Harriers celebrate winning the FA Trophy in 1987

Still proudly bearing the ‘Harriers’ moniker 130 years after formation, Kidderminster Harriers existed as an athletics club in its early years, moving into rugby in 1880 before venturing into football; starting to play the game as we know it now in 1886 as association football came to the town for the first time.

The Birmingham and District League was formed in 1889; Kidderminster Olympic pipping Harriers to the title before the two clubs merged in 1890 under the Harriers banner. Harriers continued in the Birmingham League until 1939, winning the Championship in consecutive seasons (1938 and 1939), clinching a league and cup double in the latter campaign.

The club's move to the Southern League for 1939-40 proved short-lived as the Second World War intervened after only three games. Immediately after the war Harriers played in the Birmingham League and Birmingham Combination before re-joining The Southern League in 1948-49. That Season the record attendance was registered for a game at Aggborough, when 9,155 spectators saw Harriers lose 0-3 to local rivals Hereford United in an FA Cup tie.

In 1951-52 the revolutionary use of floodlights by the club gave Harriers the distinction of staging the first floodlit games in the history of the FA Cup at Aggborough. Harriers’ next championship was the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1964, and a further 23 trophies - including four League Championships - were won before Harriers re-joined the Southern League in 1972.

Promotion to the Alliance Premier League (Football Conference) was clinched at the end of 1982-83.

The club's elevation to the Alliance Premier League (Conference) ushered in a quarter of a century of unprecedented success for the Harriers that would see them win every major honour in the Non-League game and ultimately become the 21st Century's first newcomers to the Football League.

Away from league action, 1987 saw Harriers qualify for a Final at Wembley Stadium for the first time. The fixture was the FA Trophy against Burton Albion. After a 0-0 draw, Kidderminster went on to win the replay 2-1 (after extra time) at the Hawthorns.

Harriers have since graced the Wembley turf on three further, heart-breaking occasions; losing to Wycombe (1991), Woking (1995) and Stevenage (2007) in finals, the latter in front of a record crowd of 53,000 at the newly-rebuilt national arena.

In the FA Cup, Harriers remain perennial headline makers. The team’s most memorable cup run was perhaps that of the 1993/94 season when giants aplenty came head to head with Worcestershire’s premier side. Chesham United, Kettering and Woking were all downed as Harriers entered the Third Round draw – paired with Birmingham City.

The reds secured one of the most memorable victories in its history at St Andrew’s, winning 2-1 in front of almost 20,000 fans thanks to Jon Purdie’s clincher. More joy followed in the Fourth Round and Preston North End were duly dispatched at a packed Aggborough, the mazy run only coming to an end at the hands of top-flight West Ham United, who sneaked an agonising 1-0 victory on the day.

Further runs since have kept Harriers up there as a true giant killers – they gave a true fright to then Premier League neighbours Wolves in 2003 before being knocked out in a Molineux replay, while Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough were beaten on a memorable night at London Road ten years later, setting up a plum tie at Premier League Sunderland, where Harriers were beaten by a single goal in front of more than 4,000 travelling fans.

The turn of the millennium signalled undoubtedly one of the most memorable periods in the club's illustrious history. Under the stewardship of former Liverpool legend Jan Molby, Harriers clinched promotion to the Football League for the first time in 2000, where they enjoyed five seasons.

Harriers returned to a very different non-league scene in 2005, and have continued to relish their annual underdogs tally, under the management of the likes of former captain, Mark Yates, and one-time Macclesfield Town striker, Steve Burr.

Led by the latter and his assistant, Gary Whild, the team came within a single goal of a return to the Football League in 2013, losing out to Mansfield as the title race went down to the final day; Burr’s men beaten in the play-offs.

Financial instability has plagued the club over much of the last five years but, under a new Board of Directors including Chairman, Rod Brown, a true revitalisation of the club on and off the field has ushered in a new era of care and caution throughout.