Harvest chairman Neil Blake determined to carry on growing a club that has experienced a ‘phenomenal’ rise

From playing in the Mid-Solent League as recently as 2019/20, last month they finished fifth in the top flight of the Hampshire Premier League.

Eight wins in their last 11 games - scoring at least four goals in eight of those fixtures - was a superb end to the club’s first-ever season in the Senior Division.

In addition, the reserves finished fourth - just four points adrift of second-placed Fleetlands - in their first season in the Hampshire Combination East Division.

For next season, a Harvest under-16s side will compete in the Mid-Solent League. And the plan is to carry on adding more youth teams.

Blake told The News: ‘We’ve now got three teams, but that’s not enough. We need more.

‘We need to build our roots. We probably want 10-15 teams, but the club is still young - it takes time.

‘Harvest is only about seven or eight years old and we’ve grown at a rapid pace, it’s been phenomenal that we have come so far.’

Blake would love to emulate Fleetlands and Clanfield, the last two HPL clubs to be promoted into the Wessex League.

But to be in a position to advance, they would need either their own ground with a step 6 grading or a groundsharing deal.

Clanfield were only able to be promoted to the Wessex recently due to the fact they have a groundsharing agreement with Hawks.

Harvest, though they are a Portsmouth club, have had to play their HPL home games at the Hampshire FA-run Front Lawn facility in Leigh Park.

‘There’s no space in Portsmouth,’ said Blake. ‘Unless we can groundshare.

‘We don’t want to stand still, we want to follow Fleetlands and Clanfield, but we’ve hit a brick wall. In five years time we’ll probably still be where we are now.’

Due to Denmead’s withdrawal from the HPL, Harvest’s reserves will also play home games at Front Lawn in 2023/24. They have been using a ground at East Meon.