Good afternoon, and welcome to you all. The Northern rail strikes are currently making it difficult for football fans, as they are always held on a Saturday. While we have ourselves managed to find alternative ways of getting to away games, spare a thought for those Town fans who live a distance from Halifax and rely on the train network to reach the Shay. I know a few who suffer this way, and I sincerely hope a way is found to bring the inconvenience to an end soon.
If it continues much longer, it could even curtail the attendance at our Supporters Club sponsored match, which this season is of course the Ebbsfleet game on Saturday March 9th. We have now agreed that the cost of this will be £50 for non-season ticket holders and £40 for those who have season tickets.
I would urge anyone considering joining us to “take the plunge”, as it’s always an enjoyable occasion. The food never fails to satisfy our collective hunger, and there’s generally a decent attendance (usually over 40 of us), so the chit-chat continues well after the game. Programmes are included, as is the opportunity to nominate your man of the match, the award of which takes place in the hospitality suite following the game itself.
Should you wish, you can be introduced to the players and officials on the pitch before the game, and don’t forget the coffee and biscuits at half time. You need to arrive at the Shay around 1pm, so if you fancy it and are available, just give your name to any Committee member. The easiest of us to locate are the bucket collectors inside the turnstiles of the East and South stands before each match.
I am told some fans look forward to reading the regular snippets from our “Halifax Town AFC Official History Handbook 1892 to 1922/3” This section is simply entitled “The First Game”:
For the opening season (1911-12), it was decided to compete in the Yorkshire Combination, and the first opponents were the Reserves of the famous Bradford City Club. The team representing Halifax Town in this epoch-making match was as follows (the clubs in parenthesis showing whence each man had been obtained): – Finch (Bradford), goal; Firth (Mirfield United) and Houldsworth (local), full-backs; Street (local), Garforth (local), and Morgan (Tottenham Hotspurs), half-backs; Nixon (Stockport County), McGill (Albion Rovers), Chadburn (Burnley), Redding (Bradford City) and Wild (local), forwards.
More detail of this match will follow in the next programme.
See you soon, Kit.
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