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Kidderminster Harriers |
|
Harriers |
| Address: |
|
Aggborough Stadium, Hoo Road, Kidderminster,
Worcestershire DY10 1NB |
| Telephone: |
| 01562 823931 |
| Fax: |
| 01562 827329 |
| Website: |
| www.harriers.premiumtv.co.uk |
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| Map of area |
Directions |
Five Day Weather |
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| Club Notes |
Kidderminster Harriers came into existence as an Athletics Club in 1877 before joining forces with a local Rugby Club in 1880 and becoming known as Kidderminster Harriers and Football
Club.
It is interesting to note that the 'football' part of the title referred to Rugby Football and not Association Football under which rules it would gain its fame in future years.
After considerable success as a Rugby and Athletics Club, it was decided in the Autumn of 1886 to revert to Association rules and this change heralded the dawn of professional football in Kidderminster.
There were, at that time, two Senior clubs in the town - Kidderminster Harriers who played at Aggborough and
Kidderminster Olympic (an offshoot of Harriers founded in 1887) who played at Chester Road Cricket Ground, the home of Kidderminster Cricket Club. Rivalry between the two clubs was
intense and local derbies attracted attendances of around 7000 when the two teams met.
The Birmingham and District League (West Midland League) was formed in 1889 and was at that time one of the Country's most powerful Leagues.
Kidderminster Olympic were the first
Champions (undefeated) and Kidderminster Harriers the first 'Runners-Up' before the two clubs amalgamated in 1890.
Harriers continued in the Birmingham League until 1939 winning the Championship in 1938 (undefeated) and in 1939. They finished as 'Runners-Up' in 1925 and 1935 as well as lifting
the League Cup, also in 1938 and 1939, thus 'doing the double' in consecutive seasons.
The club's move to the Southern League for the 1939-40 season proved short-lived as the Second World War intervened after only three games. Immediately after the war Harriers played in the Birmingham League and Birmingham Combination before re-joining The Southern League in 1948-49.
That Season the record attendance was registered for a game at Aggborough,
when 9155 spectators saw Harriers lose 0-3 to local rivals Hereford United in an FA Cup tie.
In 1951-52 the revolutionary use of floodlights by the club gave Harriers the distinction of staging the first floodlit games in the history of the FA Cup, Southern Football League,
Birmingham League, Worcestershire Senior Cup and Birmingham Senior Cup at Aggborough.
Financial problems in the 1950's resulted in the club returning to the Birmingham League (after being renamed the West Midland Regional League) in 1960, and after a brief period of consolidation, the honours began to return,beginning with the winning of the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1964.
A further twenty three trophies including four League Championships were won before Harriers rejoined the Southern League in 1972. Promotion to the Alliance Premier League (Football Conference) was clinched at the end of 1982-83 when, after never being out of the top four, for four seasons. Winning the Southern League Cup in 1980, the team finished Runners-Up in the first season of the reformed Premier Division.
The club's elevation to the Alliance Premier League (Conference) ushered in a quarter of a century of unprecedented success for the Harriers that would see them win every major honour in the Non-League game and ultimately become the 21st Century's first newcomers to the Football League.
1987 saw Kidderminster Harriers qualify for a Final at Wembley Stadium for the first time. The fixture was the FA Trophy against Burton Albion. After a 0-0 draw, Kidderminster went on to win the replay 2-1 (after extra time) at the Hawthorns. Harriers have since graced the Wembley turf on two further occasions, losing 2-1 to Wycombe Wanderers in 1991 before a
record crowd of 34,842 and then again losing to Woking in 1995 by the same score line.
Whilst Harriers progression on the pitch continued, the club began to develop its facilities off the pitch as well. 1989 saw phase one of the ground development at Aggborough take
place with the erection of two covered terraces behind each goal at a cost of £500,000. These replaced the cycling track that had encircled the pitch for decades.
The 1993-94 season proved to be Kidderminster's most successful campaign. Harriers shot to national fame when they reached the FA Cup Fifth Round (the record for a Non-League club) after defeating Birmingham City (2-1) at St. Andrews and Preston North End (1-0) at Aggborough. A crowd of almost 8000 packed into Aggborough to see, Non-League Kidderminster edged out of the competition 1-0 by Premiership side West Ham United.
Kidderminster clinched the Vauxhall Conference title for the first time in their history in the same year, but were denied a place in the Football League after it was deemed they had not met the required ground improvements by the deadline of December 31st. This was due to the clubs long involvement in the FA Cup that season.
Further improvements were made to Aggborough during the following Summer when a new 1.100 all-seated main stand was built, along with the installation of new floodlights at a cost of £450,000.
The 1996/97 season saw Kidderminster again narrowly miss out on promotion when Macclesfield Town pipped them to the title on the last day of the season, although Harriers did win the
Conference League Cup in addition to finishing 'Runners-Up' in the League campaign.
Promotion to The Football League was finally clinched with a second Conference Championship win at the end of 1999-2000 Season.
July 2003 saw the completion of the new £1.1 million 2,040 all-seated East Stand, which now makes Aggborough Stadium an arena the club can be truly proud of.
Having enjoyed five seasons of League Football, Harriers have experienced what everyone hopes will be a temporary hiatus in their story with relegation back to the Conference in 2005.
The signs that this recent disappointment is only a temporary
'glitch' are good, as evidenced by the club's fourth appearance at the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium for the 2006/07 FA Trophy Final. |
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Club Connections: |
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Alan Attwood, Richard Attwood, Matthew Barnes-Homer, Bill Bennett, Bill Bennett, Dean Bennett, Dave Benton, T. Brant, Stuart Brock, Daryl Burgess, Richard Burgess, Fred Buxton, Neil Cartwright, John Chambers, Lewis Churchill, Tim J. Clarke, Leigh Clayton, Dean Coleman, Richard Congrave, Dean Craven, Mark Creighton, Phil Danks, Matt Dimbylow, Russell Dodd, Daire Doyle, John Duggins, Alan Dulleston, John L. Dyer, Scott Eaton, Simon Fitter, Gary Fleet, Sean Flynn, Jon Ford, Martin Gavin, Exodus Geohaghon, ? Goodwin, Colin Gordon, Ron Green, Doug Griffiths, Gary Hay, Charlie Haywood, Les Hines, David Hogg, Joe Hull, Delwyn Humphries, Gavin Hurren, Dennis Isherwood, Chris Jones, Brian Kenning, Alan Kurila, Tim Langford, Danny Lennon, Jack Lewis, Alan Lloyd, Brian McGarry, Michael McGrath, Chris McHale, Gary McPhee, Parfait Medou-Otye, Paul Moore, Jan Mulders, Phil Mullen, Leslie Mynard, Adrian O'Dowd, Martin O`Connor, Paddy Page, Les Palmer, Keith Partridge, Stuart Payne, Steve Pope, John Price, Brian Punter, Jon Purdie, John Redding, Luke Reynolds, Luke B. Reynolds, Scott Rickards, Anthony Robinson, Mark Rosegreen, Paul Rushton, Chris Sambrooke, Robert Shilvock, Jim Skelding, Ron Skinner, Frank Skitt, Adie Smith, Harry Smith, Keith Smith, Trevor Smith, Scott Stamps, Reece Styche, Brian Taylor, Chris Taylor, Steve Taylor, Ian Taylor-Smith, Bill Tetley, Percy Trehearne, Mick Warom, Brendan Wassall, Paul Webb, Stuart Whitehead, Mark Whitehouse, Brett Wilcox, John Wood, Martin Woodall, Lol Wright |
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Venue
|
Matches
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
Goals
|
+ / -
|
|
Home |
10 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
11 - 13 |
-2 |
|
Away |
10 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
13 - 19 |
-6 |
|
Neutral |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 - 0 |
+0 |
|
Total
|
20
|
4
|
8
|
8
|
24 - 32
|
-8
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Date
|
Comp.
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Venue
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Score
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Stadium
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Crowd
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06.04.1982
|
Southern League / Midlands Division |
Home
|
1 - 2 |
Victoria Ground
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|
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15.08.1981
|
Southern League / Midlands Division |
Away
|
2 - 4 |
Aggborough
|
507
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18.04.1981
|
Southern League / Midlands Division |
Away
|
1 - 1 |
Aggborough
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01.01.1981
|
Southern League / Midlands Division |
Home
|
2 - 4 |
Victoria Ground
|
|
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19.04.1980
|
Southern League / Midlands Division |
Home
|
0 - 0 |
Aggborough
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31.08.1979
|
Southern League / Midlands Division |
Away
|
1 - 4 |
Aggborough
|
524
|
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19.03.1979
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Away
|
0 - 3 |
Aggborough
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23.09.1978
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Home
|
2 - 2 |
Victoria Ground
|
|
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27.03.1978
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Home
|
0 - 2 |
Victoria Ground
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|
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26.12.1977
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Away
|
1 - 2 |
Aggborough
|
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07.03.1977
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Away
|
1 - 1 |
Aggborough
|
642
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02.10.1976
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Home
|
2 - 1 |
Victoria Ground
|
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16.02.1976
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Home
|
2 - 2 |
Victoria Ground
|
370
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04.10.1975
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Away
|
3 - 1 |
Aggborough
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01.03.1975
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Home
|
2 - 0 |
Victoria Ground
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|
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15.02.1975
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Away
|
3 - 0 |
Aggborough
|
|
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29.09.1973
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Away
|
1 - 1 |
Aggborough
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25.08.1973
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Home
|
0 - 0 |
Victoria Ground
|
980
|
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17.02.1973
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Away
|
0 - 2 |
Aggborough
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03.02.1973
|
Southern League / Northern Division |
Home
|
0 - 0 |
Victoria Ground
|
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