FC Halifax Town

FC Halifax Town, a football club from the West Yorkshire town of the same name, was formed in 2008 to replace the former club Halifax Town AFC who entered Administration at the end of the 2007-08 season. Fans generally regard it to be a continuation of the same club.

 Halifax Town AFC

Halifax Town AFC were formed at the Saddle Hotel in the town on May 24^th 1911. The club initially became members of the Yorkshire Combination before joining the Midland League in 1912 under manager Joe McClelland.

In 1921 'The Shaymen' became founder members of the extended Football League Division Three North as they moved into their new ground at The Shay. Alex Raisbeck was in charge of the side that ended as divisional runners-up in 1934-35.

Several managers tried their hand at The Shay, including dual England football and cricket international Willie Watson between 1954 and 1956, before the tenure of Harry Hooper saw Town placed in Division Three when the league was restructured in 1958.

Don McEvoy was at the helm when Halifax were relegated in 1962-63, to be replaced shortly after, with Watson returning for another couple of years. Vic Metcalfe took over from him prior to the appointment of Alan Ball Snr in 1967.

The club had previously applied for re-election several times and money a continual issue. However, Ball brought success with promotion being achieved in 1968-69. Two years later Town finished one place short of reaching the second tier. Manchester United were beaten the same year at The Shay in the Watney Cup, which can be viewed here.

George Kirby, Ray Henderson and George Mulhall had spells as manager before the Shaymen were relegated in 1975-76 under Johnny Quinn. Ball Snr returned prior to the appointment of Jimmy Lawson and then the returning Kirby after another turbulent period on and off the pitch.

Kirby took Town on an FA Cup run in the 1979-80 season, when the side reached the fourth round. Scarborough, Walsall and then Manchester City were seen off before the run ended at Burnden Park against Bolton Wanderers. Highlights of the Manchester City game can be seen here. 

Former Halifax striker Mickey Bullock took over as team boss in 1981 for a three year spell, succeeded for a couple of years by Mick Jones. Ex town defender Billy Ayre was appointed as manager in 1986.

All appointees were forced to watch the pennies and produce their own talent along with free signings on low attendances. Jim McCalliog, John McGrath and Mick Rathbone all had one year in charge of the team from 1990.

Peter Wragg was manager when Halifax eventually lost their fight to retain their league status in 1992-93. Things didn’t improve in the Football Conference as crowds dipped even further as John Bird tried to stem the tide.

The pairing of the returning George Mulhall and midfielder Kieran O'Regan had two spells either side of a brief tenure under John Carroll. Out of nowhere the pairing hit upon a group of players to deliver a winning formula.

Geoff Horsfield ran riot up front as Town won the Conference title to return to the Football League in 1997-98. Players such as Andy Thackeray, Mark Bradshaw, Darren Lyons, Jon Brown, Peter Jackson. Brian Kilcline, Dave Hanson and goalkeeper Lee Martin all played their part in the success.

At the start of the 1998-99 season Mulhall decided to retire for reasons that were never revealed with O’Regan taking on the role alone, but it sadly returned Town to their old pattern of struggle.

David Worthington and then Mark Lillis had year long spells in charge of the side. The pairing of Peter Butler and Tony Parks, Paul Bracewell and the duo of Parks and Neil Redfearn didn’t even last that long in the manager’s chair.

In 2001-02 Town became the first ever club to be relegated from the Football League on two separate occasions after manager Alan Little was replaced by caretaker Redfearn. Chris Wilder was appointed as team manager and he gradually built a good side.

Town reached the play-offs in 2005-06, defeating Grays Athletic before losing in the final to Hereford United at the Walkers Stadium, Leicester. Continual financial problems led to the dismantling of that side, leading to more struggles on the pitch with attendances dipping again.

At the end of the 2007-08 season, it was announced that the club were around £2M in debt, including owing HMRC over £800,000. The Conference demoted the club from the competition and Town's Supporters Trust looked to set up a new club as a local consortium put Town into administration and then wound it up.

FC Halifax Town

The same directors of Town took charge and set up FC Halifax Town, who were placed in the Northern Premier League Division One North with the club arranging a deal to remain at The Shay.

Despite being placed in a lower division The Shaymen found the going far from easy. Jim Vince was replaced by Neil Aspin towards the end of a disappointing debut season. The former Leeds United and Port Vale favourite led Town to the title in 2009-10.

Their success was repeated in 2010-11 as crowds and interest in the club were high, leading to promotion to the Conference North. Town appeared on live TV in the FA Cup Round One in November 2011, when Charlton Athletic visited The Shay and ended the dream with a 4-0 win in front of an impressive crowd of 4,601.

The same 2011-12 season ended in defeat in the semi-finals of the play-offs to Gainsborough Trinity, but Aspin's side regrouped and reached the final in 2012-13. This time they made no mistake as Guiseley and then Brackley Town were beaten to seal a return to the Conference national division.

Halifax continued to impress, reaching the play-offs where they went down to Cambridge United in the semi-finals in 2013-14. Aspin was tempted away to Gateshead in September 2015 with Darren Kelly having a short spell in charge before the appointment of Jim Harvey

After previously reaching the quarter finals of the FA Trophy a couple of times, the Shaymen defeated Nantwich Town to reach the Wembley final in 2015-16 where Grimsby Town were defeated 1-0 with a goal from Scott McManus in front of 46,781 fans.

The 2016-17 campaign saw Town reach the second round of the FA Cup, going out in a replay to Eastleigh after Harvey had been replaced by Billy Heath. Jamie Fullarton had taken over as manager when the team again reached the second round of the Cup, bowing out to AFC Wimbledon.

Pete Wild was appointed as manager of the club in July 2019. He took his side to the playoffs in 2019-20 where they lost in the quarter final to Boreham Wood. The playoffs were reached one more in 2021-22 as Billy Waters put the goals away. Hopes were ended at the first stage by Chesterfield.

Manager Wild headed to Barrow to be replaced by Chris Millington whose side won the 2022-23 FA Trophy final with a 1-0 win against Gateshead before losing in the quarter finals of the 2023-24 playoffs to Solihull Moors.

FC Halifax Town will play in the National League in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Halifax Town 2 Scarborough 0 (Saturday 24th November 1979) FA Cup Round One (att: 3,778)

Scarborough were one of the prominent non-league clubs in the country and the memories of the glory days at Wembley were still reasonably fresh in the mind. Indeed, Boro under the Chairmanship of Don Robinson had attempted to buy Town and move them to the coast to secure Football League status. Town meanwhile were perennial strugglers.

We went through to West Yorkshire as a family on the train. Mum went shopping with Paul, while Dad took Nick and I to The Shay. His workmate Don had told him it was a twenty minute walk to the ground from town, yet we were through the dark industrial streets on the miserable afternoon in half that time. 

The weather really did suit the town, with its steep hillsides and tall old buildings setting the stereotypical scene. The Shay also fitted in well. To be honest, it was a dump. The pitch had a dirty speedway track surrounding it with a mud splattered white wall. 

There was crumbling terracing and shale banks at the Town End with a thin cover at the rear. The far Bus Depot End had a bit of shale banking with no cover. The Main Stand was built into the bank and had a block of covered terracing where the vocal Shaymen stood and then seating. 

The Family Stand on the far side was a lot smaller and housed the changing rooms. It also had a few seats and some covered standing. The majority of the Boro fans were in there and behind the goal.

We were quite optimistic before hand, but Town were far too good, going two nil up as they never really looked back. One of the goals was a long range low effort from a winger called Andy Stafford who cut in and fired home. Boro huffed and puffed without really looking like scoring.

We all met up for something to eat at a local cafe at full time. We encountered a sneering home fan laughing at claims of Boro being a good club. A visiting fan soon put him right on the comparative condition of both clubs home grounds!

Halifax Town 1 Hull City 2 (Monday 4th April 1983) Division Four (att: 5,001)

The Tigers were chasing promotion under the managership of Colin Appleton and former Scarborough Chairman Don Robinson. I was a regular at Boothferry Park and had started taking Nick with me. Dad decided we would go on the train to this Easter Bank Holiday game on the train.

I remember the excitement when waiting for the connecting train at Leeds station, a steam train came through. We got to Halifax quite early, which proved to be a bit of an error as it resembled a ghost town, save for the sprinkling of football fans. 

We went into the beautifully restored Piece Hall, but there wasn't too much to do inside. I thought it an apt name for a building in Halifax as it could be interpreted that it summed up what was there.

The Shay hadn't changed, but it looked slightly more aesthetic as the weather was pleasant. City secured a valuable win after Town had come from behind to equalise through Martin Nuttall. As was usual at the time, Brian Marwood and Les Mutrie stood out for The Tigers. Marwood and Billy Woof scored the goals.

We waited behind at the end as Don Robinson gave us good news of results elsewhere, while the ground staff prepared the stadium in readiness for the evenings entertainment as the Halifax Dukes Speedway Team were at home.

Halifax Town 1 Cardiff City 1 (Friday 31st October 1986) Division Four (att: 1,640)

I was invited along to this match with my Cardiff City and Scarborough supporting mate, Gary Griffiths. The plan was to go to the match and then stay with university pals of his in Levenshulme at Manchester overnight, before going to a few grounds the next morning and then the match between Chester City and Walsall.

Town as ever were struggling for money and were asking for fans to put an extra ten pence into a bucket for every programme purchased. The game itself didn't stand out in any way, but it meant the start of a decent mini weekend break.

I know the pub once we got to Manchester was most welcoming!

Halifax Town 2 Scarborough 2 (Monday 4th April 1988) Division Four (att: 1,747)

By now Scarborough were a Football League club and I travelled regularly on a mini bus run by George Johnson from the Post Office and the Gas Board Club. We had a happy throng and the trips were usually full of laughter.

As ever George had done the business and brought a tray of pies from Sam Bairstow's fine emporium on Dean Road and we stopped at a pub on the hill down into Halifax for pre match refreshments.

Our happy throng in the away end at The Shay

It was the first visit for many of my travelling pals to The Shay. Someone joked that it must have been a squeeze when The Beatles had played there! They weren't massively impressed. The police were heavy handed as well removing a few Boro fans and making poor old Trevor Pole from our bus stay in the same position under the cover all afternoon. They were severely lacking in sense of humour.

Trev enjoys the hospitality at Halifax, while Ziggy offers his sympathy

Town went ahead through Peter Duffield before a Tommy Graham equaliser for Boro. Neil Matthews restored the home lead prior to Mitch Cook ensuring a share of the points. We stopped as ever for a few pints on the way home. All in all, it was a decent way to spend a Bank Holiday.

Halifax Town 0 Scarborough 2 (Saturday 17th December 1990) Division Four (att: 1,890)

A mad dash around with the Christmas deliveries while on my postie round rewarded with a comprehensive win thanks to goals from former Shayman Mick Matthews in his first spell at the club and Steve Norris. 

I was delighted and determined to attend this game after falling asleep and missing the bus to the League Cup tie earlier in the season.

Halifax Town 1 Scarborough 2 (Saturday 10th March 1990) Division Four (att: 1,490)

I travelled to this match by car with Brian Marshall and his pal, along with Barry Rewcroft. We set off nice and early and arrived around 1pm as I had a treat in plan before the match. Through reading many fanzines and books I believed I had found the perfect pre match pub, which had a huge selection of real ales. 

The Shears Inn was extremely difficult to find as we descended down the valley down some narrow lanes, but were well rewarded when we got there. There were even doubts pointed in my direction that I didn't know where I was going! How dare they?

Boro played well enough and went on to win the game thanks to goals from Steve Saunders and Steve Richards. It appeared that my decision to go by car had proved to be a wise one as there had been a few altercations as the lads from the train and mini bus had been offered some poor hospitality in their watering holes. 

The way home was apparently even more eventful when they stopped off in Tadcaster!

Halifax Town 1 Scarborough 0 (Friday 26th December 2003) Football Conference (att: 2,136)

I was up from London for Christmas with the family and the chance of a ride to The Shay with Jamie Nunns was too good to turn down. Boro were having a good run and were getting ready to travel to Southend United in the FA Cup Third Round thirteen days later.

We got inside a pub with uninspiring ales near to the ground and watched Charlton Athletic take Chelsea apart in the Premier League in the lunchtime kick off. We then wrapped up and walked around the corner to the away turnstiles.

The Shay had changed massively since my previous visit. The first change was that the away fans were now at the Town End. This had being reprofiled, the same as the other end with large steep terracing and roofs. These were now called the North and South Stands. 

To the left the stand had been tidied up with new seating and was now called the Skircoat Stand. On the final side a new large single tiered East Stand had been built. This had not been completed as the money had run out and was only open for the changing rooms and directors area. 

The work had been carried out by Calderdale Council, Town and Halifax RLFC who had sold their Thrum Hall home so that they could enter the Rugby Super League if the opportunity arose.

The match turned out to be a real rough affair. It was tight early on and then an incident in the thirty sixth minute overshadowed everything else. What seemed like not much at all turned into a twenty two man brawl, or should I say twenty two men posturing? 

I don't wish to sound biased, but the perpetrator was a home defender and former Seadog James Dudgeon. Referee Rob Shoebridge sent him off, but remarkably he sent off another Town player, as well as non-plussed Boro men Matt Redmile and Wayne Gill. 

The rest of the game got really niggly. The away fans were naturally very displeased with goings on. Five other players, three of Scarborough, were shown yellow cards. I heard a remarkable shout from one of my Seadog brethren, when he complained that we were giving Town too much room. Well at a guess I'd have put that down to the game being nine a side!

Town scored the only goal with fifteen minutes to go to add to our frustration. I wasn't in the best of moods after the game, but two weeks later I was back on form after a great result at Southend!

Wednesday 17th September 2008

I was in West Yorkshire after going to the Glasshoughton Welfare v Scarborough Athletic game the previous evening. I had stayed overnight in Leeds and bought myself a days rover for public transport. After calling at Park Avenue and then Horsfall Stadium a little ahead of time, I was about to get the bus back into Bradford when a Plan B entered my head.

The bus stop near Horsfall Stadium was on Halifax Road and there was a regular service, with a bus due so I jumped on board. I grabbed a pie and soup at Gregg's and then walked past some welcoming stone pubs on the hill down towards The Shay. The town of Halifax looked much improved on what I remembered and had obviously had a lot of work spent on it.

I eventually found a gate into the stadium. Some business folk were entering the rear of the Main Stand, but said I was OK to pop inside and take some photos. I stood in the corner between the East and North Stands. The new stand still wasn't completed - it eventually opened in March 2010.

I walked back to the refurbished railway station and caught a service to Bradford Interchange, ready to go to my next ground: Valley Parade.