"I've given it a good go and I've certainly enjoyed my time" - Chris Millington on leaving Halifax, his time as manager and his future

Millington has stepped down after six years at Halifax, three as assistant to Pete Wild and the latest three as manager.

In that time, the club reached the play-offs on four occasions and won the FA Trophy at Wembley in 2023.

But Millington's last game in charge was the 4-0 play-off defeat at Oldham earlier this month, which condemned Town to another season in the National League.

"It's a really sad day for me and my family," Millington told the Courier.

"Six years is a really big portion of kids' lives and for a large part of their lives, I've either been assistant or manager of Halifax Town, so that's the identity of their dad and it's no longer.

"The saddest part of it is that we've failed, really.

"I know a lot of people will rattle off the successes, in inverted commas, but ultimately I stayed at Halifax when Pete left because I believed we could get in the Football League and I've failed to secure Football League status for the club.

"So it's sad from that point of view.

"The obvious thing would be to double down and go again but I just don't feel I'd be able to guarantee that success and it might be an opportunity for somebody else to buid on that foundation and do it.

"And I'd rather the club get into the Football League than us have another campaign where we're the nearly men.

"So it's incredibly sad but the one thing that does reassure me is I know that I'm making the right decision for the club as much as for myself, so I can quite confidently say it is the right decision."

When asked why he had reached the decision to step down, Millington said: "I believe it's the right time for the club more than anything, partly because its the right time for me.

"I have had a really good three years, I've really enjoyed the work and I know what a privilege it is to manage the club.

"I'm really mindful of the commitment it takes to get it right, to be able to compete at the right end of the division and I just feel the time is right for somebody else to come in and do that.

"It's a clean break at this time of year when someone can come in and mould the squad in their image, and recruit the players they want to recruit and get themselves ready for pre-season and hit the ground running."

Millington says a lot of the work around deciding the futures of the Town squad and whose options would be triggered had already been done before the play-off game at Oldham.

Millington organised Town's pre-season schedule back in February and March, while discussions about the squad were had before the end of the season, involving himself, David Bosomworth and Andy Cooper.

"Some decisions (on players) were made at that point, some were made just after Oldham and I've certainly had an input in that but that's been collaborative," Millington said.

"A few days after Oldham, David and I arranged to meet to put the finer points together, and it was at that point that I had my first discussion about my future and whether or not I felt that I was able to give the level of commitment that was required to recruit and prepare the squad for the new season," he said.

"So the discussions have been ongoing for the last week and David, as is always the case, was fantastically patient with me, thoughtful, considered.

"He wouldn't allow me to make a rushed decision and really made sure the process was done right and that I was certain it was the right decision.

"Leaving any football club is a huge thing, but leaving one you've been at for six years is a rare thing.

"So it's a really tough decision but David was very patient and considered in how he dealt with it and helped me make a decision I was certain was the right thing to do for me and the football club."

On whether he had sought any assurances from the Halifax chairman during discussions over the last few days before coming to his decision, Millington said: "We talked about things at the club that we've always looked at trying to improve, in terms of contract length of players, the contract situation of staff and various things we'd look to do.

"And he's open and willing to discuss all those things, nothing's off the table and he's always looking to find the ways, within our budgetary constraints, he can help secure the future of the club.

"But we didn't really get to a point where it was down to those things, it was a case of me knowing it's the right time for somebody else with the level of energy and the vision to be able to see how we overcome and progress beyond just making the play-offs, and hopefully progressing to winning play-off games.

"I just didn't feel I was going to be able to do that this season, so it was right for somebody else to."

Millington feels that events conspired against him and the club in both of the last two seasons before their play-off games.

"If we go back to last season, obviously we had the fixture congestion, which I believe was ultimately our undoing, when we ended up losing at Solihull in the play-offs because we were on the back of five games in 11 days," he said.

"And our last three home games were played at neutral venues.

"Had the situation been different, would we have been in a better situation to proceed in the play-offs and arguably, we would.

"Then this season, you look at the way the Shay pitch has undermined the fitness of the squad.

"We lost some key players to injury, and if we'd gone to Oldham with a fully fit squad, with players who'd been playing together over the course of a season and had that chemistry built up, would we have been able to put up a better fight?

"I think the answer is certainly yes. I don't know we'd have won it but we'd have been better capable of putting up a good fight.

"There are situations where, had they gone in our favour, would have given us a better chance of progressing in the play-offs and a more significant chance of getting promoted.

"I'm not saying I couldn't repeat those feats and with a bit of luck, maybe take the club futher, but what I do know is to manage a team over three seasons and have what success we've had, it takes its toll and it is a challenge, and rather than just rolling myself out again and trying to repliacte what we've done and go one better, knowing my energy supplies are diminshed, I think it's a perfect time for somebody else to come in and mould the squad the way they want, and hopefully take it that one or two steps further."

The high point of Millington's tenure was undoubtedly Town's FA Trophy final victory over Gateshead two years ago.

"Wembley was surreal, I still don't believe I've been part of a winning team at Wembley," he reflected.

"It still seems like it was somebody else that day, it was like an out of body experience.

"We went there with an expectation to win it, we didn't think for one minute we were just going there for the occasion.

"The Wrexham victory on the Good Friday (in Millington's first season) was huge I thought.

"That was special because they were all-conquering, they were unbeatable on paper.

"Nobody gave us a hope that day, including a lot of our own fans.

"They brought two fans for every one we had, and we were missing really important players through injury.

"We were 1-0 down at half-time and people would have been thinking it was damage limitation, try and keep the score down, but the lads gave it everything and we won 3-1.

"There was also the Notts County game as assistant manager when we were down to ten men and we ended up getting a winner in the tenth minute of injury time, it was phenomenal."

Town failed to win a single play-off game during Millington's six years at the club, perhaps highlighting how far the club still has to go in order to achieve it's ambition of promotion into the Football League.

Does Millington believe promotion can be achieved under Halifax's current operating model?

"There's some stuff the club does incredibly well," he said.

"The chairman has created an environment that's incredibly stable and consistent, so that people like me, Pete Wild, Andy Cooper and other members of staff can really get to grips wth the job and the demands, and develop and become proficent at what they do.

"That also filters down to the players.

"Look at the phenomenal success we've had in the players who've come through in a short space of time and are now playing in the Football League, it's a real feather in the cap of the football club.

"So the environment for people to come in and be successful is absolutely phenomenal, there's no other word for it.

"There are constraints, financially the club doesn't compete but we don't have the biggest fanbase or the biggest attendances.

"We play in a stadium where we don't get revenue from certain income streams on a matchday, so it is a challenge, there are challenges we have to try and navigate.

"But we often focus on the things we think are wrong with the club, but the success of the people who've come in, Pete has established himself as a Football League manager off the back of his time at Halifax.

"I don't know what the future holds for me but I'm very proud of the time I've had at Halifax Town.

"We have achieved some positive things and when you look at the players we've brought in and progressed into the Football League, the volume of income we've had from player sales.

"There's an awful lot that's right with the place, the first and most important being the environment created by the chairman and the patience of the fans, and the support for people to fulfil their potential is fantastic, and something a lot of other clubs could learn from."

No decisions have yet been made on the rest of Town's management team or backroom staff.

Assistant manager Andy Cooper is away on holiday and is due to speak to the club's chairman on his return.

"The other staff are all open to discussions as to what the club is planning to do next," Millington said, "so I think it'll probably be up to Coops to liaise with the chairman about his intentions and any new manager to liaise with the staff about what they'd like to do going forward."

The club statement announcing Millington's departure stated that he will be helping Town with the process of finding his replacement.

When asked what that will involve, Millington said: "At this stage, I don't know.

"I've said to David that my affection for the club remains and just because I'm no longer going to be first-team manager, that affection won't be diminshed so I'm willing to help out in any way I can.

"And until such time as a new manager's appointed or any other circumstances may arise, then I'm more than happy to help out in whatever capacity is required."

Millington feels that whoever does succeed him will have the chance to build a squad of their own.

"Part of my reason for choosing this time to step down is that it's an opportunity for somebody to really start to mould the squad and how it's going to look in the next two to three seasons, and put their stamp on it," he said.

"So it couldn't be a more perfect time for somebody to come in and do that.

"There's enough quality in the building already, there's some players who could still be retained who are out of contract, who'd hopefully be happy to stay.

"So there's enough there to set the foundation of a good National League squad, but also enough opportunity to bring in new blood and mould it in the image of the new manager."

Millington insists he has "nothing at all lined up" elsewhere and is unsure of what the future holds for him.

"It was important to me to see the season out and speak to David before I started to think about what came for me," he added.

"I asked the players to put the club over their own wants and needs over and over again, and it's important I've demonstrated that.

"I've had approaches, anybody who's in and around the game for the level I have been, they'd be doing something wrong if people hadn't approached them.

"But for the time being, my focus has been on making sure we completed the season as well as we could and doing the right thing by the chairman, because he's an honourable man and he wouldn't do anything to undermine my position so I was very keen to make sure I reciprocated in that sense.

"I don't know what comes next. I'd take the opportunity to manage again if the opportunity was right and there was enough of an opportunity and a challenge to get my teeth into.

"But if my managerial career begins and ends at Halifax Town then I've given it a good go and I've certainly enjoyed my time."