FA Cup: The father-and-son team at Harrogate Town hoping to hit the jackpot
When Simon took charge of Harrogate on May 21, 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo had just helped Manchester United win another Premier League title, Guardiola had just completed his first season in charge of Barcelona, and Birmingham City, Victoria and Manchester United had just won the Premier League title again. Athletic Club and Portsmouth are both Premier League clubs.
“We lost 3-0 away to Corby Town,” he recalled of his first league game in charge. “My gaming budget is £1,600. I have to rely on a few friends, some of whom play for free.”
Watford have made more than 20 managerial changes since Simon was hired by Harrogate following an advert in a non-league newspaper.
Friday’s cup tie will be his 766th game in charge of the club.
“I got a cake for my 700th game,” he said. “I left it on the ground and we didn’t have another home game in two weeks. When I came back, it was over.”
Guardiola, who took over at City in 2016, is the longest-serving current manager in the Premier League but is some distance behind Harrogate’s manager in the top four.
Ahead of Guardiola (eight years and five months), Brentford’s Thomas Frank (six years and one month) and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta (coming into his fifth year) ) and others, what does it mean to be the longest-serving manager in English football? Anniversary of taking charge of Arsenal?
“I’m proud of it,” said former Lincoln City defender Simon. “Sometimes, when I hear about a manager losing his job, I think ‘Oh my god, how did he get in and out in such a short period of time’.”
He is aware of the insults coming from opposition fans – and also some home supporters when form dips – that his longevity depends on his father being the boss.
“It’s easy, isn’t it?” Owen told BBC Sport.
“It’s unfortunate but it won’t affect Simon. Look what happened (two promotions in 2017-18 and 2019-20, the FA Cup in 2019-20).
Multimillionaire Irving, who made his money as a real estate mogul, isn’t afraid to make tough business decisions when the need arises.
So, did he ever come close to firing his son?
“We never had to go that far,” he said. “We were all shocked that night (losing 9-2 to Mansfield) but it was unrealistic because we had won seven of our previous 10 league games.
“We had a few quiet days after that. Four days later Simon named the same XI at Crewe and got a 0-0 draw.
“He always finds a way to turn things around.”
