Kidderminster Harriers Supporters Team

The end of season awards took place at the Aggborough Suite on Saturday 23rd May.
Around 100 people attended the event with awards being made to the fans team and the two Harriers Trust sunday sides. A disco and skittles competition provided the other entertainment.

TOP GOALSCORER - Dave Greaves
For the second season running Dave Greaves collected the award with 25 goals in 24 games.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER - Ash Jarvis
In his first full season youngster Ash turned in a number of impressive performances on the wing and recieved over 90% of the vote.

PLAYER'S PLAYER OF THE SEASON - Mark Connolly
Mav edged his central defensive partner, Ollie Sewell, to the award and enjoyed an excellent season.

CLUBMAN OF THE YEAR - Dave Ackerley
Ackers played in every single game of the season which involved over 4000 miles travelling. A regular since 2003 and integeral part of the teams success.

2008/9 Season Review

The fans team started the season early with a weekend away up in Leeds in JULY. A 15 man squad took part in a two day tournament called World Net with 64 supporters teams competing from across Europe. During the group stages Harriers beat Ipswich Town before suffering defeat against Milwall and Dundee United to finish 3rd in the group. On the second day Kiddy defeated Preston 'B' in the knockout stages before going out of the competition to Sheffield United. It was a great weekend with plenty of football and alcohol involved. On the back of our successful debut it was soon decided that we would join the IFA supporters league which would guarantee more games against different opponents with points awarded for matches. The only concern being that the 'friendly' supporters games may become too serious.

As the football season started in AUGUST the fans team used club funds to sponsor Kidderminster Harriers player Luke Jones for the forthcoming season. The team picked up its first win at Burton Albion with Soupy amazingly outsprinting the Albion defence before scoring the rebound! Even Rob Hart tried to get in on the act but was foiled second time round from the penalty spot in a 7-2 Harriers win.

It was then back on the road for the first of two trips in as many weeks to the south coast in SEPTEMBER. The majority of the squad stopped down for the weekend prior to our league match with Weymouth and it was no suprise that many of the squad were 'delicate' before the first ever fans game with Dorchester. After trailing 6-1 at half time the team (sobered up) recovered to finish the game 6-6 as Dave Williams scored a volley from the edge of the area in stoppage time, unbelievable!
The following week we made the 400 mile round trip to take on Eastbourne supporters right next to the ground. Those that made the trip were rewarded with a fine performance an a 17-2 victory with Dave Greaves grabbing seven.

In OCTOBER prior to the FA Cup tie at Kings Lynn the fans team made a slight detour and met the Peterborough supporters team, another first, and recorded a 4-3 victory and arguably the best performance of the season against a good team. Dave Greaves scored another hatrick before we embarked to watch Harriers record victory at Kings Lynn.

With just 5 days to go before CHRISTMAS it was fancy dress time as we visited AFC Wimbledon supporters, yet another first, on the way to Crawley and were once again victorious courtesy of another Greaves hatrick. The mini bus of Santa's got some strange looks during the day although some fitted the suits better than others!

On the 7th MARCH the supporters team took a coach to Salisbury which led to a party of 38 and an amazing 22 players available. The game was played right next to the ground and with a different side each half recorded a comfortable 4-0 victory and a first clean sheet since the October 2007. The following week the team recorded another 4-0 victory against the Lewes supporters who became the 50th different side played.

At the end of MARCH the fans team annual weekender finally arrived. This year a group of 28 stopped at York Racecourse on the outskirts of the City. Despite plenty to drink the team returned with victories against York and Grimsby to cap a great weekend once again.

In APRIL and for the first time away from home we took 2 sides to play Crewe supporters. The so called 'A' side suffered a 4-1 defeat whilst the 'B' side restored pride with a tight 1-0 win. The following week and once again travelling by coach a team of 'builders' enjoyed another victory.

As the season came to an end in MAY the side had the pleasure of playing against the Tranmere Rovers supporters at Prenton Park. It was a great experiance to enjoy the facilities of a League One club although some players seemed more excited about having a team bath!

Then on to Aggborough Stadium where two different Harriers teams took on our friends from Oxford and AFC Halifax. Although we suffered two defeats a total of £1000 was raised for KHFC and even manager, Mark Yates, played and score in one game.

We have enjoyed a great season which will take some beating. We played 35 games with only 9 games at home using a staggering 57 players. During the season we met another 20 'new' teams to take the total to 54. Finally we contributed, along with the away travel, over £3000 to Kidderminster Harriers over the course of the season. We can all be proud of our efforts and thanks for your support during the season.

David Pountney