The first was that Damian Gibson had signed a contract to play at the Shay, almost a decade after he first signed a faxed contract with the club.
The second was that the first team squad would be jetting off to the La Santa sports complex in Lanzarote next month for a week's warm weather training.
The then Blue Sox pioneered this sort of trip in 1998 and repeated the visit in 1999 before getting even more adventurous and jetting off to Jacksonville in Florida in 2000 and 2001.
There was a more prosaic trip to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 2002 as perhaps the bank manager started to question the real value of these exercises.
Ten years ago this week "Gibbo" was probably wondering if he would fly anywhere in the near future.
He was sitting back home in Rockhampton after being released by Leeds following a season in which (despite wearing number five) he had been outstanding at fullback and had ended up with the Supporters Club Player of the Year Award.
Then things began to move.
The second half of the 1997 had been an unmitigated disaster for new coach John Pendlebury after Bradford staged a remarkable recovery to win a televised match at Thrum Hall.
Fax went to win only one more game until the end of the season - over relegated Oldham - and became a bit of a laughing stock after some hammerings in the World Club Championship.
Pendlebury needed to stiffen his team after clearing out several of the first team squad and quickly with the bookies already tipping his side for relegation in 1998.
He and football manager David Hobbs turned to old friend, Gary Mercer.
A younger "Ming" - centre in those days - had been a playing colleague of theirs at Bradford in 1988 and had left Leeds after only being offered a one year deal.
As they sat in the coaches office at Thrum Hall Mercer mentioned Gibson's name and immediately aroused Pendlebury's curiosity.
And by the first week in January he was over here and settled in Salterhebble, soon to be joined by Gavin Clinch and Des Clark.
The latter had only been in the country a couple of days when he was off to Lanzarote.
Hobbs had picked him up at Manchester Airport, there was a friendly match at Steve Simms' Featherstone on the Sunday afternoon which Halifax won thanks to a spectacular long distance try down the slope from a young Oliver Marns and it was back to the airport on the Tuesday.
It is a matter of record that the team went on to finish third with all the new overseas recruits having splendid seasons.
A far cry from the preparations for 1997.
Hobbs had arranged a trip to Ampleforth Abbey via old mate Don Wilson, the former Yorkshire cricketer, who now worked there.
Simms had so disliked the dormitory accommodation he had promptly moved out and into bed and breakfast at a nearby pub!