Simon Daniel Weaver (born 20 December 1977) is an English football manager and former player who is

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

. As a player he was a defender from 1996 until 2012 and notably played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Lincoln City between 2002 and 2004, he also briefly played in the league for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

and

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. He also played at non-league level for Ilkeston Town,

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

, Tamworth,

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

and

Redditch United Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the V Trico Stadium. They are managed by former Captain and Assistant Manager Matt Clarke. ...

. In May 2009, he was appointed player/manager of

and led the team to first-ever promotions to the

National League (division) The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

in 2018 and League Two in 2020, and is currently the longest-serving manager in the top four divisions.

Playing career

Born in

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, Weaver played as a central defender and began his career as an apprentice with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

and made his professional debut during a loan spell with

in February 1997. Released by Wednesday, he moved into the non-league circuit with first Ilkeston Town and then

. In the summer of 2002, he made a return to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, signing for Lincoln City, who were managed by Keith Alexander, his former boss at Ilkeston. He signed a new one-year contract in July 2004, but lost his place in the Lincoln team at the start of the 2004–05 season, and was transfer listed at his request. Following a loan period at

, he joined

, and was one of ten players released at the end of the season after Kidderminster were relegated to the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

. He signed a 12-month contract with

in June 2005, but despite initial optimism, the spell was not successful and with Scarborough in disarray, Weaver was in need of a new club for the 2006–07 season. Weaver signed a short-term contract with Conference National side

at the beginning of the 2006–07 season but having been an unused substitute for the first two games of the season, he was released by York so that he could take up the offer of a 12-month contract at Tamworth. Although Weaver played in many of Tamworths games in the 2006–07 season, he was not offered a new contract following the club's relegation. In the summer of 2007, he briefly trialled with

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

newcomers Salisbury City and had discussions with

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester city centre and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the ...

. He was injured playing in a pre-season friendly in Scotland: an injury that required the bones in his foot to be pinned. The injury caused him to miss the first four months of the season but, returning to fitness, he signed for

on 11 December 2007. On 29 May 2008, Weaver joined

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

newcomers

, after failing to agree a new deal with Boston. He scored three goals in 22 appearances but left King's Lynn in January after failing to get a regular start in recent weeks. He joined

, debuting in their 2–1 victory at

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

a fortnight later, Weaver rejoined his former club Ilkeston Town. He made a successful debut for the club, netting twice in a 4–3

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Challenge Cup victory at

on 18 February 2009.

Managerial career

Weaver was appointed as the new

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of the Conference North on 20 May 2009. After becoming manager his father Irving became chairman and "the Weavers have transformed Harrogate from sixth-tier strugglers to National League high-flyers challenging for an English Football League place". In May 2018, the team won 3–0 in the playoff final against

Brackley Town Brackley Town Football Club is a Association football, football club in Brackley, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at St. James Park. The club won the FA Trophy in 2018. History Established in 1890, the club sp ...

to reach the

for the first time in their history. On 2 August 2020, Weaver led Harrogate to the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

for the first time in their history as they beat

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

3–1 in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

Play-Off Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. On 12 September, he won 4–0 at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

in the club's first-ever Football League match.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Simon 1977 births Living people Footballers from Doncaster English footballers Association football defenders Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players York City F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Boston United F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players English football managers Harrogate Town A.F.C. managers National League (English football) managers English Football League managers