Martin Haresign during his playing days at Farsley Celtic
Martin Haresign was welcomed back to Harrogate Railway last Saturday when the Evo Stik Division One North side played Kendal Town.
Haresign was there for a reunion with his old players along with Railway supporters and committee men.
Having played for the club during the 1980’s Martin was appointed Railway manager in October 2003, taking over a club that had collected just six points of a possible 27.
The former Farsley Celtic player and manager steadied the ship and guided Railway to safety in his first season before securing promotion from the NCEL Premier Division to Railway’s current league the NPL Division One North in 2005/06.
He managed the club up until 2007 before handing first team matters over to assistant manager Vince Brockie, who went on to manage Railway on their famous FA Cup run of 2007/08.
He has never managed again on the semi-professional circuit.
Reflecting on his time with the club, Haresign said: “As a manager it was probably the best period of my career, I really enjoyed it. I definitely felt I was treated better at Harrogate than I was anywhere else.
“It had been about 90 years that the club had been trying to get promotion so to go up within a couple of seasons was brilliant.
“I really enjoyed having the backing of the committee and supporters, plus the chairman Mick Gray was different class.
“There was some good players there with people like Ryan Haigh, Phil Turner, Damian Henderson, Robbie Wellans, Ian Blackstone and the Ryan brothers Lee and Scott Ryan to name a few.
“When I left it was purely a work thing and I didn’t want to manage anywhere else. I recommended Vinnie and he went on to do well with a good FA Cup run so it was a good period for us.”
One memory that sticks in the mind of Haresign is the final few games of the 05/06 season that lead to promotion, culminating in a resounding win over Sheffield FC.
“The season we did get promoted was brilliant because we got down to the last four or five games and needed to win them all,” he said.
“I remember going to Sheffield on an evening game and beating them 5-1, we were different class that night!”
Ten years on from that famous season, Haresign is excited for a reunion with his old squad and in particular current boss Lee Ashforth who was Martin’s man between the sticks during his time in the dugout.
He said: “It was something we talked about last year really, I just got together with one or two players and it sort of escalated from there. I think there are about 20 lads coming and about 12 of them played for Railway, so it’ll be really good to meet up with everybody again.
“I’ve heard really good reports about what Ash is like as a manager from players who’ve played for him and I’m pleased to say he’s doing well.
“He always knew how to talk to people as a lad, but you don’t always know whether that transforms into being manager, but obviously it has done and I’m really pleased he’s doing well.
“It’s a really difficult league because there are so many teams in there who are planning on going higher and throwing enormous amounts of cash at it.
“I think you have to be realistic and think unless the club are able to do that then you’re probably going to struggle to win the league or get promoted.
“Every team you play is a difficult game so I think it’s a case of just doing the best you can with what you’ve got and I think Ash is doing that well.”
This article was first used in Harrogate Railway’s programme for the Kendal Town clash.