Wetherby Road, known as the Exercise Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is mostly used for

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 ...

matches, being the home ground of

Harrogate Town A.F.C. Harrogate Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Harrogate Hotspurs were fou ...

The stadium has a capacity of 5,000 people, and is situated on the north side of the A661 Wetherby Road, east of and adjacent to Harrogate District Hospital.

History

While Harrogate Town formed in 1914, their original ground was on Starbeck Lane with the club later moving to Wetherby Road. The club constructed the Main Stand in 1990. Since September 2020, the ground has been sponsored by local ventilator manufacturers, EnviroVent. The record crowd of 4,280 was at the 1949–1950 Whitworth Cup Final against Harrogate Railway, while the record league attendance was 3,000, at the 3–0 win over Brackley Town in the

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 ...

playoff final in May 2018. Due to

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 ...

regulations requiring natural turf, Harrogate played their first home games after their 2020 promotion at the

Keepmoat Stadium The Eco-Power Stadium (formerly known as Keepmoat Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Doncaster, England, with a capacity of 15,231. It cost approximately £20 million to construct, as part of the wider Lakeside Sports Complex that it ...

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 ...

. On 17 October, they returned to Wetherby Road and won 1–0 against Barrow in the first EFL game at the ground.

Description

The pitch is aligned approximately northwest–southeast along the north side of the A661 Wetherby Road. Until 2014, there were no structures at the northern (hospital) end of the ground, but spectators could stand alongside the pitch. In 2014, a covered stand with standing facilities was added. The east side features two adjacent stands, both all-seated, and an executive suite. The south end (in 2023 being redeveloped) houses the clubhouse. The west side houses the turnstiles, a smaller all-seated stand with facilities for sponsors and the directors, and standing and seated areas for visiting supporters.

Gallery

File:Wetherby Road football ground, Harrogate (25th January 2014) 005.JPG, The ground in 2014 before remodelling, looking southwest File:Wetherby Road stadium, looking north.jpg, Northwards view of Wetherby Road, showing Hospital End (left) and two stands on eastern side File:Flock of sheep.jpg, A socially distanced

sheeple Herd behavior is the behavior of individuals in a group acting collectively without centralized direction. Herd behavior occurs in animals in herds, packs, bird flocks, fish schools, and so on, as well as in humans. Voting, demonstrations, ...

in the East Stand in 2020

Access

The nearest railway stations are

and Hornbeam Park, with services to

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, although both are around 20 minutes walk away. The stadium is served by the

Harrogate Bus Company The Harrogate Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield. History In November 1906, The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed. Initially op ...

route 7 (previously 770), connecting the stadium with

Harrogate bus station Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

Wetherby Wetherby ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire and lies approximately from Leeds city centre, from ...

Boston Spa Boston Spa is a village and civil parish in the Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and th ...

Seacroft Seacroft is an outer-city suburb/township consisting mainly of council estate housing covering an extensive area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It lies in the LS14 LS postcode area, Leeds postcode area, around east of Leeds city cen ...

and

. There is a stop directly outside the stadium advertised for the football ground and hospital. According to the town's disc zone, parking in the area is restricted to two hours, being under disc zone 'H' (hospital).

References

Football venues in England Buildings and structures in Harrogate Sport in Harrogate Multi-purpose stadiums in the United Kingdom English Football League venues Harrogate Town A.F.C. {{England-sports-venue-stub