FC Halifax Town will make the short trip to the Horsfall Stadium this Saturday, March 11, to face Bradford Park Avenue in the Vanarama National League North (3.00pm). There have been several faces to represent the two clubs, and here we look at a few of them.
Nicky Wroe captained the Shaymen to Wembley glory in the FA Trophy final last season, but left the club at the end of his contract and was soon picked up by former football league side Park Avenue. He has been a regular feature of their side this season and played at the Shay earlier in the season, but was substituted off with a knock to applause from both sets of fans.
Simon Ainge has had two spells at both clubs. He first played for Halifax Town AFC on loan from Bradford City in 2008, and had a brief spell at Bradford Park Avenue in 2009. Since then his further spell for FC Halifax Town saw him make over 50 appearances between 2013-2015, making his ‘second debut’ in the 5-1 defeat at Cambridge United in August 2013. He joined Park Avenue in January 2015.
Richard Marshall was a member of Halifax’s Unibond North and then Evo-Stik Premier winning sides, and he scored 19 goals in the former. He became more of a bit-part player in the Evo-Stik Premier winning side of 2010/11 and re-joined Harrogate Town in March 2011. Later on that year he headed to the Horsfall Stadium, and scored the only goal of the game to give Avenue a 1-0 win at the Shay in April 2013.
Ryan Toulson had two spells with Halifax Town, one with the club in its old guise, and one with the new. His first spell was from a youngster until 2007, in which he made 30 appearances for the Shaymen. He played as both a striker and a right-back, but settled on the defensive position as his career went on. He is now Bradford Park Avenue’s captain.
Current Shayman Nathan Hotte played for Bradford Park Avenue between 2011-2015, and his teammate Jake Hibbs is on a month’s loan there at the moment.
Former FC Halifax Town Assistant Manager Trevor Storton, who was credited with helping contribute significantly to FC Halifax Town’s success before his sad passing in 2011 at the age of 61, has also been at both clubs. Storton won a UEFA Cup Winners’ medal with Liverpool in 1973, and his managerial career would see him in charge at Park Avenue between 1997-2004.
List of club connections (not exhaustive):
Lincoln Adams, Simon Ainge, Tom Baker, David Brown, Mike Burgess, Steve Bushell, Andy Campbell, Chris Clarke, Ross Clegg, Paul Collins, Ryan Crossley, Luke Dean, Donald Duckett, Danny Forrest, Simon Garner, Paul Gedman, Danny Glover, Neil Grayston, Aaron Hardy, Gerry Henry, John Hendrick, Jake Hibbs, Mark Hotte, Nathan Hotte, Jamie Jackson, Paul Marshall, Richard Marshall, Les Massie, Graham Mitchell, Adam Quinn, Robbie Painter, Simon Parke, Sam Patterson, Derek Priestley, Brian Redfearn, Neil Redfearn, James Riley, Danny Schofield, Jason St Juste, Paul Stoneman, Trevor Storton, Ryan Sugden, Nathan Taylor, Ryan Toulson, Mark Whitehouse, Nicky Wroe
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