{"id":16298,"date":"2019-09-21T11:28:09","date_gmt":"2019-09-21T10:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harriers-online.co.uk\/khfc\/?page_id=16298"},"modified":"2025-08-07T18:45:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T17:45:41","slug":"opinion","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/harriers-online.co.uk\/khfc\/harriers\/opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Opinion<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n <\/a>\n \"08-05-25.\n
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\n 08-05-25. Opinion. “If Truth Be Known”. The 24-25 season in review<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Date: 08-05-25 “If Truth Be Known”. The 24-25 season in review\u00a0By Harry Taylor Phil Brown left Kidderminster Harriers much as he arrived in an announcement that came as a shock despite the speculation. As a charismatic wordsmith Brown will understand the importance of narrative so he\u2019ll know the different ways his record will be remembered. Will it be one defeat in eight for a side that looked dead and buried in his first season, and the following year overseeing a campaign that saw Harriers going into the final day looking to be champions? Or will it be a relegation after 10 games without a win, and then collapsing at the final hurdles the following year when it looked easier to <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n <\/a>\n \"23-04-24.\n
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\n 23-04-24. Opinion. The 23-24 season in review<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Date: 23-04-24 The 23-24 season in review By Harry211 At Barnet FC on Saturday, as the fourth goal went in against Kidderminster Harriers, it was easy to recall the celebrations of twelve months ago. The jubilation spoke of a side on the way up, returning to their natural level with a popular manager going into his fourth season at the helm. However a year on that optimism looks like something that defined the Harriers\u2019 relegation season; naivety which created months of inertia that the club scrambled furiously to undo. It flowed from the boardroom to the manager’s office and onto the terraces, best summed up by Richard Lane saying pre-season that this club should be aiming to emulate Wrexham AFC <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n <\/a>\n \"10-01-24\n
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\n 10-01-24 – Opinion – Five in the frame for the Harriers job<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Date: 10-01-24 Five in the frame for the Harriers job\u00a0By Harriershane For Russ Penn the curse of January 7th struck again. As he did for all of us, he created so many memories that will last a lifetime and for that, he remains a club legend. To read a fuller tribute, here’s Harry’s excellent piece. The sad reality is that football isn’t a popularity contest, but a results driven business. Who could be tasked with driving those results upwards? In no particular order, here are five names that could be worthy of consideration. John Askey: Seemingly the overwhelming favourite with the supporters, Askey\u00a0seems to perfectly fit the bill. The Stoke born 59 year old is currently out of work having <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n <\/a>\n \"08-01-24\n
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\n 08-01-24 – Opinion – An appreciation of Russ Penns time as the Harriers manager<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Date: 08-01-24 An appreciation of Russ Penns time as the Harriers manager By Harry Taylor \u201cIf you don\u2019t get stability you won\u2019t get that promotion that you want.\u201d It was February 2020. Kidderminster Harriers had just seen the departure of their eighth manager in six years, hours before a mid-week game against Farsley Celtic. It was a different time. The UK had just left the EU, Covid-19 was a minor story in the news and the newly-installed caretaker manager Russ Penn had put his finger on the main problem at the club. It was a time of turmoil. Colin Gordon\u2019s much-promised plans were failing fast as the Harriers had finished lower and lower every season for five years. They were <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n <\/a>\n \"20-05-22\n
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\n 20-05-22 – Opinion – The 21-22 season in review. Part 2<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Date: 20-05-22 The 21-22 season in review. Part 2\u00a0By Harriershane ……. In part 1 of this season review we read that we had played four FA Cup games before that big boy game, three of them away from home but first of all came the league and the trophy. Following the FC Halifax Town cup game Boston Utd were defeated and we escaped with a draw up at Curzon Ashton, before the Pilgrims got their revenge over a rotated Harriers side in the FA Trophy. In the FA Cup draw any hopes of drawing Liverpool or Manchester Utd were dashed as we got paired with Championship strugglers Reading FC. Rejected by TV, but with some media interest, the Royals came <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n <\/a>\n \"18-05-22\n
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\n 18-05-22 – Opinion – The 21-22 season in review. Part 1<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Date: 18-05-22 The 21-22 season in review. Part 1 By Harriershane The last time we did one of these the Harriers had worked their way through a few managers and something called Covid-19 intervened. We then had a curtailed campaign in 2020\/21 after a few months behind closed doors, so the 2021\/22 was the first season back with fans. And didn’t they come out, in the end. A snippet from that previous season review: “In the weeks following the end of the season the Harriers announced that Russ Penn had been given the manager\u2019s job permanently, to be assisted by Jimmy O\u2019Connor in a move that was widely supported. It’s all in his (Penn’s) hands now” So, what happened then? <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n <\/a>\n \"13-05-20\n
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\n 13-05-20 – Opinion – The season in review. Part 2<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Date: 13-05-20 The season in review. Part 2 By Harriershane The 2020 part of the season began at Edgar Street with high hopes that Harriers could do the double over their rivals but it was the Bulls that took the spoils. The first home game of the new decade was against Blyth Spartans who won the game with an unbelievable effort from Lewis Hawkins. It was also Keith Lowe\u2019s first game back as the veteran centre back returned to Harriers for a third time from Bradford (Park Avenue). A hard fought home game with Spennymoor Town followed with the former West Brom youngster, and Pakistan international, Samir Nabi, signing for us permanently while Austin Samuels joined us on loan from <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n <\/a>\n \"11-05-20\n
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\n 11-05-20 – Opinion – The season in review. Part 1<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Date: 11-05-20 The season in review. Part 1 By Harriershane Ronan Keating once sung that “Life is a rollercoaster. Just gotta ride it”.\u00a0 For Kidderminster Harriers 2019\/20 National League North campaign even that feels like a gross understatement when you reflect on the season that was. The Harriers entered the close season without a manager after the well-publicised spat between owner Colin Gordon & Mark Yates and after what felt like an eternity the former Crystal Palace defender, John Pemberton, was brought in from Chesterfield\u2019s academy to lead the charge. His appointment was met with some positivity as the straight-talking Lancastrian was seen as the man to rid Harriers of their notoriously soft underbelly. Goalkeeper Cameron Gregory was brought in <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n <\/a>\n \"21-09-19\n
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\n 21-09-19 – Opinion – Colin Gordon\u2019s legacy is four years of decline and mounting apathy<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Date: 21-09-19 Colin Gordon\u2019s legacy is four years of decline and mounting apathy By Harry Taylor The end of a revolution is almost always silent. There may be public outcry beforehand, but the passage of power is only as loud as a pen on paper. So after months of unhappiness among Kidderminster Harriers fans it\u2019s only natural that the change at the top of the club was discovered on Companies House. Colin Gordon is no longer the owner. His spell as custodian has been a story of alienation and decline. When he took over in September 2015, the Harriers had won their first game of the season at the 19th attempt. Fast forward three seasons and the club finished at <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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