Calderdale Council confident the Shay pitch will host upcoming fixtures

Calderdale Council says it is confident that Halifax RLFC and FC Halifax Town will be able to play their upcoming fixtures at The Shay.

By Tom Scargill

Published 31st Jul 2019, 13:01 BST

FC Halifax Town's pre-season campaign has been severely disrupted by having to switch games from the Shay due to a problem with the surface, while Fax's home game with Widnes on July 14 left question marks about the state of the pitch.

Fax are due to play again at The Shay on Sunday against Toulouse, while The Shaymen are at home to Hartlepool on Tuesday next week then host Dagenham and Redbridge four days later.

Calderdale Council’s Sports Service Manager, Gary Byrnes, said: “In order to diagnose the recent issues with the pitch at the Shay Stadium, we sent a sample of the soil to specialists for testing.

“These tests identified an issue with the PH level in the soil, which is being rectified by the addition of lime.

“We’re confident that no fixtures will be affected by this work and the pitch will be used as planned for the upcoming rugby and football home games.”