FC Halifax Town: Captain Brown aiming high after penning new contract

The skipper penned a two-year contract last week, while he also scooped the player’s player of the year award.

Brown has made 42 appearances for Town this season, scoring four goals, and has performed consistently well at the heart of the Halifax defence.

When asked where he wanted the club to be by the time his new contract expires, he said: “The Football League. People might say it’s optimistic but it’ll be my goal.

“Next season we’ll be looking to recruit well, and I’m sure if we do that, the minimum we’ll be looking for is to finish in the play-offs and give ourselves as a chance to get up.

“You have to look at things as a two-year plan, that’s the way I’d look at it, so I think we have two years to try and get into the Football League.

“Macclesfield have done it on a low budget, why can’t we? We’re part-time but things might be changing at the club, that’s all to find out, but there’s no reason why we can’t.

“The more faith we start to have in ourselves, the better we’ll do.”

Brown has overcome serious injury problems during his Town career, so the fact he has made more appearances than any outfield player for the club this season is a commendable achievement in itself.

“Trust me, there’s no-one more frustrated than myself when I’ve had the setbacks,” he said.

“I’ve had to have numerous amounts of surgery, but the type of lad I am, I’ve always kept positive and put the hard work in away from the club to make sure I get back on the pitch.

“Maybe other lads might not have been back on the pitch, they might have called it a day, but that’s the type of lad I am.

“I’ve always said when I’m on the pitch, you’ll see that in performances.

“There’s still more to come, I’m not the finished article, and I don’t claim to be.

“But if we recruit well in the summer, and keep a few key players, we can have a really good season next season.

“We’ve done well against the top teams this year so there’s no reason why we can’t progress if we work hard in the summer and gel together as a squad.

“In this manager, the club might have stumbled across him, but we’re lucky to have him, he’s really good, and the future’s going to be bright for him, whether it’s with Halifax or somewhere else, you can tell that straight away.

“I’m looking forward to getting back in the summer and working with him again.”

On winning the players player and the club’s player of the year awards, Brown added: “I’m delighted. Obviously we didn’t finish the home campaign on a good note but personally, I feel I’ve had a good season and I’m delighted to get the awards I did.

“The main one is getting it off your peers. I don’t think there’s any better honour than off your fellow professional players.

“Obviously I’m delighted to commit my future to the club too. I’ve always said how much I love it here. I feel at home here and I think I’ve played my best football here.

“This season I’ve proved my fitness and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I put the performances in and get the appearances next season.

“I don’t see any reason why I won’t do that.

“It’s great to sort out my future and get personal accolades, but the main objective was we made sure we stayed in this league this year.

“It meant a lot to me to keep the club in the league this season. I always refer back to that Leyton Orient game at home, it was worrying times and we had to come together, but we did and we got the job done.”