Pandemic allowed Kidderminster Harriers to 'press the reset button'

When football was halted for the first time in March 2020, Harriers sat in the bottom half of National League North, looking for their fifth manager in the space of barely 18 months following Jimmy Shan’s departure for Solihull Moors.

Now nearly two years on they are pushing for promotion and tomorrow will play in their most high-profile match for nearly eight years when they welcome Reading to Aggborough.

“The pandemic has been tough for a lot of non-league clubs and I wouldn’t say it’s been easy,” explains manager Russ Penn.

“But what it did allow us as a club was that time to press the reset button. I had a lot of thinking time. We could really set our stall out for what we wanted to do.

“We had six months of trying to pull the club back together and focusing on the short, medium and long-term. I definitely think that has benefited us. Other clubs might say differently but it has definitely benefited us.”

Penn became Harriers’ ninth permanent manager in the space of six-and-a-half years when he was given the job in April 2020, a statistic which provides some insight into the turmoil the club has experienced since they last played in the third round of the cup in 2014.

Back then Harriers could rightly describe themselves as one of the biggest clubs in non-league but the trend since seeing off Peterborough United in a replay was generally downward.

A cash crisis was followed by relegation from the National League Premier in 2016 and though there were two play-off appearances under John Eustace, the club was in danger of sliding further before being taken over by a consortium led by businessman Richard Lane in October 2019.

Lane, the owner of technology firm EBC Group and a lifelong Harriers fan having been taken to his first match aged two, quickly set about resolving the off-field issues.

“When I came into the club there was too much noise,” he said. You had the chairman in the changing room, making statements every day, overpromising.

“In the 34 years I have been in business I’ve realised you must surround yourself with really good people.

“Our focus from the start has been to run a business as close to break even point as possible.

“We cut our cloth very aggressively, we had to. The football club was not well managed, not watching the pennies.

“We looked at every penny and designed a budget. We have shaken the club very hard and this is what we have come up with.”

Lane, who rarely speaks publicly, has used his extensive business contacts to attract new investment.

He reserves the biggest praise, however, for Penn and his assistant Jimmy O’Connor, the former Walsall defender.

Both are taking their first steps in management and though their hard work has taken time to bear fruit, not helped by the cancellation of last season before it had reached the halfway point, this year Harriers have the look of genuine promotion contenders.

Supporters have responded in kind. Crowds are on the increase, with Lane estimating tomorrow’s 5,000 capacity could have been sold twice over. Not even the disappointment, or more accurately anger, of being overlooked for live TV coverage can lessen the excitement.

“We are all pinching ourselves a bit,” said Lane. “I have been going round telling everyone how proud I am of them.

“Everything is lead by what we do on the pitch and in Russ and Jimmy I think we have two fantastic leaders. They are so dedicated. If there were eight or nine days in the week they would be working them.”

Penn, who started his playing career with Harriers in 2005 shortly after their relegation from the Football League, is no stranger to the magic of the Cup. Part of the Burton team which knocked out Middlesbrough at this stage in 2011, he also scored for Cheltenham in their 5-1 defeat to Everton. Phil Neville’s shirt still hangs in his study.

In recent years Harriers have experienced the other side of the cup. Twice knocked out by Stourbridge, in 2015 and 2018, last season they fell at the first hurdle by being beaten on penalties at Alvechurch.

This term they have already dumped Grimsby and Halifax out of this season’s competition, though Penn knows taking out Reading would be on a completely different level entirely.

“It would probably be the best achievement in my career so far,” he says. “We have already made big strides in a short space of time. Of course the league is our bread and butter but cup runs keep the momentum going.

“I don’t think it has hit me yet. I can’t wait for the build-up on Saturday. It is going to start around 9am but I have to have my head on. We are here to do one thing, which is win the game. But this is what FA Cup dreams are made of.

“I am really proud of what we have achieved. I am delighted for the chairman, who has put a lot of hard work in behind the scenes.

“I am delighted for the staff as well. They have seen some really hard times these past few years. Hopefully this is the start of things to come.”