Halifax RLFC
| Halifax | |
| Full name | Halifax Rugby League Club |
| Emblem | Crest |
| Colours | Blue and White |
| Founded | 1873 |
| Sport | Rugby league |
| League | National League One |
| Ground | Shay Stadium |
| Official website | www.halifaxrlfc.co.uk |
Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. Known as 'Fax', the official club colours are blue and white hoops, hence the former nickname: The Blue Sox. They share The Shay stadium with football club Halifax Town.
History
Early years
The club was formed in 1873. After becoming the first ever winners of the Yorkshire Cup in 1878, the club went on to win it on another four occasions. Several players were supplied to the Yorkshire County side in these years, and five were picked for the full England rugby union team.
The Halifax club were founder members of the breakaway Northern Rugby Union in 1895. In 1886, the club moved to their traditional home of Thrum Hall, this would be their home ground for the next 112 years. The first game was played on September 18, 1886 and drew 8,000 spectators.
In 1896, Halifax lost out on winning the first ever rugby league championship by a single point with Manningham being the champions. On field success continued producing one of their best ever teams in the early years of the twentieth century. In 1902-03 they achieved the 'double' by winning the Challenge Cup and finishing top of Division One. They won the cup again the following season, and were the first ever Championship Play-off winners in season 1906-07.
Halifax enjoyed their first Wembley Challenge Cup final victory over York in 1931. They also won in 1939.
Post war
The 1949 Challenge Cup final was sold out for first time as 95,050 spectators saw Bradford beat Halifax.
During the fifties they were Championship runners-up three times, Yorkshire Cup winners twice, and Yorkshire League winners four times. They played in two Wembley finals in 1954 and 1956, featuring in the first ever drawn final against Warrington in 1954, losing in the replay at Odsal Stadium in front of what was then a world record Rugby League crowd of 102,569. In 1959 Halifax hosted Wigan before a club record 29,153 people in the third round of the Challenge Cup.
Chris Anderson was captain-coach of Halifax between 1985-88 where he enjoyed great success including the 1986-87 Challenge Cup victory against St Helens. Halifax their last appearance in a Challenge Cup final in 1988 when they lost to Wigan.
The club's record victory was set in October 1990 with a 82-8 win over Runcorn Highfield at Thrum Hall.
Summer rugby era
Halifax joined the Super League in 1996 and became known as the Blue Sox. However, this proved to be unpopular with most supporters who continued to refer to them as 'Fax'. Halifax finished third in Super League in 1998 under John Pendlebury.
Halifax sold Thrum Hall for £1.5 million to the American company Wal-Mart for a supermarket development in 1998, and moved across town to their present home, the Shay Stadium, which they share with Halifax Town AFC. The proceeds from the sale were supposed to enable Halifax to complete a redevelopment of The Shay stadium, but the money was swallowed by debts.
Halifax went to Jacksonville University, Florida, to help develop American rugby league, along with the Salford City Reds, in 2000.
Steve Linnane joined the club as assistant coach from Rochdale Hornets and took full charge after Gary Mercer's resignation.[1]
With the club threatened by financial problems and the danger of relegation. Halifax sacked coach, Steve Linnane, in August 2002, a month after giving him a new contract. Replacement Tony Anderson signed a deal that covered the four remaining matches of this season.[2]
The club returned to the traditional Halifax R.L.F.C. at the start of 2003. At the end of the 2003 season they were relegated from Super League to National League one.
Halifax's financial troubles meant they were unable to retain a full-time team and they struggled in the new league. They narrowly avoided a second relegation to National League 2 in 2004, with a last-gasp victory over local rivals York.
Anthony Farrell was asked to become temporary coach until the end of the year following the sacking of Tony Anderson. After saving the club from relegation the following season and taking the club within a whisker of a place in the grand final where they lost out to Castleford Tigers. The year after was less successful and after a poor series of results including a club record loss to Hull KR, "Faz" eventually lost his job.
Martin Hall took over the role of head coach from sacked coach Anthony Farrell in June 2006.[3]
In August 2006 Halifax RLFC was on the verge of going bust. The club announced that it needed to raise £90,000 otherwise it would go into liquidation. Rugby league fans nationwide rallied behind 'Fax', and through visits to the ground, during home fixtures, and other fund-raising events, were able to raise £55,000. Former Chairman Howard Posner then came forward and announced that he would loan the club the remaining £35,000 in order to keep Halifax RLFC alive. This ensured that Halifax RLFC would be playing in National League One during 2007.[4]
Fixtures
TBA
Backroom Staff
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Rob Hayes | Chief Executive |
| Ian Griffiths | Director |
| Mike Riley | Director |
| Michael Steele | Director |
Coaching Team
| Nationality | Name | Position |
|---|---|---|
 |
Martin Hall | Director Of Football |
 |
Matt Calland | Head Coach |
|
Karl Fairbank | Academy Head Coach |
|
Martin Gonzalez | Player Performance Manager |
2007 Squad
Youth And Community Development
Activities:
Blue Base Study Support Centre is a community sporting initiative sponsored by Halifax RLFC, and part of the national Playing For Success educational scheme launched for school pupils to interact with professional sports teams, to help provide motivation to young people. Locally, Blue Base is working with an initiative established by the DfES, in partnership with Calderdale Children and Young People's Services and Halifax RLFC.
The centre exists to support Calderdale schools in their drive to raise attainment levels with their pupils. This is achieved by developing young peoples levels of motivation, self esteem and helping them to have a more positive attitude towards learning by concentrating particularly upon literacy, numeracy and the use of ICT.
Mascots
Original Mascot: (100 years ago) Smut The Cat [5]
Recent Mascots: Billy & Bluey, Fat Cat, Bruno The Bear.
Present Mascots: Halicat.
Major Honours
- Championship: 1907, 1965, 1903, 1986 (4 times)
- Championship Finalists:1953, 1954, 1956, 1966 (4 times)
- Challenge Cup: 1903, 1904, 1931, 1939, 1987 (5 times)
- War Emergence League Finalists: 1943, 1945
- Challenge Cup Finalists: 1921, 1941, 1942, 1949, 1954, 1956, 1988 (7 times)
- Yorkshire Cup: 1909, 1945, 1955, 1956, 1964 (5 times)
- Yorkshire Cup Finalists: 1906, 1908, 1942, 1980 (4 times)
- Charity Shield Winners: Charity Shield Winners: 1986
- Charity Shield Finalists: 1987
- John Player Special/Regal Trophy Winners: 1972
- John Player Special/Regal Trophy Finalists: 1990
- Rugby League Premiership Trophy Finalists: 1986
- Second Division Premiership Finalists: 1991
All-Time Statistics
Match
- Goals: 14 Bruce Burton at Hunslet 27/8/72
- Tries: 8 Keith Williams v Dewsbury 9/11/57
- Points: 32 John Schuster at Doncaster 9/10/94
Season
- Goals: 147 Tysul Griffiths 1955-56
- Tries: 48 Johnny Freeman 1956-57
- Points: 362 John Schuster 1994-95
Career
- Goals: 1,028 Ronnie James 1960-72
- Tries: 290 Johnny Freeman 1954-67
- Points: 2,191 Ronnie James 1960-72
Halifax Appearances
- Career: Stan Kielty 482 (1946-58)
- Season: John Thorley 48 (1956-57)
- Consecutive: Dick Davies 108 (1925-28)
Representative Appearances
- Great Britain: Karl Harrison 11
- England: Alvin Ackerley 6
- Wales: Arthur Daniels 13
- Yorkshire: Archie Rigg 14
- Lancashire: Ken Roberts 4
- Cumberland: Alvin Ackerley 13
Highest Score
- 86 - 12 V Eccles & Salford Juniors 11/3/07
Biggest Loss
- 6-88 v Hull KR (Northern Rail Cup) 23/4/06
Record Crowd
- 29,153 v Wigan (Challenge Cup) at Thrum Hall 21/3/59
All club statistics are courtesy of Andrew Hardcastle (Official Club Historian)
Halifax RLFC Hall Of Fame
- George Thomson 1875-85;
- Jimmy Dodd 1876-93;
- Archie Rigg 1891-1915;
- George Langhorn 1897-1913;
- Joe Riley 1901-15;
- Billy Little 1901-10;
- Asa Robinson 1904-23;
- Jack Beames 1913-22;
- Cyril Stacey 1915-29;
- Frank Todd 1916-28;
- Dai Rees 1921-32;
- Hudson Irving 1933-47;
- Hubert Lockwood 1934-46;
- Charlie Smith 1936-48;
- Harry Beverley 1937-41;
- Arthur Bassett 1939-48;
Arthur Daniels 1945-57;- Stan Kielty 1946-58;
- Ken Dean 1948-60;
- Jack Wilkinson 1948-59;
- Alvin Ackerley 1948-58;
- Albert Fearnley 1950-56;
- Tommy Lynch 1951-56;
- John Thorley 1952-60;
- John Burnett 1953-67;
- Johnny Freeman 1954-67;
- Garfield Owen 1956-61;
- Charlie Renilson 1957-69;
- Jack Scroby 1959-70;
- Terry Fogerty 1961-73;
- Ronnie James 1961-72;
- Colin Dixon 1961-68;
- Ken Roberts 1963-67;
- Gordon Baker 1964-82;
- Mick Scott 1974-91;
Chris Anderson 1984-87.
External links
- Official Website
- Independent Halifax Supporters Website
- RLFax.com
- Shay Stadium Trust
- The Fax Trust
- Match DVDs Available
- Official Matchday Broadcasts by Phoenix FM
- Blue Base Learning Support Centre
- Halifax RLFC Virtual Stadium Webcam Tour
| Rugby league in Britain and Ireland | |
|---|---|
| Competitions | Super
League · National
League · Challenge
Cup · North West
Counties · Pennine League National League Cup · National Conference League · Rugby League Conference · Scotland Rugby League · Midlands Merit League |
| National teams | Great Britain · England · Ireland · Scotland · Wales |
| Federations | RFL · BARLA · Rugby League Ireland · Wales Rugby League |
| Former competitions | Championship · Premiership · Lancs/Yorks Cups · Lancs/Yorks League Regal Trophy · Charity Shield · BBC2 Floodlit Trophy |
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