In the final part of this series at Everything Orient, Andrew Hodge looks at the new sides that will be joining Orient in the National League from the National League North, Harrogate Town and the already infamous Salford City.
The Northerners
Freshly promoted from the National League North come two teams from either side of the Pennines. Will either of them contend for a playoff place as newly promoted Fylde did last season?
Harrogate Town
In 2016/17 Harrogate finished solidly in midtable. They used this as a springboard to win promotion through the playoffs, scoring an impressive 100 goals in the process.
Their manager is their former defender Simon Weaver. He has been in the hot seat there for almost 10 years, starting as player manager back in 2009.
His first season saw Town finish bottom of the league, saved from relegation only by the expulsion of other clubs for financial reasons.
Since then Weaver has kept Harrogate in the league comfortably, occasionally challenging for the play-offs until last season’s impressive promotion campaign.
They had several prolific goalscorers last season, with five players scoring 10 or more goals. Top scorer Dominic Knowles (16 goals) wasn’t far off a goal-a-game with one every 97 minutes.
They’ve also added Jack Muldoon, who served as a more than capable strike partner to Fylde’s ace hitman Danny Rowe last season with 10 goals. With the attacking talent at their disposal Harrogate could prove a handful.
Orient’s match at Wetherby Road on 22nd September will be the first meeting between the two clubs.
In regard to pre-season friendlies, Harrogate have been scoring freely in their recent fixtures, including putting seven past a young Bradford City XI. However, they were beaten in their last two games by Scarborough Athletic and Cefn Druids.
Salford
Salford are something of a promotion machine, having achieved three promotions in their past four seasons.
They are owned by the Class of 92 which include Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers.
Last season they won the National League North and are the bookies’ favourites for promotion in 2018/19 - some have them as odds-on for promotion.
Graham Alexander, the highly experienced former manager of Preston, Fleetwood and Scunthorpe was appointed in May after promotion.
The dormer Scotland international Alexander has a good track record, winning the League Two playoffs with Fleetwood in 2012 and qualifying for the League One playoffs in 2017 with Scunthorpe.
Massive financial backing has allowed Salford to assemble a squad with a wealth of experience in the Football League. They will provide a stern test for any side.
New signing Danny Lloyd scored 13 and assisted 8 more from just 25 starts in League One last year. Fellow new boy Nathan Pond was promoted six times with Fleetwood and will be looking to win a seventh promotion this season.
Perhaps the biggest statement of intent from the Ammies is the signing of Adam Rooney from Aberdeen. In five years at Pittodrie he scored 88 goals in 197 games. Signing for a six-figure sum that provoked a serious media backlash in Scottish football circles, Salford will be hoping Rooney powers them to promotion.
Next Saturday’s meeting at the Peninsula Stadium will be the first between Orient and Salford.
In pre-season, Salford have won three and lost two. Beaten 4-0 by League One Fleetwood in their first friendly, they beat Nantwich 2-1 before losing 1-0 to Barnsley. They beat Woking 1-0 away with a goal from a set piece and finished pre-season with a 2-1 win over neighbours Altrincham.
Written by Andrew Hodge
Edited by Tom Kelly
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