A football club boss decided his crowd needed to lift its side by making a bigger din when their team scored a goal.

So he imported a recording of fans roaring their heads off - and ordered it to be played when the home side put the ball in the net.

But now Bill Fotherby, chairman of Harrogate Town, elevated this season to the new Northern Conference League, has had to pull a temporary plug on the electronic boost for the low decibel Wetherby Road crowd.

After switching on the recording to mark Harrogate's two goals by Colin Hunter in their 2-1 home win over Barrow on Saturday Mr Fotherby, the former Leeds United chairman, has shown his imported cheer leaders a red card.

The chairman introduced the high volume recording after admitting Harrogate fans, unused to high profile success on the pitch, were often just too polite to let themselves go and raise a major cheer.

"I want them to cheer much louder when we score a goal and I knew the recorded crowd would get them going. But there was something wrong with the recording and although it was loud it was affected by interference and was just too crackly.

"I have heard it when it is working properly and it creates a marvellous atmosphere for the fans to follow ," he added.

The cheering aid for the 711 fans who attended the first home game of the season will be returning once technical difficulties have been sorted out.

The Harrogate chairman got the idea of the public address boost from his days at Elland Road in the late Don Revie area.

"Don had been very concerned about the lack of atmosphere around the ground in the old Second Division days and said we had to do something to lift the fans," recalled the Harrogate chairman.

Nigel Pleasants, Harrogate's managing director and former Leeds United secretary, said Town had already followed in United's footsteps by introducing Eye of the Tiger as Harrogate players took to the field.

He hoped the recorded crowd - Na, na, na, na - would be in full and crystal clear voice in time for the home match against Gainsborough Trinity on Tuesday, August 24 7.45, once hitches had been ironed out.

Six years ago some seasonsed supporters of the Harrogate crowd protested to club officials that a newly-formed group of chanting young fans were making too much noise at matches.

The banner-waving youngsters defied objections for several weeks before before moving from the stand to a spot behind the goal. But they later disbanded after unfurling a protest banner over the objections.

Club director of football Phillip Sanderson says: "Traditionally Harrogate has not been a football town, but in the future we hope it will be so."