FC Halifax Town: How Pete Wild has guided The Shaymen to the top of the National League

The Pete Wild revolution has swept FC Halifax Town right to the top of the National League with a brand of confident, exciting football.
Picture John Hobson/AHPIX LTD, Football, National League, Chesterfield v FC Halifax Town, Proact Stadium, Chesterfield, UK, 31/08/19, K.O 3pm
Chesterfield's 
Howard Roe 07973739229

Pete WildPicture John Hobson/AHPIX LTD, Football, National League, Chesterfield v FC Halifax Town, Proact Stadium, Chesterfield, UK, 31/08/19, K.O 3pm
Chesterfield's 
Howard Roe 07973739229

Pete Wild
Picture John Hobson/AHPIX LTD, Football, National League, Chesterfield v FC Halifax Town, Proact Stadium, Chesterfield, UK, 31/08/19, K.O 3pm Chesterfield's Howard Roe 07973739229 Pete Wild

Town’s endearing style of play on the pitch is matched by the feel-good factor off it, with Wild generating a positivity among players and supporters that has galvanized the entire club.

Halifax sit top of the National League having won seven of their first nine matches, the latest of which was the 3-2 win at Chesterfield on Tuesday night.

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When asked how their sensational start had been achieved, Wild said: “Me and Milly (Chris Millington, assistant manager) have a three-point plan.

“First it’s about creating an environment where people want to come to work and enjoy coming to work.

“If people enjoy coming to work, they work harder, that’s a fact of life.

“You then create a culture, which they’ve set, of team values, and then we have to hold each other accountable - the staff have to hold the players accountable, and so do the players to the values they’ve set.

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“And that’s important we do so, and we don’t get carried away.

“And the third point is having a plan. You’ve got to have a plan, and me and Chris have, over the years, developed a performance plan that works, and a performance plan that allows us to go on the grass every day and know what we want.

“And it allows us to give clarity to the players when they walk out on the pitch.

“I believe if you can get all three of them working, you’ve got a chance.”

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Wild accepts none of that would work without the right players.

“Certainly, but you’ve got to get buy-in, which is a two-way stream,” he said.

“It’s not a draconian environment at our football club, it’s ‘this is what we’re thinking’.

“We have senior players who come into the office every week and we discuss what we think.

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“Any player can walk in our office and have a chat, and it’s that two-way communication that’s helping, because if I tell them ‘I want you to do this and this’ and they’ve not bought into it, it’s not a plan.

“There’s got to be that two-way buy-in, and I think we’re getting that at the moment.”

Wild is surprised how quickly things seems to have clicked though.

“Yeah, but again having clarity, environment and culture allows it to click quicker,” he added.

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“They’re three key things in any business, any walk of life, and we seem to be onto a good thing, at the moment.”

On the confidence that seems to be flowing through his team, Wild said: “Well they should be, they’re winning games, so winning games breeds confidence, and they should be playing with confidence.

“I think we’re giving them a platform to play with confidence, with the environment we set.

“It’s not a fluffy environment. If something needs saying, it gets said and it gets said in the right way.

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“But we’re creating an environment where if there is a mistake, it’s an honest mistake.

“They’ll only get pressure from me and Chris if it’s a lazy mistake or it’s a lack of effort, that will be punished.

“Making mistakes trying to do the right thing will not.”