Halifax Town Supporters Club launches initiative to bring more young fans to The Shay

A survey has been set-up to gather views and opinions on how more young people can be attracted through the turnstiles, while the club says it is also exploring relaunching its Junior Blues scheme.

Ian Lawrie, from the supporters club, said: "Youth is so important to grassroots football, with so many other activities children can do on a weekend it’s really important to try and establish a link with young people and try get them interested in their local team.

"Without young fans the club will eventually disappear. We can’t just rely on the children of existing supporters we need to grow our support and create an enticing environment that children will enjoy.

"As chairman of a local village football team I know how important sustaining interest is, we have a really successful programme to get young people into football. The success means that every year we have at least threee football teams entering grassroots football in the Huddersfield Junior Football League. It’s the same principals but slightly different - if we can get young supporters into games at FC Halifax Town we can build that young support and maybe get a few more fans for life like me."

Ian says he has already had discussions with the club about the proposals and that they are keen to support them.

"My first memory of the Shay is as an eight-year-old - 47 years later I’m still there. Lots of things have changed in the world but the buzz of live football is just impossible to recreate. We have an exciting team to watch who play exciting attacking football, it’s the ideal environment for young children to experience and enjoy watching football.

"At the moment it’s about seeking views and building an understanding of what children/ parents want and what they will support. It’s very much child driven, but obviously with parental input.

"We want as many people (parents of children) to complete the survey as possible. There are lots of children in Calderdale and the wider area. Many will support other teams but may not always be able to travel the distances or afford to physically support their team. FC Halifax Town could initially be their favourite second team initially and once they’ve been to the Shay, who knows."

The survey can be found here.