Harborough Town Football Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the United Kingdom census, 2021, 2021 census. It is the ad ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, England. They are currently members of the and plays at Bowden Park. Since 2025 they have a partneship agreement with Spanish

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La Media Inglesa LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'',

broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

their home matches for members. As a result of this partnership, the team has become the only in non-league football to receive over 100 Spaniards as audience in some of their home matches.

History

The club was established in 1975 as a youth team under the name Harborough Town Juniors, with the modern club formed by a merger with adult team Spencer United in 2008. Spencer United joined Division Five of the Leicester & District Mutual League in 1976.Harborough Town Spencer
Leics Football They were Division Five champions in 1977–78 and were promoted to Division Two. A third-place finish the following season saw them promoted to Division One. Although the club were relegated back to Division Two three seasons later, they were Division Two runners-up in 1987–88 and promoted to the Premier Division. In 1996 they joined Division One of the

Northamptonshire Combination The Northamptonshire Combination Football League is a football competition based in England. It has a total of five divisions with many reserve teams competing in the bottom three. The most senior league is the Premier Division, which sits at ste ...

. Spencer United were Northamptonshire Combination Division One champions in 1997–98, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2002 the club were renamed Harborough Spencer United. They were relegated back to Division One after finishing bottom of the Premier Division in 2004–05, and were subsequently renamed Harborough Town Spencers in 2006. During the 2007–08 season, the club were amalgamated into Harborough Town, adopting their name. They ended the season as Division One runners-up, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2009–10 Harborough were Premier Division champions,Northamptonshire Combination 2003–2012
Non-League Matters earning promotion to Division One of the

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''GCE Hire Fleet Ltd. United Counties League'') is an England, English association football, football league covering an area including the English Counties of the United Kingdom, ...

. Although they finished bottom of Division One in their first season in the league, the club were Division One runners-up in 2011–12 and were promoted to the Premier Division. In 2021–22 they were Premier Division South champions, earning promotion to Division One Midlands of the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

. The 2023–24 season saw the club finish third in Division One Midlands, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beating Hinckley Leicester Road on penalties in the semi-finals, they defeated

Anstey Nomads Anstey Nomads Football Club is a football club based in Anstey, Leicestershire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Cropston Road. History The club was established in 1946 by a merger of Anstey Methodists and St Mary's unde ...

2–0 in the final to earn promotion to the Premier Division Central of the Southern League. In 2024–25 Harborough qualified for the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

for the first time. After defeating

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4–1 in the first round, they were beaten 5–3 by

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after extra time in the second round.

Ground

The club play at Bowden Park. In 2024 the club was granted

planning permission Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to buil ...

to expand the ground, including a new 154-seater stand.

Honours

*United Counties League **Premier Division South champions 2021–22 *Northamptonshire Combination **Premier Division champions 2009–10 *Leicester & District Mutual League **Division Five champions 1977–78

Records

*Best

performance: Second round, 2024–25 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

performance: Second round, 2023–24 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

performance: Fourth round, 2021–22 *Record attendance: 1,600 vs Bury, FA Cup fourth qualifying round, 12 October 2024

References

External links