Simon Daniel Weaver (born 20 December 1977) is an English football manager and former player who is

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of League Two side Harrogate Town. As a player he was a defender from 1996 until 2012 and notably played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for Lincoln City between 2002 and 2004, he also briefly played in the league for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

, Macclesfield Town and

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. He also played at non-league level for Ilkeston Town, Nuneaton Borough,

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

, Tamworth,

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

and

Redditch United Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the Valley Stadium. They are managed by Matt Clarke. History They were originally called Re ...

. In May 2009, he was appointed player/manager of Harrogate Town and led the team to first-ever promotions to the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

in 2018 and League Two in 2020, and is currently the longest-serving manager in the top four divisions.

Playing career

Born in

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, Weaver played as a central defender and began his career as an apprentice with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

and made his professional debut during a loan spell with

in February 1997. Released by Wednesday, he moved into the non-league circuit with first Ilkeston Town and then Nuneaton Borough. In the summer of 2002, he made a return to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, signing for Lincoln City, who were managed by Keith Alexander, his former boss at Ilkeston. He signed a new one-year contract in July 2004, but lost his place in the Lincoln team at the start of the 2004–05 season, and was transfer listed at his request. Following a loan period at Macclesfield Town, he joined

, and was one of ten players released at the end of the season after Kidderminster were relegated to the

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

. He signed a 12-month contract with

in June 2005, but despite initial optimism, the spell was not successful and with Scarborough in disarray, Weaver was in need of a new club for the 2006–07 season. Weaver signed a short-term contract with Conference National side

at the beginning of the 2006–07 season but having been an unused substitute for the first two games of the season, he was released by York so that he could take up the offer of a 12-month contract at Tamworth. Although Weaver played in many of Tamworths games in the 2006–07 season, he was not offered a new contract following the club's relegation. In the summer of 2007, he briefly trialled with

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

newcomers Salisbury City and had discussions with

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the mid-19th cen ...

. He was injured playing in a pre-season friendly in Scotland: an injury that required the bones in his foot to be pinned. The injury caused him to miss the first four months of the season but, returning to fitness, he signed for

on 11 December 2007. On 29 May 2008, Weaver joined

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

newcomers

, after failing to agree a new deal with Boston. He scored three goals in 22 appearances but left King's Lynn in January after failing to get a regular start in recent weeks. He joined

, debuting in their 2–1 victory at

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England, formed in 1919. The team's strip is red shirts and black shorts and their home ground is the 4,250 capacity Ewen Fields. Hyde United's record ...

on 31 January 2009. After one further appearance for the club in the away defeat to

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

a fortnight later, Weaver rejoined his former club Ilkeston Town. He made a successful debut for the club, netting twice in a 4–3

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 ...

Challenge Cup victory at

on 18 February 2009.

Managerial career

Weaver was appointed as the new

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

of Harrogate Town of the Conference North on 20 May 2009. After becoming manager his father Irving became chairman in 2011, and "the Weavers have transformed Harrogate from sixth-tier strugglers to National League high-flyers challenging for an English Football League place". In May 2018, the team won 3–0 in the play-off final against

Brackley Town Brackley Town Football Club is a Association football, football club in Brackley, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at St James Park. The club won the FA Trophy in 2018. History Established in 1890, the club sp ...

to reach the

for the first time in their history. On 2 August 2020, Weaver led Harrogate to the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for the first time in their history as they beat

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

3–1 in the

play-off final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. On 12 September, he won 4–0 at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

in the club's first-ever Football League match.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Harrogate Town *

play-offs:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

play-offs:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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 ...

: 2019–20 Individual * EFL League Two Manager of the Month: January 2024

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Simon 1977 births Living people Footballers from Doncaster English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Nuneaton Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players York City F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Boston United F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players English football managers Harrogate Town A.F.C. managers National League (English football) managers English Football League managers