Halifax Town A.F.C.
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| Full name | Halifax Town Association Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | The Shaymen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1911 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | The Shay Halifax |
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| Capacity | 14,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Vacant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  Chris Wilder |
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| League | Conference National | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–07 | Conference National, 16th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Halifax Town Association Football Club are an English football team currently playing in the Conference National. The club's current ground is The Shay (hence the reason for their nickname "The Shaymen") in Halifax, West Yorkshire. The Shay Stadium is run by The Shay Stadium Trust Ltd, a not-for-profit company.
History
Early years
The club was formed in 1911, and were one of the founder members of Football League Third Division North in 1921, and remained in that division until restructuring in 1958.
Financial Struggle
The club nearly always struggled financially as well as with its discipline. It was relegated from the Football League Third Division in 1963 and in the Football League Fourth Division up until the late 60s was re-elected several times after finishing bottom of the football league. This a possible reason for the strong rivalry of the club with Huddersfield Town F.C., as Huddersfield would tend to vote against Halifax remaining in the league.
Glory Days
However, in 1967, Alan Ball Sr took over as manager of the club. He achieved promotion with the club in 1969. Ball left soon after, however the club enjoyed several strong finishes in the Football League Third Division in the early seventies and many of the club's supporters tout this era as the "Glory Days". However, the club was relegated back to the fourth division in 1976.
Glory to Gloom
Ever since the relegation of 1976, the club saw a long period in the fourth division of very little success, but a lot of financial problems. The club always languished near the bottom of the football league, and many say that the goals of Steve Norris were what allowed the club to survive in the football league. However, Norris left in 1992, and the subsequent year, Town were relegated.
Conference
The club found the Football Conference no easier than the fourth division. After several poor seasons with dire financial constraints, the club was demoralised as there seemed to be no way out. However, like with Alan Ball, George Mulhall came on the scene towards the end of the 1996/1997 and avoided relegation out of the Conference. The next season, out of the blue, The Shaymen were crowned champions of the Conference and regained football league status.
Back In the Football League
Star striker Geoff Horsfield, who scored 30 goals for Town in the previous season, only managed ten games before he was sold to Fulham for a six figure fee. However, after Mulhall's retirement, Kieran O'Regan was promoted from assistant to manger. A good start to the season based mainly on the goals of Geoff Horsfield turned into a dramatic drop in form once Horsfield left. With money in the bank and a board crying out for team strengthening the manager was unable to identify new additions. This lead directly to the sacking of O'Regan. For the next three seasons, Town had three different managers, none of whom able to bring success to the club. After two poor seasons, Town became the first team to be relegated to the Conference twice in 2001/2002.
Chris Wilder
Chris Wilder took over the club in administration with 5 players and a hungry cat. However, the first season back in the Conference saw the Shaymen push for the play-offs, and for a brief while, the automatic promotion spot. However it was not to be and the club finished in 8th position.
The following season Halifax struggled to make any kind of impact in the division, lurking around mid-table for almost the entire season. The disappointing season ended with the club in 19th place, a rather dangerous position to be in, but the club were never in serious danger of being relegated.
The 2004/05 season was much brighter. The club managed to put a very credible promotion push together and spend much of the season around the play-off zone. However after a dismal run of results in the last two months of the season the club dropped from 2nd place, down to 9th, and another season in the Conference beckoned.
In 2005/06 the Shaymen once again put together a strong push for promotion. This time they managed to stay inside the play-off zone at the end of the season. The club finished in 4th position, and a play-off with Grays Athletic was at hand. Halifax won the tie 5-4 on aggregate to set up a play-off final with Hereford United. However, Halifax lost 3-2 in extra time in a game in which they were denied an early penalty. [1] However, most of the fans now regard Wilder as one of the club's best ever managers, because under his leadership he turned a club on the brink of going out of business into a strong force in the Conference. However, the following season, team strengthening had the opposite effect and the club avoided relegation on the last game of the season.
Players
- As of 16 October 2007.
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Current squad
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Club Officials
Current Staff
Boardroom
- Chairman:
- Vice Chairman:
- Directors:
Management
- Manager: Chris Wilder
- Assistant Manager: Peter Atherton
- Coach: Lee Butler
- Physio: Alan Russell-Cox
- Fitness Consultant: Ed Baronowski
- Fitness Co-ordinator: Ian Helliwell
- club mascot: Freddy the Fox
Managerial History
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Honours and Club Records
- FA Cup
- Fifth Round - 1932/33, 1952/53
- League Cup
- Fourth Round - 1963/64
- FA Trophy
- Fifth Round - 2002/03, 2003/04
- Football League Third Division
- Third Place - 1970/71 (56pts)
- Football League Fourth Division
- Second Place - 1968/69 (57pts)
- Conference National
- Champions - 1997/98 (87pts)
- Record Attendance
- 36,885 Vs Tottenham Hotspur, FA Cup Fifth Round, 14th February 1953
- Most Appearances
- J. Pickering, 402 appearances from 1965-74
- Most Goals Scored
- E. Dixon, 132 goals (127 League, 5 Cup) from 1922-30
- Most League Goals in a Season (individual)
- S. Norris (1990/91) - 35
- A. Valentine (1934/35) - 34
- Most League Goals in a Season (club)
- 83 (1957/58)
Notes
- ^ Squad Numbers For 2007/2008. Halifax Town FC (2007-08-05). Retrieved on 2007-08-06.
External links
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
