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HQ heroes to bottom of pile in 7 years
IT seems like only yesterday that Halifax RUFC could do no wrong.
The 2001/02 season provided an unforgettable highlight of a long and proud history stretching back almost 100 years.
The Ovenden Park side was a seemingly unstoppable force at the time, not only securing National League status for the first time but also seeing inspirational skipper Carl Mortimer lift the Powergen Intermediate Cup at Twickenham in a 43-19 success over Gosport and Fareham.
The good times had arrived and optimism was high that the club could climb even higher.
Driven off the field by the dynamism of chairman Peter Smith and the financial clout of sponsor David Brook - and coach Kevin McCallion on it - Halifax secured six promotions in eight seasons, finally earning the right to take their place among the top 40 clubs in the country.
Yesterday, Halifax announced that they were effectively dismantling the club and starting again in Yorkshire Six.
The news came as a blow not only to the people at Ovenden Park who have worked so hard to continue their success, but also to every right-minded rugby union supporter in Calderdale.
To many of those involved it marks the end of a dream - the end of an era. There will be others who feel that Halifax's foundations were only ever built on sand and their fall from grace has been the result of an attempt to buy success.
The money was largely provided by Brook, a former player and more than generous benefactor.
He wanted Halifax to be the best and for a while his vision appeared likely to pay off. Halifax finished fourth in their first National League season.
The second saw them finish runners up on points difference to Waterloo, which saw them contest the play offs with Launceston.
Halifax lost 18-16, but they did not have to wait long to become one of the top 40 clubs in the country, winning the league the following season.
It quickly became obvious that the step up to National Two was going to test everybody at the club. The distances - and expense involved in travelling the length and breadth of the country plus the higher standard demanded of the playing staff were considerable obstacles that needed to be overcome.
It did not help that Halifax decided to disband their second team - depriving local players of the chance of progressing through the ranks. It created a vacuum that was both incomprehensible and, in the grand scheme of things, hugely damaging.
Their first two seasons in National Two saw Halifax finish one place above the relegation zone - a disappointment for a club that had become used to winning.
Then, with Brook's health deteriorating, Halifax's future also looked increasingly fragile. The writing was on the wall when the money dried up following Brook's death.
Players who had been earning a decent wage left while McCallion decided to call it a day to concentrate on his family and a new job as deputy head at Brooksbank School.
Rhys Morgan came in as coach but, despite McCallion's help in bringing a new squad together, the players were patently not up to the task and relegation was confirmed by Christmas as Halifax ended the 2007/08 campaign with just two league wins to their name.
If the alarm bells weren't already ringing then they were sounding loud and clear as Halifax found their return to National Three (North) even more difficult than some had predicted.
Morgan was released eight games in, leaving Heath's former Twickenham winning captain Dave Harrison to take over what amounted to a poisoned chalice.
Halifax followed a number of clubs in cutting their wage bill - a sure sign that things were not well behind the scenes.
And those problems came to a head in embarrassing fashion when the club were unable to raise a team for their final away game at Loughborough Students.
Talk of a divided camp emerged with some committee members desperate to hang onto their status as the senior club in the town while a growing band believed the only way forward was to regroup.
The latter have grasped the nettle. They have pledged to return to a 'club' ethos and re-build from the bottom of the Yorkshire League system.
Halifax may never reach their previous dizzy heights - but the important thing is that the club have their history to look back on and, more importantly, have survived to fight another day.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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