EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Harrogate’s Simon Weaver has mastered the art of longevity to last 14 years

Such is the turnover and dog-eat-dog nature of football management, these opening stats should come with a caveat: By Saturday, they’ll probably be wrong. Of the 92 Football League clubs, 54 of the managers have been in charge for less than a year.

Since the beginning of February alone, 13 teams have changed bosses. Brutal game, management. If we were to list the trigger-happy clubs to fire managers this season, it would run off the page.

But those statistics are what bring us to the Victorian spa town of Harrogate, famous for its tea rooms, a regular winner of Britain in Bloom and voted the UK’s ‘happiest place to live’.

The picturesque Yorkshire location has certainly been a happy settlement spot for Simon Weaver, Harrogate’s manager since 2009.

With 14 years in the job, he is the longest-serving boss in the country, half a decade ahead of the next best John Coleman, Accrington.

He has managed the Yorkshire team for 14 years, half a decade longer than anyone else.

So let’s start with a simple question. In a world dominated by short-term success, how have you mastered the art of longevity, Simon?

“We are one of the smallest clubs around and I have always been honest with myself,” he tells Sportsmail. I never shirk responsibility. What helps is consistency and confidence on the board.

‘I am very proud. More than longevity, I am proud of the progress made at Harrogate. People will always say, “Oh, well, his dad is the president!” but we have always stuck together. That is the first mention of an elephant in the room dominating speech, perhaps mistakenly, around Weaver’s 14-year tenure at Wetherby Road.

Simon’s father Irving has been president of the club for most, but not the beginning, of his tenure, while mother Dorothy is also involved.

“It’s a weird dynamic, I can see it,” adds the manager. ‘There is added pressure. When I go through a difficult time on the field I feel it and people say: “Will he fire him?” But we are father and son, we go through difficult times.

“At other clubs, players or agents can go over the manager and complain, but here they are not going to do that.” I am at all the board meetings here and together we make the decisions for the future of this club. If something goes wrong, we’ve both done it wrong.

‘If we are going through a rough patch, we will suffer together and we will worry together. If we get promoted, we celebrate together.’

The father and son duo have seen two promotions and led a club from the brink of extinction, penniless and playerless, to its first spell in the Football League.

I had just moved to Wetherby with my then girlfriend, now wife Sally, and saw an ad for the Harrogate manager job in the Non League Paper! He had just finished playing for Ilkeston Town.

The 45-year-old led Harrogate to the Football League for the first time via the play-offs in 2020.

They borrowed some York tour buses for a trophy parade.

“I thought, ‘You know what? I’ll give it a try. If I get an interview, it’ll be a good experience.’ I tried to improve my application a bit and I had good contacts and attitude.

‘Bill Fotherby (then Chairman) said: “I’ll tell you now: the budget is £1,600.” I thought, “Oh, that’s why there’s no one else for the part!” That was for my salary, assistant, physio and playing equipment.

“There was no spirit in the club, they were lowering all salaries. He was player-manager at 31 and had no players!’ Soon after, Weaver Snr became involved and replaced former Leeds chairman Fotherby, who had considered reducing the club by two divisions to cut costs.

Taking inspiration from Borussia Dortmund’s history of underdogs, Harrogate rebranded themselves in bright yellow and black jerseys and focused on building infrastructure with new stands and investing in in-stadium bars.

They turned professional in 2017 and won two promotions in the next three seasons, ending in a play-off final win at Wembley with no fans due to Covid restrictions. However, they borrowed some buses from York to do a trophy parade.

Weaver also used his contacts to get England boss Gareth Southgate, a Harrogate resident, to give his team a lecture.

“He came in before the play-offs… I knew Gareth from our playing days so I met him for coffee,” Weaver says. ‘So I surprised my players to meet him. Everyone was asking for advice, on sanctions and all kinds! He is a top guy.

I ran into him again in a shop shortly after they lost the Euro final, so I was talking to him and this couple was looking at me and followed me into the car park.

‘They said: ‘Excuse me’. I thought they recognized me…a real ego check moment! And they said, “Was that Gareth Southgate there?” So after 14 years, two promotions and a complete re-escalation of a club from small-town team to football league staple, any advice for young bosses?

Weaver even had Gareth Southgate, who he knows from his playing days, come over to talk to the players.

“When I look at all the redundancies, like Mickie Mellon (Tranmere) and Patrick Vieira (Crystal Palace), I feel sad.

“I can imagine going home to my kids and telling them that I got fired despite doing a good job. Every time I realize how lucky I am and what I have.

“Everyone needs to understand that we are the underdogs at this level,” Weaver says. ‘We have to thrive on that. My advice to young managers is to be yourself.’ ‘Of course I have ambitions.

“Money, longevity or medals aside, I want to make my family proud…and that includes my mom and dad.” I never say never about leaving, but I want to get Harrogate to the point where he can say, “I can’t take it anymore.”