BAMBER Bridge will be the club to usher in a new era of football at the Shay on Saturday, August 16, when they are the opening day opposition for the newly-formed Halifax club.
The Preston-based outfit knocked Halifax Town out of the FA Trophy in January 1994.
Trafford will be the first team to host Halifax in the Unibond League Division One North when the sides clash at Shawe View three days later.
The new Shay team has yet to be allocated a name with FC Halifax Town having been rejected by the West Riding County FA.
But they expect to be told what they will be called this week and their fixtures will include a home game on Boxing Day when they entertain Ossett Albion.
The New Year's Day game will involve a trip to North Yorkshire to face Harrogate Railway Athletic - the team they visit on October 4 in the preliminary round of the FA Trophy.
Strangely, Halifax will play Colwyn Bay on successive weekends in February - in north Wales on 21 and at the Shay seven days later.
Halifax will play the return with Ossett Albion on Good Friday with Curzon Ashton providing the opposition at the Shay on Easter Monday.
The final game of the campaign will be away to Chorley, a club that graced the Conference for a couple of seasons in the late 1980s.
With the Unibond League Division One North comprising 21 clubs there are weekends when Halifax are not in action. They have free Saturdays on September 6, January 17 and April 4.
The full article contains 284 words and appears in Evening Courier newspaper.
