Harrogate Town
CNG Stadium
Capacity: 4,108 (Seated 600)
Address: Wetherby Road, Harrogate, HG2 7SA
Telephone: 01423 210600
Pitch Size: 100 x 66m
Pitch Type: Artificial 3G
Club Nickname: Town
Year Ground Opened: 1920
Undersoil Heating: No
Home Kit: Yellow and Black Stripes
The CNG Stadium has seen quite a sizeable investment in its facilities and this has continued into 2019 with two new terraces and a small seated stand being erected. These works have expanded the capacity of the stadium to 4,000 with 500 seats, which meets Football League standards.
On one side is the modern looking Main Stand, which is called the Greene King IPA Family Stand. This covered seated stand comprises six rows of seating and runs for around half the length of the pitch. The view is good from this area as there are no supporting pillars or floodlight pylons to hinder your view. On the roof of this stand is a platform for television cameras. On one side of this stand is a sizeable covered terrace that is taller than the Main Stand as was opened in April 2019. It is around 15 rows high and although pre-fabricated it is fairly steep. It gives this side of the ground a unique look. Unfortunately, this terrace does have the base of a floodlight pylon located near the middle of it and the roof only extends over the back rows.
Opposite is the Envirovent Stand, which is a covered terrace that is mostly free of supporting pillars, although it does have the bases of two floodlight pylons protruding through it. The team dug outs are located in front of this stand. On one side of this terrace (towards the 1919 Venue end of the ground) is a new small covered seated stand, which has around 150 seats in six rows. Again there is a base of a floodlight near the centre of this stand. At the Hospital End of the ground, a new covered terrace was opened in 2014, which is called the Henderson Stand. Although it has developed that area of the stadium, the terrace itself, although being practical, isn't the most attractive of stands. At the other end, there is a small covered terrace that was also opened at Easter 2019. Although only four rows high it does have a roof and extends almost the full width of the pitch. An unusual feature is that around two thirds along this stand, almost in line with the 18 yard box, is the Player's Tunnel, which can be extended outwards towards the pitch and retracted as needed. On one side of this terrace is the 1919 Clubhouse Venue Bar. The stadium has a set of six floodlights, three of which run down each side of the ground.
In the Summer of 2016, a new 3G artificial surface was installed at the CNG Stadium.
The Club have received planning permission to increase the capacity of the CNG Stadium to 5,000 and one that will meet Football League standards. This will be mostly achieved by extending the Main Stand towards the South End of the ground and increasing the amount of terrace on the Wetherby Road side and installing a new terrace at the South end itself. In addition, a new two storey clubhouse is to be built, which will include a corporate area on its upper floor.
Most matches at the CNG Stadium are segregated. Away fans are housed on the Wetherby Road side of the ground, in the Envirovent Stand. This stand is a covered terrace, that runs for around two-thirds of the length of the pitch. It is comprised of six steps and its low roof means that away can really make themselves heard. It has a capacity of 700. On one side of this stand is a small covered seated stand that comprises 150 seats, which is also given to away fans. Whilst on the other side of the Envirovent Stand towards the home end is an open standing area. Although these covered areas are free of supporting pillars, there are the bases of floodlight pylons present.
One of the highlights of visiting the CNG Stadium is the catering which is provided by a local company called Burgers & More. Not only do they offer a number of gourmet burgers (£4-£4.50) and Pies (£3), but also a tasty Beef Stew (£5) and the intriguingly named Wellington Burger (£5). The latter being more of a pastry which has a filling beef, blue cheese, garlic mushrooms and red wine gravy. Certainly, a cut above catering at most grounds and that includes the Premier League! However can someone can confirm for me if this catering is available in the away section or whether it is different? Please email [email protected].
There is a Clubhouse bar inside the ground called the ‘Nineteen Nineteen Bar’ (1919 was the year that the Club was founded). However where matches are segregated, which seems to be most matches nowadays, then it does not allow in visiting fans. Otherwise, the nearest pub is the Woodlands, which is a short distance back down the A661 Wetherby Road, heading away from town. About a ten minute walk in the opposite direction along the Wetherby Road (heading towards the town centre and just set back from the roundabout is the Empress which also offers food.
If arriving by train then just off Platform 1 is the Harrogate Tap that has up to 11 real ales on offer.
Harrogate town centre is around a 20 minute walk away from the ground, where there are plenty of pubs to be found including the Winter Gardens on Royal Baths Road, which is a Wetherspoons outlet. Also on Cheltenham Crescent there is a small miropub called the Little Ale House.
Leave the A1(M) at Junction 47 and take the A59 towards Knaresborough. Then take the A658 towards Bradford/Harrogate. At the second roundabout turn right onto the A661 towards Harrogate. You will pass a Sainsburys and then after the lights with the Woodlands pub on one corner, then the entrance to the ground is just a bit further down on the right. Please note that traffic can be quite congested along the A661, so you may wish to allow more time for your journey.
Car Parking
There is no parking available for supporters at the ground and to make matters worse there is a residents only parking scheme in operation on roads close to the stadium. However, there is the nearby Kingswood Surgery on Wetherby Road (HG2 7SA) which offers parking at £5. Otherwise, you will need to street parking further away or in a town centre car park, around one mile away. I have been informed that the Sainsburys Store has free parking for up to three hours, but if using this please double check any signage in the car park to ensure that this is still the case.
Harrogate Railway Station is located just over a mile away from the ground. It is served by trains from Leeds and York.
Brian Scott informs me; 'It is a pleasant 15-20 minute walk from Harrogate Railway Station to the ground. Exit the station on the East side (trains towards Leeds), go up a slight incline and turn right onto the main road. Cross this road at the pelican crossing and continue due South. Turn left at the roundabout into Station Avenue. Continue straight up this road crossing over at some point, until you come to a grassed area. Cross the A6040 at the pelican crossing and then turn left, passing public toilets on your right. Take the diagonal footpath across the park which is called "The Stray or Two Hundred Acre." Turn right along Wetherby Road and the ground is on the left after about 400 yards passing the hospital on the left. It's a busy road so best to use the pelican crossing'.
You can also catch the Harrogate Bus Number 7 or the Connexions Bus Number X70 from Stand 9 of the Harrogate Bus Station in the Town Centre. Both these buses pass the ground along Wetherby Road. From the Railway Station, turn right out of the main entrance and the Bus Station is a short walk down on the right. The Bus journey time to the ground is no more than ten minutes. On showing your match ticket to the driver of Harrogate Bus Number 7, then you can get a reduced fare of £2 return Adults and £1 children.
Booking train tickets in advance will normally save you money! Find train times, prices and book tickets with Trainline. Visit the website below to see how much you can save on the price of your tickets:
Seating *
Adults £19, Concessions £15, Under 16's £6
Terrace*
Adults £18, Concessions £14, Under 16's £5
Concessions apply to Over 65's and Students (with valid ID).
* A £2 discount is offered on Adult and Concession prices if purchased online and in advance. The Club also offers a 1 Adult and 1 Under 16 seated ticket for £22 (£20 terrace) or 1 Concession + 1 Under 16 for £19 (seated), £18 (terrace), but again online only.
Official Matchday Programme £3
Harrogate Town FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website).
Record Attendance
3,048 v Portsmouth
FA Cup 1st Round, 11th November 2019
Average Attendance
2018-2019: 1,576 (National League)
2017-2018: 1,134 (National League North)
2016-2017: 896 (National League North)
If you require hotel accommodation in Harrogate then first try a hotel booking service provided by Booking.com. They offer all types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed & Breakfast establishments to Five Star Hotels and Serviced Apartments. Plus their booking system is straightforward and easy to use. Just input the relevant dates and click on "Search" below or on the hotel of interest on the map to get more information. The map is centered on the football ground. However, you can drag the map around or click on +/- to reveal more hotels in the town centre or further afield.
Official Web Site: www.harrogatetownafc.com
Unofficial Web Site: None at present
If anything is incorrect or you have something to add, please e-mail me at: [email protected] and I'll update the guide.
Special thanks to Robin Griffiths for providing the photos of the CNG Stadium Harrogate Town.
Harrogate Town v Grimsby Town
FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
Saturday 24th October 2015, 3pm
Kevin Dixon (Grimsby Town fan)
Why were you looking forward to visiting the Wetherby Road Football Ground?
I'm aiming to visit as many non league grounds as I can, before we hopefully(?) regain our league status. I have found that, in general, non league fans are much friendlier than their league counterparts.
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
Steady 80 mile drive from home. Parked in the town centre (Tower Street multi storey), and left the girls to visit Betty's and browse the shops. Then a 15 minute walk across the Stray to the Wetherby Road ground.
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
Had a walk around the town and grabbed a sandwich. There are numerous places to eat if you have time to spare. A few home shirts in evidence, along with a few of ours. Everyone seemed friendly.
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the stadium?
A decent ground by this league's standards. Main Stand with seating on one side. New looking covered terrace opposite housing our fans, and a covered terrace at the hospital end housing the home fans. The other end is occupied by the dressing rooms, and the 1919 clubhouse.
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
A cracking good cup tie, with a few heavy tackles thrown in. We should have had a two goal lead early on, but then went a goal behind. We went on to win 4-1 quite comfortably. The atmosphere was great, with a crowd of over 1900, half of them from Grimsby. Harrogate assistant manager John McDermott got a great reception, as expected for our longest serving former player. Stewards were friendly, and food looked okay. A bank of Portaloos made up the facilities, which I didn't have the need for.
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:
15 minute walk back to the car, and collect the family, then a while to get round the town through the one way system.
Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
Yet another friendly place to visit, and one I would recommend to any fan.
Harrogate Town v Gloucester City
National League North
Saturday 24th September 2016, 3pm
Brian Scott (Neutral fan)
Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting the CNG Stadium?
Another ground to tick off in my quest for the 202. Despite my own team Ipswich Town, actually playing at Elland Road! They lost 1-0, so I actually had more fun!
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
I had an easy journey by train from Ely, deciding to change at York on the outward journey. I was rewarded by seeing a steam train (The Duchess of Sutherland) stop at York en-route to Scarborough. It was an easy walk from the railway station to the ground along some very nice roads and across The Stray or Two Hundred Acre park. I was informed that this piece of open land is sacroscant as regards any development, and the use of it is strictly controlled. Someone once landed in a helicopter and has been banned for life for doing so.
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
I got to the ground very early and so I retraced my steps a bit and sat on a seat in the park to wait until 2pm before gaining entry to the ground. I then had my usual walk around to look at the stands etc. Anyone I spoke to was very friendly.
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the CNG Stadium?
There is no away area as such, but most of the away fans congregated in the hospital end, swapping end/side at half time. Three sides of the ground look very good, just the dressing room end to be developed. I was told that the Chairman has recently invested quite a bit of money into the facilities. There was masses of leg room in the seats in the Main Stand.
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
Harrogate Town were on top from early on, but Gloucester did manage to pull one back, but the home team then went on to clinch it with two more goals to make it a comfortable 3-1 home win. There were plenty of toilets and those I used in the club house and the hospital stand were very good. The food looked appetising, but I always come well prepared with my own.
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game :
Towards the end I moved from the seats to the corner of the Hospital Stand to get the quickest get-away for my easy walk back to the railway station. I had ample time to spare to catch the 17.15 to Leeds.
Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
Harrogate is a lovely town, and had I not stayed there recently I would have had a look round. All my trains ran to time, but my day was capped off by a brilliant gesture from a home fan. Once this man sat down next to me I soon got talking to him and we chatted about football, the ground etc and he was interested in my ground hopping. He told me he used to be a Leeds fan but got fed up with the club and now supports his home town club. About 10 minutes before the end of the game he got up and I presumed he was going to the toilet, but he actually walked to the front of the stand and talked to someone in a suit. This person then walked up the steps and introduced himself to me as a director of the club. He said he liked to walk amongst the fans rather than sit in the directors box all the time. He was of course interested in what I thought of the ground, and he asked which grounds were on my list next, wishing me luck in my travels. This was a wonderful gesture, firstly by the season ticket holder who I had been chatting to all game, and then the director who took the trouble to shake my hand and talk to me for a few minutes. Brilliant Harrogate, thank you for making my day.
Harrogate Town v Darlington
National League North
Saturday 29th October 2016, 3 pm
Patrick (Darlington fan)
Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting the CNG Stadium?
I was debating going to this one as we'd had two home games in a row so I hadn't had a weekend with the wife for a while, but once she told me she was spending the day with her sister I threw the home shirt on, jumped in the car and set off for Harrogate. It is of our closer away games this season and I had heard that the Wetherby Road ground was quite nice. Both teams were doing well so it promised to be a good away day. I had also heard we were taking well over a thousand supporters to the game, so I was excited for this one.
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
Pretty simple. Directions from this website were easy to follow and the ground is on one of the main roads into Harrogate. There are houses all around the stadium where you can park, obviously at your own risk but it seemed like a nice area so I took my chances.
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
There's a pub just up the road from the ground called The Woodland, as I approached it seemed to be full of Darlo fans but the club's advice was to arrive in good time to avoid big queues at the turnstiles. Thinking I could get a beer in their clubhouse (one of the perks of football at this level) I headed straight into the ground, only to find we'd been segregated and that home fans were not allowed entry to their club. Harrogate Town really missed a trick here, they would have made a killing from the many Darlo fans who fell into the same trap.
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the CNG Stadium?
A tidy little ground, three sided with a seated stand one one side and a neat little terrace behind the goal that housed the more vocal Harrogate fans. Darlo were given the terrace that ran the length of the pitch opposite the seated stand. In hindsight they probably could have given us part of their terrace as well as our end became very cosy and with just one way in and out, very congested.
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
Stewards were our own and as usual, very pleasant. A van sold pies, chips etc, although I had already eaten. Coffee, tea and soft drinks but annoyingly no beer. All reasonably priced. Four portaloos for circa 1500 Darlo fans was a bit awkward. One of the better plastic pitches I've seen meant that some good football was on the cards. The atmosphere was excellent. As expected our lot were very noisy, few smoke bombs let off which, while not everyone's cup of tea, made for a partisan atmosphere in the away end. The home fans in the terrace made some noise as well which made for a great and friendly atmosphere, only subdued by the result. After taking the lead through a Josh Gillies wonder strike, Harrogate equalised, but only briefly as Darlo dominated and ran away with the game to impressively win 4-1.
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:
Very easy. Once onto Wetherby Road it was a swift route to the A1 North. Turnstiles to door in just over an hour.
Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
Great day out, very good performance and a big win, coupled with the news that Fylde had lost, which saw Darlo cut the gap at the top to a point. Nice ground, brilliant atmosphere, a good day out at the football.
Harrogate Town v Bradford City
Pre Season Friendly
Saturday 21st July 2018, 3pm
Ian Bradley (Neutral fan)
Harrogate Town v Havant & Waterlooville
National League
Saturday 8th September 2018, 3pm
Marcus Dews (Neutral)
Harrogate Town v Leyton Orient
National League
Saturday 22nd September 2018, 3pm
Jon Landers (York City but Neutral on this occasion)
Harrogate Town v Barrow
National League
Wednesday 30th October 2018, 7.45pm
Tony Smith (Doing the 134 + 24)
Harrogate Town v FC Halifax Town
National League
Wednesday 26th December 2018, 3pm
Michael Cromack (FC Halifax Town)
Harrogate Town v Notts County
National League
Tuesday 13th August 2019, 7:45pm
John Watson (Notts County)
Harrogate Town v Dover Athletic
National League
Saturday 31st August 2019, 3pm
David Fairhurst (Neutral)
Harrogate Town v Portsmouth
FA Cup 1st Round
Monday 11th November 2019, (8.40pm – late kick off due to power failure)
Mark Knight (Portsmouth)
Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting the CNG Stadium?
I always look forward to visiting a new ground with Pompey but with the game being moved to a Monday night due to TV scheduling, it was an expensive trip due to travel and hotel costs plus time off work.
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
I went by train as it is about a 540-mile round trip which took about 6 hours each way via Kings Cross and Leeds. We stayed in a Travelodge in the Centre of Town and it took about 20 minutes to reach the ground. Friendly locals pointed us in the right direction.
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
I had a walk around a very pleasant town and then visited a pub near our hotel called The Tap on Tower Street. On reaching the ground it was clear there were problems as there had been a power failure causing the floodlights and turnstiles to not function. I went to a pub about 10 minutes from the ground called The Woodlands. It was full of Pompey fans, some of whom were having a chat with Sunderland manager, Phil Parkinson.
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the CNG Stadium?
The game was delayed for nearly an hour and on entering the ground there was a long queue for food in the sold-out away section which unfortunately saw supplies fail due to another power cut!
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
Coupled with all the pre-match problems it was a wet and bitterly cold night so difficult match conditions and for Portsmouth, it was made more difficult by having to play on an artificial pitch. Pompey had never won in 8 previous attempts on these types of pitches and playing a well-rated non-league team who were in pretty good form it was ripe for a giant-killing. Portsmouth soon went a goal down and for the first twenty minutes were struggling to cope with the pitch. Two Portsmouth players also went off injured in the first half but two quality long-range strikes saw Portsmouth take a half time lead.
The second half saw little goalmouth action and whilst not playing particularly well Portsmouth went away with a victory. The ground was decent for National League with the away fans situated in seats and terracing along the side.
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:
A cold 20 minute walk back to The Tap on Tower Street for some drinks followed by a late-night pizza.
Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
Memorable for the late kick off on a Monday night with the game being in serious jeopardy at one stage. Not the best of games but another ground ticked off in a nice town. Pompey fans were not impressed with the TV schedule as it was a difficult journey at any time but a Monday night fixture was taking the proverbial.