Horndean boss Birmingham’s phone will be busier now Harvest Home have gone up into the Hampshire Premier League

Harvest Home’s elevation into the Hampshire Premier League could result in a few more phone calls to Horndean boss Michael Birmingham.
Nathan Newer, left, was Harvest Home's top scorer in 2019/20 with 29 goals. Picture: Vernon NashNathan Newer, left, was Harvest Home's top scorer in 2019/20 with 29 goals. Picture: Vernon Nash
Nathan Newer, left, was Harvest Home's top scorer in 2019/20 with 29 goals. Picture: Vernon Nash

Harvest were officially accepted into the HPL earlier this month after winning their third successive Mid-Solent League title.

The club in fact won all 23 of their league and cup matches in 2019/20 - scoring 115 goals and conceding just 10 - and were denied a possible five trophies by the pandemic.

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They had already won the Billy Hill Cup, were in the final of the Hampshire Vase, and through to the semi-finals of the MSL’s Father Purcell and Len Day Cups.

Luke Musselwhite (green shirt) in action for Harvest Home against West Wight Reserves in the Hampshire Vase.  Picture: Vernon NashLuke Musselwhite (green shirt) in action for Harvest Home against West Wight Reserves in the Hampshire Vase.  Picture: Vernon Nash
Luke Musselwhite (green shirt) in action for Harvest Home against West Wight Reserves in the Hampshire Vase. Picture: Vernon Nash

It was boss Ray Ogilvie’s first season in charge after taking over from Ben Forrester, the man who formed the club three years ago.

Previously, Ogilvie had worked under Birmingham at Five Heads Park and was Deans reserve boss in 2018/19.

He aims to run Harvest as professionally as he can, and has learnt a great deal from his time at Horndean.

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‘Michael is an absolute genius,’ praised Ogilvie. ‘He should be working in professional football.

Horndean boss Michael Birmingham. Picture Ian HargreavesHorndean boss Michael Birmingham. Picture Ian Hargreaves
Horndean boss Michael Birmingham. Picture Ian Hargreaves

‘If I didn’t try to be professional then I wouldn’t have appreciated a single minute I spent under him.

‘He approaches every game in such fine detail, the way Michael mentally prepares his players is second to none, the best I have ever seen.

‘Hopefully I have taken that from working under him.

‘I phoned him a few times last season asking his advice, and now we’ve gone up I’ll probably be making a few more calls next season!’

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Ogilvie is aiming to recruit an assistant manager for his side’s HPL debut.

‘I can’t always see everything,’ he said. ‘I need someone else, someone who isn’t a player, someone who will be loyal.

‘Every time you go up in football it’s a big jump, and it’s a big step into the Hampshire League. If we are going to do well I will need people who are as professional as possible.

‘My main challenge isn’t going to be the football - I know the players have got the ability, most have played at a higher level.

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‘I will need to ensure they are fit and mentally prepared. I’m probably going to have to change the way we play, and we need to be at it ASAP.

‘We’ve had it quite easy the last couple of years, but this is going to be totally different.’

Ogilvie has kept hold of striker Luke Musselwhite, a man with a good HPL pedigree. He belted 35 goals in 38 games for AFC Stoneham in 2014/15 as the Purples finished fourth in the Premier Division and subsequently won promotion to the Wessex.

Harvest have also signed attacking midfielder Charlie Deluchi and defender Mitch Cowan, who both played for Ogilvie’s Sunday League side Co-op Dragons when they won the quadruple a few years ago.

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In 2016/17 Dragons collected the Portsmouth Sunday League Senior title, the Hampshire Cup, the Buster Gordon Cup and the Challenge Cup.

Also in the Dragons squad were strikers Nathan Newer and Jake Daniels, who were regulars for Harvest in 2019/20.

Newer was Harvest’s top scorer last season with 29 league and cup goals

Ogilvie also paid a warm tribute to Forrester, for asking him to take over as manager last summer.

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‘Ben was big enough to say he’d taken the club as far as he could,’ he remarked.

‘Sometimes you can be blind to the bigger picture, but he wasn’t.

‘I’m not sure it was something I could have done, having built the team up.

‘When we were told we’d been accepted into the Hampshire League I phoned Ben up and said ‘you should be very proud of yourself, this is your doing - well done.’’