Harborough Town heroes create FA Cup buzz – “It’s the FA Cup, it doesn’t have to be a blockbuster, you just have to get in the next round and little old Harborough are there,” Manager Austin said.
Mitch Austin has transformed Harborough’s fortunes since taking over in 2020 putting gritty performances. Winning is all that matters at this stage, local teams must maintain that.
Harborough Town heroes create FA Cup buzz and legacy
He praised Stephens for holding his nerve in the crucial moment, but joked: “The wind was blowing that way, the sun was in the keeper’s eyes, I thought it’s got to go in – and Ben has the quality to do that.”
Harborough were formed in 1975 but is only since former St Ives Town assistant boss Austin was appointed almost four years ago that things have taken a notable upturn on the pitch.
Southern League Premier Central
There have been two promotions since then, including last season, when they went up via the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands play-offs after missing out on the title because of a six-point deduction, having fielded an ineligible player.
In order to preserve numerical balance at seventh-tier level, the football club now find themselves in Southern League Premier Central.
They beat Darlaston Town, Stourbridge and Leamington to reach the final qualifying round, the latter by the same 1-0 scoreline, and Austin was delighted with another clean sheet against Bury.
Anti-football
“We’re renowned for that, we’re good off the ball, we’ve got an unbelievable shape,” he added.
“People say it’s anti-football, but I say it’s another style of football and (makes us) very hard to beat.
“At half-time I heard one of their staff say ‘they’re anti-football’. I told the boys and that’s a little bit of a buzz for us because it means we’ve rattled them a little bit.”
The game attracted a club-record attendance of 1,600 at the Community Ground and Austin believes that such occasions can “buy fans”.
He added: “History, we haven’t got a lot of, people make fun of us for it, but we’ve created history (against Bury). Fans can see an occasion like this, get involved, have a feel for it and come again.”
Most fans would want to win first and then play attractive football. If you keep winning then you’re doing something right, stick to it rather than conceding the ball in your penalty box and losing.