Sponsored by
Johnny hits a chord with fans
Johnny Meynell presents a personal insight into the demise of Halifax Town.
As the author of the club's history The Definitive Halifax Town AFC and a lifelong supporter, he is well qualified to do so.
He points the finger of blame in a number of directions and says the foundations for what has happened were built as many as 10 years ago.
He may be right, he may be wrong. What is not in dispute is that he makes a compelling argument – and one that the vast majority of hardcore supporters, some 1,500 of them, will not only be familiar with, but will undoubtedly sympathise with too.
In effect, Mr Meynell says the club's death-knell was a collaborative effort. The troubles began, he says, with Jim Brown's second spell as chairman when he and his brother-in-law Peter Butler broke up the Conference-winning team too soon.
Bob Walker and Paul Bracewell's reign with mediocre players on huge salaries, he says, led to debt and no success.
He cites the lack of commercial enterprise during Geoff Ralph's reign as a sign that all was not well.
And he feels the protracted takeover that has never materialised merely summed up the club's recent fortunes.
Despite a 10-point hit for going into administration, the players did enough to preserve the club's status on the pitch. The real game was lost off it.
Like all Halifax fans, Mr Meynell is desperate that history should not stop here. He encourages the Supporters Trust efforts to create a new club as talks continue between the administrator and a consortium to save the club.
Football fans in Halifax may yet have a team to watch.
But in what capacity, and in what division, remains to be seen.
Email to a friend
Print this page- A58 crash UPDATE: road now re-open after man hit by car earlier this morning
- Crash on the A58 in Halifax this morning UPDATE: Man in hospital with several broken bones
- Taxi worker dies aged 35 after finishing his shift
- Man suffers serious injuries in accident on M62
- How the new Halifax Central Library will look
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
