Harrogate Railway Athletic v Mansfield Town
The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Second Round Proper
Station View, Harrogate Railway FC
1.10pm, Sunday 2 December 2007
Live on BBC
Winning clubs receive £24,000,
FA TV fee is £75,000 per club

Harrogate Railway Chairman Rob Northfield admits that there have been almost ‘24/7 celebrations’ at the Northern Premier League club since the news that their FA Cup game with Mansfield Town is to be screened live on television.

It was announced earlier this week that the BBC will be showing the Rail’s Second Round tie against the League Two side and the £75,000 fee that the club will receive for the footage alone will go a long way to helping set up a better future at Station View.

Not only that, but with a sell-out crowd guaranteed for the game adding to the prize funds already garnered since the club’s entry to the competition in the First Round Qualifying, it has proved to be a productive campaign in The FA Cup so far.

It is the nationwide coverage that the club will receive from the game that has got most people buzzing in the North Yorkshire spa town though.

“It’s absolutely fantastic,” admitted Northfield.

“The fact that it is going to be on BBC One and they are displacing Eastenders for Harrogate Railway says it all and we’re delighted.

“We’re hoping to have around 2,300 at the game, but we could probably sell the tickets four times over.

“There has been a lot of interest in the game and we’re hoping it can be another successful day for the club.”

A win in the Second Round would mean a further £24,000 in prize funds for Railway and, coupled with the increased sponsorship opportunities the game has brought, Northfield is optimistic about the future.

“If the money we make from everything is well managed, then it can set us up for life almost,” he added.

“We are a well managed club anyway but the opportunities this may provide for us are special and it obviously comes as a fantastic boost for us.

“The money will be managed properly though and we will make sure that the players are rewarded first and foremost.

“They don’t get paid a great deal and I am a big believer in rewarding people if they do well, so I have promised the players that they will be rewarded for success.”

Railway’s run in the competition has already seen them secure local bragging rights too, as they were paired with neighbours Harrogate Town in the Fourth Round Qualifying.

With Conference North side Town ranked two leagues above Railway, they obviously went into the game as favourites but Vince Brockie’s team put in a fine performance to record a 2-1 win and a place in the First Round Proper.

“Whilst the fans have a little rivalry with Harrogate Town, it’s not a really fierce one and the two clubs are friendly really,” explained Northfield.

“We’re both in Harrogate and trying to do well in the game and for the town, but of course it was nice to beat them.

“They play two divisions above us and were expected to win and they maybe even came here with expectations that they were going to win.

“We never thought that though and it shows what can be achieved.”

This isn’t the first time that Harrogate Railway have hit The FA Cup headlines either, as it was back in 2002 when they reached they Second Round Proper and became the lowest ranked team ever to have reached that stage, as they were then plying their trade in the Northern Counties East League.

That game was also screened live and helped to put the Station View club on the map and in the five years since then they have risen a level and have ambitions to keep on going.

“We said at the start of the season that our ambition was to finish in a play-off place and I still think we can do that,” added Northfield.

“We are looking to get promoted at the end of the season and hopefully our experiences in The FA Cup can go some way to helping us realise that ambition.”