F.C. Halifax Town
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| Full name | Football Club Halifax Town | |||
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| Nickname(s) |
The Shaymen Town |
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| Founded | 2008 | |||
| Ground | The Shay, Halifax, West Yorkshire (Capacity: 14,061 (5,830 seated) |
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| Chairman |  David Bosomworth [1] |
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| Manager | Neil Aspin [2] |
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| League | Conference North | |||
| 2010–11 | NPL Premier Division, 1st Champions | |||
| Website | Club home page | |||
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Football Club Halifax Town, otherwise known as FC Halifax Town are an English football team who currently play in the Conference North. The club replaced Halifax Town A.F.C. who went into administration during the 2007–08 season.
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[edit] History
[edit] Formation
Huge tax debts buried Halifax Town A.F.C. after almost 100 years as a football club. New figures put to a reconvened creditors meeting in May 2008 showed the cash-strapped Shaymen owed over £800,000 to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. The Revenue refused any deal and that effectively finished the club – already over £2 million in the red.[3] Administrators had been trying to broker a rescue package but speaking after five hours of talks that left liquidation near inevitable, administrator Rob Sadler said: "Halifax Town will probably perish." It was originally thought the club owed the taxman around £500,000, which might have left scope for a deal. But the news that it owed £814,000 meant that even if all the other creditors had accepted the 2.5p-in-the-pound offer originally on the table it would not have been enough.[4]
At a meeting of The Football Association, discussing the makeup of the football pyramid for the 2008/09 season, F.C. Halifax Town were not placed in either the Conference National, the Conference North or the Northern Premier League Premier Division. Halifax appealed against the decision to remove them from the Football Conference.[5] Though the appeal was rejected on June 11, the hope was that Halifax could play in the NPL Premier Division.[6] This did not materialise, and eventually Halifax Town were accepted to play in the Northern Premier League Division One North in the new season under the new name F.C. Halifax Town.[7]
[edit] 2008–09
The club's first game under the new name FC Halifax Town was a friendly away against Tamworth on 19 July 2008. There was to be no fairytale ending however, and the game ended in a 2–0 defeat. The club's first ever victory was against Alsager Town on 26 July 2008 by a 2–0 scoreline. Colin Hunter scored the new club's first ever goal after six minutes. Their first competitive Northern League Division One North match was at The Shay against Bamber Bridge on 16 August 2008, but the game resulted in a 3–0 loss for the Shaymen.
The club got off to a poor start, despite recording their first competitive victory in the next match. However, a 7–1 home win against Salford City in late September seemed to turn the tide for Town. They went on an 8-game unbeaten run, 7 of those being victories, and shot to the top of the league table. The run eventually came to an end against Rossendale United, who ended up doing the league double over Halifax and finishing the season bottom of the table.
Despite the loss, Halifax remained top and more good results, including 5–1 and 4–1 victories against Garforth Town and Wakefield respectively, kept their promotion hopes alive. After the Wakefield match however, Halifax won just 2 of their final 14 league games, the wins coming against Harrogate Railway Athletic and Clitheroe, both 2–1. This poor run led to the sacking of manager Jim Vince, and senior player Nigel Jemson stepped up to the manager's position for the remainder of the season. The automatic promotion places were certainly out of Halifax's reach going into the final 5 games, but the club needed to win a minimum of 3 of these final 5 games to have any chance of reaching the play-offs. They could only manage 2 draws and so a poor ending to the season cost them dearly, and they had to settle for a final position of 8th.
[edit] 2009–10
With new manager Neil Aspin taking the helm near the start of close season, Halifax Town got off to a much better start. Promising results in pre-season friendlies were consolidated after beating Colwyn Bay 3–0 on their own turf in the first league match of the season. The results continued to be impressive, most notably in September, winning every game and conceding only one goal in the process. This included a 2–0 away victory over promotion-pushing Conference North team Droylsden, before coming to a home defeat to Wrexham in the Fourth Qualifying Round in front of a then record gate for FC Halifax Town, 2,843.[8] Furthermore, first-choice goalkeeper Jonathan Hedge was called up for the England C national football team. Halifax's glory streak faltered a little after losing 1–0 away to Prescot Cables in the only game during the season where they failed to score.
Halifax failed to record a game for over a month during the heavy weather in the winter, and Lancaster City dominated the promotion race for a while. However, Halifax continued to rake up impressive results, and during a congested schedule beat Ossett Albion 5–0, and Harrogate Railway Athletic, Prescot Cables and Colwyn Bay 3–0 apiece among other results. A decisive moment came against Garforth Town away, when, after a Garforth substitute being sent off, Halifax came back from 3–1 down to win 3–4 in the last stoppage time.
That following Saturday, 10 April, Halifax faced Lancaster City at home, beating them 4–0 in front of a new record gate, 3,152.[9] This result gained Halifax points over Lancaster for the first time since the beginning of the season. The Shaymen followed this excellent result on Monday 13 April by beating 3rd placed Curzon Ashton away 5–0. They held onto the top spot until the end of the season, becoming champions of the Northern Premier League Division One North with 100 points. The title was sealed with a 2–2 home draw against Clitheroe after beating Ossett Albion away 4–2 the previous Saturday in front of over 1000 travelling supporters.
[edit] 2010–11
FC Halifax Town start life in the Northern Premier League (or what is now known as the Evostik Premier Division) by signing defenders Mark Bower from Darlington, Matty Plummer from North Ferriby United and Liam Hogan from Woodley Sports, midfielders Harry Winter from Northwich Victoria and Simon Garner from Clitheroe, winger Scott Metcalfe from Trafford and finally strikers Jamie Vardy from Stocksbridge Park Steels, Danny Holland from Eastwood Town and Nathan Taylor from Clitheroe also.
The pre-season kicked off with a game against local team Brighouse Town, the same as the previous season. This resulted in a 5–0 win with debutant Nathan Taylor scoring four goals, and Danny Holland scoring one – an improvement on the 5–1 win a year before. On 26 November, James Dean became the first player to score 50 goals for the club, after only 69 games for The Shaymen. On New Year's Day 2011, the home match to FC United of Manchester attracted a crowd of 4,023, an attendance record for the Northern Premier League in its current structure, and the highest overall since Wigan Athletic played Stafford Rangers on 28 December 1970 in front of 8,107 people.[10]
FC Halifax Town finally won the NPL Premier Division Championship on 9 April 2011 with a 2–0 away win at Retford United and were promoted to the Blue Square Bet North for the 2011/12 season.they also beat durham city in the f.a rtophey
[edit] 2011–12
The club had a good start in pre-season beating Mossley AFC 5–1, and recently relegated Scunthorpe United 1–0 with a Liam Hogan strike from 30 yards. The summer had been full of speculation about Jamie Vardy, who had been linked to several clubs including Huddersfield Town, Stockport County and Burton Albion. However after four games in the season Vardy left for Fleetwood Town for a fee in the region of £150,000 with Stocksbridge Park Steels receiving £50,000. Vardy had already scored three goals for the club in the 2011–12 season.
The club enjoyed an FA Cup run which saw the club reach the First Round Proper for the first time since their reformation. However, it did not look like the club would get through their first game in the competition, a Second Qualifying Round game against Tadcaster Albion. Halifax were losing 1–0 with only ten minutes to go, but two late headers, the first from James Dean and the second from Scott McManus, sent the club through to the next round in front of 1,002 spectators. In their next game against Lancaster City it was completely different. The Shaymen took the lead after three minutes with a Brett Renshaw goal. However the game was stopped after ten minutes due to crowd trouble. After the police had been sent into the ground the game restarted, and two more goals were scored by Halifax. The first coming from Simon Garner, and the second from Lee Gregory. The only club standing between Halifax and the First Round Proper was Solihull Moors. Solihull segregated the ground to prevent a repeat of the trouble in the previous round. It was a game in which Halifax missed two penalties, but substitue Danny Holland scored the winning goal and sent the Shaymen through to the First Round against Charlton Athletic. Charlton were five points clear at the top of League One and Halifax were only eleventh in the Conference North. However, the team still managed to have 62% possession, but Charlton scored three late goals to make it 4–0. The record attendance for FC Halifax Town was also broken, with a crowd of 4,601.
[edit] The Shaymen's 30 game unbeaten record at The Shay
Spanning into three seasons, The Shaymen went 30 games at The Shay unbeaten. The run lasted from 18 April 2009 to 20 November 2010. It all began as a disappointing 2008–2009 season was coming to a close with a 1–2 defeat to Curzon Ashton, which ended any hopes of a playoff place that year, and cemented Curzon's.
They won 18 and drew 3 in the 2009–2010 season to seal the Unibond Division One North championship with 100 points and 105 goals. A slow start to the beginning of the 2010–2011 season seemed to spell the end of the home run very soon, but with the return of injured left/right backs Danny Lowe and Aaron Hardy and star striker James Dean, The Shaymen's season quickly took off and they rose to top spot. The Shaymen's unbeaten run finally came to an end on 20 November 2010, when North Ferriby United outplayed Halifax and dispatched them 0–2.
[edit] The complete run
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[edit] Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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[edit] Current staff
- Club officials
- President: Robert Holmes
- Chairman: David Bosomworth
- Directors: Bobby Ham, Stuart Peacock
- Coaching and medical Staff
- Manager: Neil Aspin
- Assistant Manager: Lee Nogan
- Head of Youth Development: Des Hazel
- Physiotherapist: Dan Stolworthy
- Goalkeeping Coach: Karl Lineghan
[edit] Performance
[edit] League standings
| Year | League | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | Northern Premier League Division One North |
40 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 71 | 52 | 19 | 63 | 8/21 | A promising season for the Shaymen was ended by only two victories in the last 14 games |
| 2009–10 | Northern Premier League Division One North |
42 | 30 | 10 | 2 | 108 | 38 | 70 | 100 | 1/22 Promoted |
Only the third promotion for a club representing Halifax in 99 years of history |
| 2010–11 | Northern Premier League Premier Division |
42 | 30 | 8 | 4 | 108 | 36 | 72 | 98 | 1/22 Promoted |
Second promotion in as many years, equaling the number of promotions achieved by the old club in its 97 year history |
| 2011-12 | Conference North | 25 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 54 | 38 | 16 | 48 | 3/22 | Town are currently sat in 3rd place after just over half of the season gone |
[edit] FA Cup
| Year | Round Reached | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | 2nd qualifying round | Lost 1–4 to Nantwich Town |
| 2009–10 | 4th qualifying round | Lost 0–1 to Wrexham |
| 2010–11 | 4th qualifying round | Lost 0–1 to Mansfield Town |
| 2011-12 | 1st Round | Lost 0-4 to Charlton Athletic |
[edit] FA Trophy
| Year | Round Reached | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | 1st qualifying round | Lost 1–2 to Harrogate Railway Athletic |
| 2009–10 | 3rd qualifying round | Lost 1–3 to Guiseley |
| 2010–11 | 2nd qualifying round | Lost 1–2 to Curzon Ashton |
| 2011-12 | 3rd qualifying round | Lost 1-2 to Colwyn Bay |
[edit] West Riding County Cup
| Year | Round Reached | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | 1st round | Lost 1–2 to Wakefield |
| 2009–10 | 2nd round | Lost 1–2 Farsley Celtic |
| 2010–11 | Semi-finals | Lost 1–3 Guiseley |
| 2011–12 | Quarter-finals | To play Guiseley |
[edit] Northern Premier League Challenge Cup
| Year | Round Reached | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | 1st round | Lost 1–2 to Curzon Ashton |
| 2009–10 | 4th round | Lost 5–2 to Boston United |
| 2010–11 | 3rd Round | Beat Bradford Park Avenue 3–0 but were expelled from the competition due to fielding an ineligible player. |
| 2011–12 | Not entered |
[edit] Northern Premier League President's Cup
| Year | Round Reached | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | 3rd round | Lost 0–2 to Retford United |
| 2009–10 | 3rd round | Lost 1–2 to Stamford after extra time |
| 2010–12 | Not Entered |
[edit] Honours
- Northern Premier League Premier Division:
- Winners: 2010–11
- Northern Premier League Division One North:
- Winners: 2009–10
- Peter Swales Shield:
- Winners 2011
[edit] Rivals
According to a survey conducted in 2003, Halifax's three main rivals are:[11]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.halifaxafc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/WhosWho/0,,10437,00.html
- ^ http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/halifaxtown/FC-Halifax-Town-New-boss.5213023.jp
- ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Halifax Town | Halifax on the brink of collapse
- ^ Halifax Town Clockwatch: Wednesday August 13 – Halifax Today
- ^ BlueSq Premier | North | South | Latest news on the new Blue Square Premier, North and South season | Conference AGM news
- ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Non League | Halifax fail with demotion appeal
- ^ HTST Advise Town Accepted Into Unibond | Halifax Town | Fans | Supporters Trust | Supporters Trust[dead link]
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ Football Fans Survey, "http://www.footballfanscensus.com/issueresults/Club_Rivalries_Uncovered_Results.pdf"
