NEIL Howarth admitted that he and Mark Yates thought long and hard before leaving Kidderminster Harriers to take the management reins at Cheltenham Town.

The duo ended a four-year spell at Aggborough this week when they joined the League Two side which they played for with distinction.

The deal was finally done when Harriers chairman Barry Norgrove and his opposite number Paul Baker thrashed out a compensation deal for the management duo, who had been contracted to Harriers until the end of the season.

“I know some people might look at our move and think it's a no-brainer but it was a very though decision,” commented Howarth.

“There was a lot of thought before going into it but when these opportunities come along you can’t turn them down.

“I think we have learned a lot at Harriers, we’ve made mistakes and will continue to make them at Cheltenham but as long as put in 100 per cent then that's all we can do.

“I played for Cheltenham for four and a half seasons and Mark was there for even longer, so we’ve gone to a club that is close to our hearts.

“Obviously, our main challenge is to guide them away from the bottom two and we'll be focusing on that.”

The duo swept into Aggborough at the start of January 2006, replacing Stuart Watkiss and took over a club that had not recovered from their relegation back to the Football Conference and languished 16th place in the table.

Despite only managing to guide the club to a 15th place finish that season, they turned Harriers around and steered them on an overall upward curve towards the top half of the table.

Under their stewardship, Harriers finished 10th in the 2006-07 season with 63 points, 13th in the following season despite gathering 67 points and then were a point just outside of the play-offs in the 2008-09 campaign, with a grand total of 79 points.

During that period, Harriers reached the FA Trophy final in 2007, the first competitive game at the New Wembley, where they powered into a 2-0 lead, only to lose 3-2 to Stevenage Borough.

Two seasons later, the duo pulled off more cup magic as Harriers reached the FA Cup third round for the first time in five years, only to lose 2-0 at Coventry City.

“When we came to Harriers it wasn’t a nice place and it took us 12 months to get us in a good position and build the foundations of a good team,” commented Howarth.

“I do think that we’ve left the club in a better state than when we arrived and hopefully with the group of players left the new manager will be able to continue what we have started.

“I think the biggest thing that stands out for me is the run to the FA Trophy final.

“The game was like a trial run for the FA Cup final and to play at a place where some of the best players in the world have graced was amazing.

“The money from that run also helped set up the club for the next few years.

“We also came very close to getting into the play-offs and if we had kept that team we could have done even better next year.

“In the end it was a sad time because we had to release so many players.

“I understand why because many clubs were tightening their belts because of the recession. No one was to blame it was just circumstances.”

Yates and Howarth developed a reputation of taking raw talent, moulding them into top classs players, before selling them for big money.

The sale of James Constable, Russ Penn, Matthew Barnes-Homer and Mark Creighton generated over £150,000, no mean feat for a club of modest means like Harriers.

Howarth said: “When we joined Russ Penn was in and out of the team and being paid peanuts but we sold him for a big fee.

“We took James Constable from Walsall’s reserves and then spent more than we would have liked on him two months later. He also went for a lot of money.

“Matthew Barnes-Homer was another player we took a chance on.

“He came for a trial in the summer and we worked very hard to help him improve and he got a big money move to Luton.

“Even Mark Creighton is someone we picked up for free and we got some money for him.

“You can’t help but look at those players with some pride.

“But it wasn’t a fluke, we had to work very hard to find them and then get the best out of them.

“Mark knew league football very well after his time at Cheltenham, while I was at Telford and had good knowledge of the non-league so we had all the areas covered.”

And while their attentions will be focused on keeping Cheltenham in the Football League, Howarth admitted that both he and Yates, who both still live in Kidderminster, will be keeping an eye on how their former club fares.

“During my time at Harriers we have definitely made friends for life,” he added.

“You can’t spend six for seven days a week sometimes at a place for nearly four years without making very close bonds with people.

“It’s the same with the players, you spend a lot of time with them on a coach and you don’t find that sort of camaraderie in many jobs.

“We still live in Kidderminster and will still be keeping an eye on their results, they will always be a special club for us.”