From The Archive: Happy Harriers Land Conference Title in Season 1993/94

Words by Steve Whitney.

However, the season also saw Kettering Town almost disappear and it was only with the help of High Court Administrators that extinction was avoided.

But the Poppies began the pre-season of 1993/94 with only two registered players for manager Graham Carr to work with and no chairman.

What they achieved at the end was quite remarkable, given the circumstances – but more of that later.

It was John Still's Dagenham & Redbridge who were made the bookmakers' favourites for the title, along with relegated Halifax.

Bath City's Paul Adcock netted an opening day hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Macclesfield Town and David Leworthy started well at Dover by bagging a brace in their win over Kidderminster Harriers.

Favourites Dagenham were held 3-3 by another of the league newcomers, Southport, and Halifax shared a 0-0 draw at The Shay with Kettering.

August ended with Slough Town relinquishing the last remaining unbeaten record at Dagenham, Merthyr Tydfil starting with five successive draws and Southern League champions Dover as the early table toppers.

Welling United gave a debut to 17-year-old YTS graduate, Steve Finnan who, of course, went on to win 53 caps for Ireland and play in the Premier League for Fulham and Liverpool.

Relegated Halifax finally recorded their first win of the season towards the end of September – a 6-2 walloping of Woking at Kingfield.

Kettering headed into October as the last remaining side in Britain's senior league competitions to remain unbeaten, although Dover remained top and Slough second.

Kettering's unbeaten record finally ended with a 1-0 defeat at old rivals Stafford Rangers who, ironically, are managed by former Poppies midfielder Brendan Phillips.

New signing from Stalybridge Celtic, Phil Power, scored the goal that ended Macclesfield's 376 minutes without a goal in a 2-0 win at neighbours Witton Albion.

Graham Allner celebrated ten years in charge of Kidderminster by keeping them at the top of the table with a 5-1 win at Slough.

Southport set a new seasonal record when a 2-0 win at Stafford extended the Sandgrounders' unbeaten run to eleven games.

Halifax recorded their first FA Cup win since 1990 by beating West Brom 2-1 in the First Round.

There are other notable wins for Macclesfield, 2-0 winners over Hartlepool, and Bromsgrove, who beat Northampton 2-1.

Yeovil caused another FA Cup upset by beating Second Division Fulham 1-0, thanks to a last-gasp Andy Wallace goal at Huish Park.

The leadership changed hands for the 14th time when Kidderminster returned back to the summit after beating Dover 3-0, while Telford set a new seasonal record of 12 games without a win when losing to Southport.

Kidderminster produced the cup shock of the Third Round by beating Birmingham City 2-1 at St Andrews.

Woking extended their unbeaten run to 12 with a 2-0 Christmas success at Altrincham, but then suffered their first defeat for four months, losing 2-0 at Telford.

February began with Halifax dispensing with the services of manager Peter Wragg, despite a decent run of just one defeat in 12.

Kidderminster's FA Cup run finally came to an end when a Lee Chapman goal saw West Ham United through 1-0 at Aggborough in front of 7,850 in attendance.

Danny Dichio made an outstanding debut for Welling on loan from QPR by scoring four times in a 6-2 victory over Slough.

The Rebels recover to record their first away win since the opening day of the season by beating Yeovil 2-0 at Huish Park.

Former Watford, AC Milan and England striker Luther Blissett joined Southport on loan from Bury.

Kidderminster opened up a five-point lead at the top of the table – the widest margin of the season to date – after beating Blissett's new side 2-0.

Runcorn's run of 15 games without defeat ended with a 2-1 defeat at Dagenham, while Witton became the first to have relegation confirmed following a 3-0 home defeat by Stalybridge.

Runcorn reached Wembley for the second successive season after beating Guiseley 2-1 on aggregate in the FA Trophy.

Woking joined them after coming through against Enfield at the second attempt.

Macclesfield lifted the Conference League Cup by beating Yeovil over two legs – Sammy McIlroy's first managerial honour.

The final Saturday of the regular season was a thriller as five teams were fighting to avoid joining Witton in being relegated.

At the other end, Kettering needed to win by a big margin to prevent Kidderminster claiming the title – and when one considers that Graham Carr started the campaign with two players, it was a marvellous achievement.

However, Harriers were duly crowned champions, despite losing at home to Altrincham as the Poppies also lost at home to Bromsgrove, who were one of the sides who needed a win to stay up.

Yeovil saved themselves with a home win over Telford, who themselves are only rescued by the fact that Slough and Merthyr both finished in the relegation zone.

But, as no Northern Premier League club was to be promoted, the Martyrs were reprieved from relegation.

The season came to a close with Woking condemning Runcorn to a second successive Wembley heartbreak after winning 2-1.