FC Halifax Town will be looking to avenge their recent 3-2 defeat to Darlington 1883 by beating them in the reverse fixture on New Year’s Day and starting 2017 with a win.
Before the second fixture of back-to-back games between the Shaymen and the Quakers, we’ll look at some players who donned both the Darlington and Halifax shirts…
Firstly, there’s Andrew Milne. The 26-year old defender started his footballing career at Leeds United, spending two loan spells at Darlington in the 2009/10 season. His first loan spell was a planned three-month loan starting in November, but it was cut short after he picked up an ankle injury playing against Torquay. In March the following year, Milne re-joined Darlington, this time featuring for the club 19 times. Andrew then joined Barrow before joining Halifax in 2011 on a one-year contract. Milne played 15 times for the Shaymen, before joining Ossett Town and Scarborough Athletic before taking his services to his current club, Tadcaster Albion in the Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division.
With these next few players, we’ll be taking some trips down memory lane. Firstly, to 1968, which is when Ken Hale joined Darlington, where he made over 170 appearances between ’68 and ’72. Ken started his trade at Newcastle United, before joining Coventry City and Oxford United. Darlington followed before Hale made the move to West Yorkshire where he saw out his career. He spent two years at Halifax, making over 50 appearances before taking up a managerial post at Hartlepool United.
Wigan-born striker Robbie Painter also made appearances for both clubs. Painter started at Chester, before joining County Durham’s Darlington in 1993. He stayed at the club until ’96, making over 110 appearances, before joining Rochdale where he also played over 110 games. After Rochdale, Robbie made the short trip north to Halifax where he played between 1999 and 2001. A trip back further north followed, Gateshead the destination, before spells at Bradford Park Avenue, Ossett Town and Guiseley.
Matt Clarke will probably ring bells for Darlington fans. The defender made over 160 appearances for the former club between 2002 and 2006 before moving to the Bantams where he stayed until 2010. Spells in the Maltese First and Third Division came in 2011 to 2013, but before joining Darlo, Clarke featured for the Shaymen. Clarke joined in 1999 after starting his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and made the move to Halifax with his twin brother Chris, who went on to play for Blackpool and York City.
The last player we’ll be looking at is Steven Gaughan. The midfielder was born in Doncaster and featured for Darlington over 170 times between 1992 and 1996 before joining Chesterfield. At the Spireites, he was part of their memorable FA Cup run to the semi-finals in 1997. Another spell at Darlington followed Chesterfield before he moved to Halifax in 1999. At Town, he made just under 50 appearances and only scored the solitary goal before leaving in 2001 for Barrow where made a much bigger name for himself, scoring over 20 times in over 110 appearances.
Remember, FC Halifax Town kick off 2017 with a home fixture against Darlington 1883 on New Year’s Day at 3pm.
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