In the second part of our Soccer Siftings mini-series, Halifax Town historian Johnny Meynell looks back on some of the shock results in the Shaymen’s history.
Every now and again, football has the habit of producing the unexpected, a result, perhaps, which few saw coming, writes Johnny Meynell.
Over the last two seasons, FC Halifax Town sprang a surprise by firstly turning the tables on championship contenders Wrexham in 2022-23, then last season, defeating runaway leaders Chesterfield, who arrived at The Shay needing a point to secure the title.
Jimmy Thomson had disassembled the promising team he had constructed just before the war broke out; this was not unique to the Shay club, of course, but the addition of new players had left the team devoid of quality players.
It was difficult to find players of Tom Barkas’ caliber after he turned down new terms and signed with Rochdale after performing heroics while serving in the military.
The season got off to a terrible start and kept getting worse. In December and January, the Shaymen suffered a record-tying eight straight league losses, in addition to losing in an FA Cup replay at Stockport, which caused them to drop to the bottom of the table.
They hadn’t experienced any kind of victory since November 2nd, and their most recent 6-1 thumping at Rotherham United wasn’t exactly the kind of confidence-swelling performance the team needed with Doncaster visiting next.
In addition to being the undisputed leaders of Division Three (North) with a five-point advantage over Chester in second place—these were the days before two points for a win—the Rovers had won their last two away league games and had also triumphed away from home against Accrington Stanley and Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup when they arrived at The Shay on January 18, 1947.They were a dangerous team that included attacker Clarrie Jordan, who has so far achieved success in the
Rovers’ only defeat in the league had been at home at the hands of Stockport back in September, though seven days prior to this Shay meeting they had lost 3-2 at home to Portsmouth in the Cup, but it might be worth noting that their victors were a First Division side – Jimmy Dickinson, Jimmy Scouler, Jack Froggatt and co – but they’d been pushed all the way.
As a result, the Rovers game hinted at a difficult afternoon for Town, which included new forward Stan Fisher, who had signed from Barnsley the day before, as the Town board made every attempt to bolster the roster.
Fisher contributed to an incredible home run show even if he would not score. Less than two minutes had passed when he took his shot, which Rovers keeper Archie Ferguson only partially stopped. Bernard Massey then tried the same thing, but Ernie Swallow deflected it over the line.
However, the visitors did not panic and went on to dominate; it was not as though they were going to regret Jack Thompson’s missed penalty, which was given after Horace Green knocked down Jordan.
After 25 minutes, they were level with Ralph Maddison’s surprise rising shot. And five minutes into the second half, normality looked to have been restored when Rovers took the lead, Maddison sending over the cross for Paul Todd to score with an instant shot.
But just seven minutes later, Ferguson made a mistake that allowed the Shaymen to get back into the game.
The Rovers keeper should have had an easy time stopping Fred England’s high pot-shot, but he was fooled by the ball’s flight and let it fall behind him and into the net.
Motivated by this somewhat fortunate goal, Town startled the visitors with another goal a minute later, thanks to a brilliant snap shot from a close range by Sammy Waters. From that point on, the fans had to remain on edge as Town defended resolutely to keep Doncaster out.
Jordan attempted a ground shot, but Horace Green cleared the line and Rayner made a great one-handed stop to deny the same player.
After surviving the assault, Town took the lead with ten minutes to go when Waters scored the game’s winning goal by working his way into the middle of the pitch and beating Ferguson with a low drive into the far corner of the net for his second.
Town was in a dream come true, and even though Maddison’s header against the crossbar gave them a little scare, they hung on for what was unquestionably one of the surprise outcomes of the year.
Though I wish it might have been the beginning of something better, the reality was
Conversely, Rovers swiftly overcame this setback and won their first of nine straight games, thrashing Carlisle United 9-2 the following week.
They would only lose once more before the season ended, and after scoring 123 goals, they would win the championship by a wide margin.
For the first time in their existence, Halifax Town would place last in the division.
Although it wasn’t as noteworthy, Halifax Town’s 2-1 triumph over Hereford United on March 17, 1976, was still unexpected.
This was a Third Division clash and a result which no one, not even the most optimistic of Town followers, could have imagined.
Hereford had come to the fore of the nation’s consciousness in February 1972 when, as a non-league club, they had seen off top flight Newcastle United in an FA Cup third round replay at Edgar Street, helped in no small way by Ronnie Radford’s thunderbolt which had cancelled out an opener by the Magpies’ Malcolm Macdonald and which is shown regularly whenever the FA Cup competition comes around.
Even though Hereford was runner-up to Chelmsford City in the Southern League Premier Division that season, their FA Cup exploits—they lost to West Ham in the First Division in the fourth round, but only after a replay—helped them defeat Barrow to win promotion to the Fourth Division, and under manager Colin Addison, they were promoted to the Third Tier on their first try.
In August 1974, Addison was replaced by John Sillett, who transformed his Hereford team into a title contender during his second stint in command.
After defeating Cardiff City to take the top spot in the beginning of February, they went on to win five points over Brighton in second place by the time they hosted the Shaymen, even though they had only lost twice in their previous 14 games, the previous Saturday at Wrexham.
The Shaymen’s performance, on the other hand, was a sharp contrast. After a bright start to the season under Johnny Quinn, they had fallen down the standings and were ranked eighteenth when Quinn was abruptly fired in February 1976. Alan Ball Snr, the manager who had led the team to its only promotion seven years prior, took over as manager and his task was to keep the team from relegation.
However, Ball made too many changes too quickly; the transfer of center forward Dave Gwyther to Rotherham United was the biggest surprise.
Jimmy McGill, a hard-tackling midfielder, and forwards George Jones and Mickey Bullock arrived at The Shay in rapid succession.
ut having gained just one win from his first eight games since his return, the Shaymen found themselves bottom of the pile following weekend home defeat by Swindon and Colchester’s 2-0 Monday night victory over Aldershot.
It all painted a very bleak picture, though it was hoped the further additions of full-back Bobby Flavell and Aston Villa loanee John Overton might help.
That Town should turn the tables was nothing more than remarkable, yet those who witnessed the game might have wondered just who was top and who was bottom, with the biggest surprise being that Town’s margin of victory wasn’t greater, so well did they play that evening.
On a soggy pitch, they soaked up all the pressure the Bulls threw at them – Tony Rhodes and Albert Phelan kept a watchful eye on 27-goal marksman Dixie McNeil – in the first half, as well as carving out three great chances for themselves.
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