Boss Mitchell hails 'exciting new future' as Brighouse Town Women rebrand as Halifax FC

The club moved away from their base at Brighouse Town’s Yorkshire Payments Stadium last season and went on to finish fifth in the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division, the third tier of women’s football, and win a third West Riding County Cup title.

After an initial spell at Eccleshill United and finishing their league campaign at Liversedge FC, the club released an official announcement this morning.

It said: “We can finally announce that after months of hard work, preparation, set-backs, unexpected outcomes, and a lot of patience, we are proud to be able to finally announce that from the 2023/24 season, we will be known as Halifax FC Women.

“This is an exciting time for ourselves and the people of Halifax, a town with a lot of potential and a rich sporting heritage.

"We are delighted to be able to bring FA Women's National League football to the town, and hopefully we can help to increase participation levels and bring further success to Halifax as a whole. A big thank you must go out to the FA, The FAWNL, and West Riding County FA for their continued support and guidance throughout the process.

"We will run as an independent women's and girls club and operate self-sufficiently, whilst working with sponsors and partners to become sustainable for the future. It is important for a club of our size to continue to grow organically as we compete against some of the biggest names in football.

"The foundations are now in place and we can finally look forward to the future, we are really excited about the next chapter in our journey, but our aims remain the same. We want to build on our previous success and continue being the highest ranked team in West Yorkshire, whilst working towards the dream of one day becoming a Championship club.”

The club revealed their colours of blue and white and a new badge but have yet to reveal where they will be based.

Mitchell said: “It has been a long time coming and there have been set-backs along the way but it marks the start of an exciting future.

"We want to be one of three elite clubs in Halifax, alongside FC Halifax Town and Halifax Panthers, and we hope that the whole town will get behind us.

"A lot of thought went into our new badge. It has the Halifax colours, the White Rose, three stars to represent the three West Riding County Cups and also the three clubs involved in our history; Kirklees Ladies, Brighouse Town Women and Halifax FC Women. There is also an eagle, which represents freedom, strength and independence, and also recognises the coat of arms of Halifax’s twin city, Aachen."

Confirmation of where the club will be based will follow but Mitchell confirmed that Halifax FC Women’s first match will be a pre-season friendly against Wakefield AFC Women, at Belle Vue, on Sunday, July 2.

The game will kick off at 5pm, following the clash between Wakefield AFC men’s team and Hallam FC.