By Kate Jackson
August 8 2013

The Shay is arguably the nicest ground in the non-league, it's just a pity that the fans that are contained within are actually a bunch of arrogant tools.

The Shay is a lovely ground, one of the most picturesque grounds in the land and genuinely one of my favourite grounds to visit, but my problem isn't with the ground.

I've been to The Shay on three occasions, all in different competitions and each time their fans were just arrogant beyond belief. There's a difference between confidence and arrogance, and to sum up their arrogance, I'm going to start this review by talking about our FA Cup trip in the 2012/13 season. 

The clubs had met a few days before hand in the initial game and it was relatively even, but Halifax fans and players were acting on the internet as if they were by far the better club, and when the draw for the 1st Round took place the winners were due to face Walsall, several Halifax fans went onto their website and started making arrangements for meeting up. They didn't even acknowledge the fact they haven't actually qualified yet.

Lincoln subsequently won the replay 2-0, setting up the game with Walsall, and their fans really didn't like it when our's chanted "2-0 against the massive team" at them. It was obvious at that point why Halifax fans had gained the nickname of "THE MASSIFAX" during their rise up the new league.

But anyway, I digress. Each time I have been to Halifax I have gone via a different method. Ahead of their game against Halifax I went via train and the ground is relatively near the station. You really see what a lovely town Halifax is when you get there via the train. 

Whilst going on the train produces a lovely, stress free walk, driving was a completely different matter and although there is a car park at the ground, I had read that you needed a pass to park there, meaning it's street parking. Finding a parking spot was tedious beyond belief and took a while. I had arrived in the area around 20 minutes before kick off but by the time I had parked up, there was 5 minutes until kick off.

Before the Playoff game against Gainsborough I had a chance to look around the area directly near the ground....and there's not really a lot to do. There is a nice cafe near what is now the away end, but other than that there's not a lot going on.

Now I have been to this ground three times and each time has seen me in a new end, but I will do the guide to the ground itself from what is now traditionally the away end.

The away end is situated to the side of the pitch and is a very large single tiered stand. The view from this stand is excellent and even though you're not really very far down the pitch, you can easily see what is going on. This stand is shared with home fans.

To the right hand side from this end is a large terrace that was the old away end when they were in the Football League. The view from the top of this stand was amazing, however, this stand is now permanently closed to losing it's safety certificate.

The stand opposite this terrace is another terrace of seemingly the exact same size and design. Despite having a fair number of fans in it, this stand just looked completely empty. The poor attempt at an atmosphere that Halifax made came from this stand.

The final stand at the ground is a small seated stand opposite the main stand. This is the stand I was in during Gainsborough's Playoff games and it is quite strange in the sense that you have a LONG walk after entering the turnstiles to actually get to the stand. This stand does offer a half decent view though, that despite numerous pillars.

Overall the ground itself is actually a great visit, it's one of the nicest grounds outside of the Football League and it's virtually impossible to get a poor view of the action. It's just a pity that it's filled with arrogant fans.

FC Halifax's The Shay

Discussion started by theimps.ka (IP Logged), 08/08/2013 16:10

theimps.ka
08/08/2013 16:10

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