The Bees will look to go three unbeaten when facing FC Halifax Town on Saturday 26th February (15:00 KO) in the Vanarama National League.

 

All you need to know if you’re backing the Bees on the road can be found in this Away Guide.

 

STADIUM

 

The Shay Stadium, Halifax, HX1 2YS

 

NICKNAME

 

The Shaymen

 

COLOURS

 

Blue & White

 

KEY PERSONNEL

 

Pete Wild is in charge at The Shay Stadium and has been since July 2019.

 

The 38-year-old never played football professionally and he took up coaching very early in life. 

 

Wild was involved in Oldham Athletic’s coaching set-up for a number of years before becoming the manager at The Shay Stadium.

 

DIRECTIONS BY ROAD

 

Head northwards on the M1 until you reach Junction 42, where you will need to take the M62 towards Bradford and Huddersfield.

 

Two options are available as either Junction 25 signposted Brighouse (A6025) or Junction 24 (A629), about five miles further on, will take you into Halifax. You will find The Shay Stadium very clearly signposted from all major routes into the town.

 

DIRECTIONS BY TRAIN

 

Trains from London King’s Cross require a 20 minute changeover at York – with a total journey time of around 3 hours 20 minutes.

 

Halifax Train Station can be found on the Caldervale Line which stretches from Lancashire’s Blackpool to York and can be reached via Leeds if necessary.

 

CAR PARKING

 

There is a car park at the stadium for a small fee and the local streets are also usually available for matchday parking too.

 

EAT AND DRINK

 

The Three Pigeons is recommended by the club in Sun Fold.

 

My Reckless recommendation is the Shears Inn – which is a real gem tucked away behind the old Mill building to the east of the ground.

 

It is the oldest pub in town and the range of real ales and food makes it worth a visit. The South Stand Bar at the ground is open to visiting supporters too.

 

GROUND DESCRIPTION

 

The Shay Stadium is served by two fully covered terrace stands behind the goal which offers a magnificent view of proceedings. 

The Skircoat Stand is opposite the Main Stand and the structure was originally erected in around 1922. Parts of it were donated by Manchester City, notably the roof.

The seated Main East Stand is also impressive and will house the travelling Bee army on Saturday afternoon.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS AND MEMORIES

The 1991/92 season in November saw one of our best ever teams beat Halifax. We completely demolished a Halifax side 3-0 in front of nearly 5,000 fans. 

Strikers Gary Bull and Mark Carter were backed up by Kenny Lowe, Harry Willis, Paul Showler and Paul Wilson in midfield. Andy Pape, Duncan Horton, Dave Howell, Gary Poole, and Dominic Naylor were our defenders on that terrific afternoon.

I believe that it was our best ever line up because this these players had to be top class as the likes of Nicky Evans, Frankie Murphy, Tony Lynch, Mick Bodley, Gary Phillips, Derek Payne, Edwin Stein, Carl Hoddle and Geoff Cooper were either on the bench or in reserve.

CELEBRITY WATCH

Halifax’s list of famous persons is mind blowing – US President George W Bush’s family tree was traced back to Halifax and his ancestors emigrated to Massachusetts in the 16th century.

Legendary Blue Peter presenter John Noakes, wrestling giant ‘Shirley Crabtree’ aka Big Daddy, TV weatherman John Kettley also hailed from these parts.

Daniel Defoe allegedly wrote the novel ‘Robinson Crusoe’ whilst staying in Halifax around 1718. 

When you are driving home in the dark after Saturday’s match, think about the ‘cats eyes’ in the road as they were invented in Halifax by Percy Shaw.

Enjoy the match, Reckless