Soccer Siftings: When Halifax Town were dreaming of Wembley

FC Halifax Town’s recent Wembley wins in the FA Trophy are achievements which should be cherished by all the club’s supporters.

I was fortunate to attend both, though my joy at seeing the Shaymen triumph under the Wembley arch was tinged with some retrospect sadness for those friends of mine, no longer with us, who never got to see their beloved club reach the home of English football.

The FA Trophy represents the greatest opportunity for clubs at National League level to reach Wembley, though the competition itself has generally been received with some apathy until the prospect of a final appearance beckons.

Back in the day, when Halifax Town were proud members of the Football League, the introduction of a cup competition for the bottom two divisions – the Associate Members – offered the likeliest route to Wembley, with Town fans dreaming of the now-lost famous Twin Towers on at least three occasions.

The format of the competition, an extension of the imaginatively named Football League Group Cup which was first competed for in 1981-82, was essentially for clubs of the bottom two tiers of the Football League, and came under the banner of the Associate Members’ Cup.

It was regionalised up until the actual final, with the winners of the Northern and Southern finals meeting for the ultimate showdown.

Generally – although there were exceptions – teams were drawn in groups of three, with the group winners progressing to the knockout stages.

In 1987-88, when the competition came under the auspices of the Sherpa Van Trophy, the Shaymen had topped their group despite losing their first match to Grimsby Town, a 3-0 victory over Scunthorpe United seeing them reach the knockouts on goal difference after each of the three clubs won one match (in the event, two teams went through that season, with Scunthorpe joining the Shaymen in the first round following a sudden-death playoff with the Mariners!).

Town proceeded to defeat Chesterfield, after extra-time, at The Shay before pulling off a 2-1 victory at Darlington to move into the northern quarter-finals, where a mouth-watering tie at rivals Burnley awaited them.

It was a pulsating affair, though despite Town giving a debut to on-loan Sheffield United forward Peter Duffield, no goals were forthcoming, even after extra-time, and the issue went down to penalties.

Burnley elected to shoot first and penalties converted by Ray Deakin, Shaun McGory and Ian Britton were matched by those taken by Town’s Phil Brown, Dean Martin and Mick Matthews.

When George Oghani squeezed in the Clarets’ fourth kick, Town boss Billy Ayre instructed keeper Paddy Roche to take his side’s next penalty, but agonisingly, Roche, who was reckoned to be one of the best penalty takers at the club in training, saw his effort hit angle of post and bar, and it was left to Paul Comstive to slot home Burnley’s last kick to send his side through to a northern final with Preston, and ultimately a Wembley date with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The following season, the Shaymen reached the northern quarter-finals again after topping their group having won both their matches, including a rare victory over neighbours Huddersfield Town, then a third tier side, courtesy of a late Andy Watson goal.

When Darlington were put to the sword 3-0 at The Shay, Town found themselves hosting a northern semi-final, with Third Division Blackpool the visitors.

The game attracted a useful and interested 3,289, but goals from experienced campaigners Keith Walwyn and Colin Methven were enough to see the Seasiders into the round two.

Wembley’s twin towers were in sight for a third consecutive year in 1989-90 when the Shaymen once again reached the northern semi-finals of the competition that now had Leyland DAF as its sponsors.

They had topped their mini-group after defeating Lincoln City 3-0, and went on to see off York City in the first round, a tie which saw The Shay host its first penalty shoot-out, with teenager Craig Fleming keeping his nerve to score the deciding spot-kick.

Stockport were then beaten 3-1 after extra-time at The Shay, and with the side having hit some form, they fancied their chances at Doncaster Rovers.

But the match proved to be something of a damp squib, with Rovers running out 3-0 winners.

Halifax Town’s last heroic efforts in the competition, by then known as the LDV Vans Trophy, came in 2003-04, when clubs at National League level were admitted.

Under manager Chris Wilder, the Shaymen belied their lower-league status to see off en route league opposition York City and Lincoln City, as well as Conference side Scarborough, in a more straightforward knockout before facing a northern semi-final tie at third tier Blackpool.

Backed by a large and enthusiastic band of supporters at Bloomfield Road, Town found themselves in wonderland when goals from Lewis Killeen and Val Owen overturned an opener from Mike Sheron to put them ahead by half-time.

But there was heartbreak as second half goals from Danny Coid and Scott Taylor put paid to the thoughts Town fans might have had of booking a Cardiff hotel, for with Wembley being rebuilt, the final was held at the Millennium Stadium.

It was Blackpool, after defeated Sheffield Wednesday over two legs in the northern final, who overcame Southend United to lift the trophy.

Older Town fans might recall the club’s early involvement in this Football League Trophy, and in and among, there were one or two highlights, not to mention lowlights.

Town first took part in the competition of this nature 1982-83, when the group stages were played pre-season, and though they failed to negotiate theirs which contained Bradford City, Hull City and Hartlepool United, the 928 who watched the 3-0 Shay victory over Hartlepool also witnessed the first senior hat-trick scored by Bobby Davison.

In 1986-87, Town competed well against Third Division leaders Middlesbrough at home, the slender 2-1 defeat commendable when you consider that Boro contained the likes of Tony Mowbray, Gary Pallister, Bernie Slaven and Stuart Ripley.

And having secured promotion in 1997-98, the Shaymen became reacquainted with the competition, by then known as the Autowindscreen Shield.

But their interest ended when Rochdale won a home tie at The Shay, Spotland being out of bounds due to ongoing work.

The game finished all-square at 1-1 after ninety minutes, only for Dale’s Mark Monington, a future Town player, to strike a 94th minute golden goal winner, leaving the home fans to wonder what to do next other than go home.

Then there were the games that went from the sublime to the ridiculous.

In 1984-85, the competition having been rebranded the Freight Rover Trophy, was based on home and away legs, with Town boss Mick Jones pitching in youngsters Robert Hunt, Paul Fleming, John Francis and Dean Martin from the Northern Intermediate side for the first leg tie with Darlington, whose side featured no fewer than six players who had played in their previous League game.

Astonishingly, the Shay kids pulled off something of a St Valentine’s Day massacre and ran out 4-1 winners, with Francis and sub Martin among the goalscorers.

The result set Town up nicely for the return match over two weeks later, but astonishingly – almost unbelievably – a slightly more experienced Town line-up crashed 7-0 in a game played on a Sunday afternoon, with Darlington fielding seven players who had turned out the previous day against Exeter City, the Shaymen having had an extra day’s rest having held Colchester to a goalless draw twenty-four hours earlier, in the days when Friday evening football was commonplace at The Shay back then.

John McGrath resigned as Halifax Town boss in December 1992, six days after overseeing a 4-0 home defeat by Bradford City in the Autoglass Trophy in what was his penultimate game in charge.

Physio Mick Rathbone stepped up as manager, only to see his side hammered 5-0 at Huddersfield as they completed their group matches, a most disappointing start to his brief stint as Town boss in a season which would see the Shaymen lose their Football League status for the first time.

To end with, what about the dead rubber match played by the Shaymen on Shrove Tuesday, 1986?

With both they and Lincoln City having lost to Scunthorpe, neither team could qualify for the knockout stages, though the tie still needed playing.

Originally set to be played on 28 January, heavy snow had put paid to the game, but with fixtures needing to be crammed in, and despite no significant upturn in the weather, the sides originally elected to play the match on the Wednesday evening, 12 February.

But catching almost everyone unaware, the two clubs hastily arranged the game a day earlier and a 2pm kick-off, though the Shay pitch was still blanketed by snow, four inches deep in places.

Phil Sharpe became the latest player to step up from the Northern Intermediates, but with nothing at stake, the sides played out a tame 1-1 draw, Adrian Shaw netting Town’s goal.

Few supporters were aware that the game was actually going ahead; many wouldn’t have been able to attend anyway through work commitments, and the farcical nature of the game was reflected in the meagre attendance, the lowest ever recorded for a first team match at The Shay.

Official records state the crowd numbered as high as 150, but a head count by Halifax Courier reporter Graham Marsden suggested a more accurate 122.

A subject, perhaps, for an obscure quiz question, asking how many had attended that match; the follow-up question wouldn’t have been so far-fetched. Name them?