Harrogate Town transfer news: League Two side beat off rival interest to sign prolific non-league striker

Cursons, 23, has scored an impressive 25 goals in 30 appearances for the Northern Premier outfit so far in 2024-25, building on from a strong second-half of last season when he plundered 12 goals in just ten matches.

Moving into EFL circles represented a dream come true for the forward, who is a qualified sports coach and sport and exercise science graduate from Nottingham Trent University, while also studying for a master's degree in clinical nutrition at the University of Nottingham.

Cursons is Town's fifth signing of a busy winter window following the earlier captures of Bryn Morris, Eko Solomon, Bryant Bilongo and Olly Sanderson.

On joining Harrogate, Cursons said: "I’m delighted, the chance to play full-time football in the EFL is something I’ve dreamed of, so to be here now with it all signed feels really good.

"I want to come in and affect things straight away, play a part and score goals for the team.

"It’ll probably take a few days and a few training sessions for it to properly sink in, but it’s a really exciting time for me.”

Prior to his move to Ilkeston, Cursons featured for fellow non-league sides Barwell and Met Police.

He has signed a two-and-a-half year contract with the Sulphurites, who beat off fellow league interest to bring him to North Yorkshire.

Town's head of player recruitment Lloyd Kerry said: "We’ve been aware of Tom for a while now, he’s got a great reputation as a goalscorer, is current top scorer in his league and we’re delighted he’s chosen to sign for us.

"We like his profile, he’s robust, mobile and we were really impressed with what we saw when we’ve been to watch him.

"The front-line is an area we wanted to strengthen and we now feel we have really good options up there."