Halifax Town A Sad Demise  

The history of Halifax Town has been one of constant struggle both on and off the pitch with only a two year spell under Alan Ball Senior in the late 1960s providing much excitement for the log suffering fans at the Shay. 

Relegation from the Football League was perhaps inevitable but it wasn’t until 1993 that Halifax Town finally fell through the (then) dreaded trapdoor to the Conference.  Unfortunately, any hopes of a bright new dawn were quickly dashed as Town found life in the Conference just as tricky as they had done in the Football League. 

1996/97 saw Halifax Town survive relegation from the Conference by a single point after caretaker manager George Mulhall inspired his troops to a final day 4-2 victory over Stevenage Borough.  Mulhall and assistant Kieran O’Regan were promptly given permanent jobs to bring some much needed stability to the Shay. 

No doubt the club were hoping that the 1997/98 season would be one of consolidation and a stress free mid-table finish.  But, Mulhall and O’Regan had different ideas and they engineered an astonishing turnaround in the clubs fortunes.    

Without too many additions to the previous seasons squad Mulhall managed to mould a winning team and, after a flying start to the new season, Halifax never looked back.   

The Shay, never a place to intimidate away teams, was suddenly turned into a fortress with Town remaining unbeaten at home throughout the entire league campaign.  17 of 21 home matches were won with over 50 goals being notched and only 15 conceded. 

Much of Town’s success in front of goal was due to prolific striker Geoff Horsfield who netted 30 times during the season.  With Halifax also having one of the best away records the Conference title was won with a nine point cushion between Halifax and second placed club Cheltenham Town.   

The transformation in the Halifax side from one that constantly leaked goals to a free-scoring side that played quality football was incredible.  Of course, with the Conference title came promotion back to the promised land of the Football league and, for once, Town supporters were optimistic about the future. 

Unfortunately, and in true to form fashion, the club shot itself in the foot.  Behind the scenes disputes led to Mulhall leaving the club with Kiaren O’Regan stepping up to lead Halifax into their new era of league football.   

But, with the departure of Geoff Horsfield to Fulham, the goals and the confidence dried up and Town were thrown back a familiar pattern of struggle both on and off the pitch. 

O’Regan was sacked but once again the inevitable happened and in 2002 Halifax Town became the first team ever to be relegated from the Football league to the Conference for a second time. 

Worse events were just around the corner and in the summer of 2008 Halifax Town were expelled from the Conference and had to start again in the Unibond League.