HAPPY HARROGATE

STEPHEN ALLEN SEES THE SULPHURITES SECURE THEIR PLACE IN THE TOP 92 FOR ANOTHER YEAR...

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STANDING among Harrogate Town fans on a dreary Easter Monday, my brother and I found ourselves watching one of their most important fixtures of the season.

The Exercise Stadium, the Football League's smallest ground, would play host to Fleetwood - itself the smallest populated town in the EFL.

The prize at stake for Harrogate? Not so small. A chance to guarantee their League status for a sixth consecutive season.

The home of Yorkshire Tea, Harrogate also houses their sister company, Betty's Tea Room, who have been serving exquisite treats here since 1919 - the same year the football club was founded.

It was 1982 when Harrogate Town won promotion from Yorkshire League Division Two. They've been on an upwards trajectory ever since.

It was also the same year that the spa town famously hosted the Eurovision Song Contest. Germany won for the first time with the song "Ein bißchen Frieden", translated as 'A Little Peace'.

It was fitting that I was visiting for a little piece of my own. A piece of League Two relegation tension.

Parking near Christ Church, High Harrogate, the walk through The Stray was pleasant, albeit damp. Visit it on a Saturday morning and you'll be greeted by hundreds of parkrun enthusiasts.

Dozens, rather than hundreds, join us along the way before we reach Wetherby Road, a straight line towards the ground. It's a stadium that creeps up on you.

Having spent the majority of their existence in Non-League football, the size of the Exercise Stadium is modest. Its character, fairly charming.