18Accrington StanleyAccrington44159205766-954
19Swindon TownSwindon441411197478-453
20Salford City441211216380-1747
21Grimsby Town441016185572-1746
22Colchester UnitedColchester431111215774-1744
23Sutton UnitedSutton44913225378-2540
RForest Green RoversForest Green4499264177-3636


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!