Skip to main content

Sometimes, Unbelievable Things Happen....

Yesterday was an amazing emotional roller coaster ride.

Against all predictions, my team, Halifax Town, triumphed in the FA Trophy at Wembley yesterday.

We were the better team on the day, opponents Grimsby Town had won last week in the Play-Off Final to get back in to the Football League, but their big guns - Padraig Amond, Omar Bogle - never got going on the day.

When your team has just got to Wembley for the first time in their 105 year history, it all takes some taking in. Yes, we were the better team. Yes, player of the year Scott McManus - who sadly had to leave the field later having picked up a suspected cruciate ligament injury - scored a brilliant goal, a sublime curling shot from his right foot to put us 1-0 up. We never looked back, and despite some pressure from Grimsby, we didn't buckle.

So Town - every player performing out of their skins - emerged as winners.

But it was still hard to believe, even when the cheers went up as the game ended with Town 1-0 winners. The team heading up the steps to pick up the trophy. The champagne being sprayed over the team with a winners hoarding behind. This was all happening to my team. Unbelievable!

Tears were shed, there was laughter, and before that, tension, frustration. Every emotion under the sun. It is even now so hard to take in. A team that until 2009 had with odd exceptions seen little success. Fans, family, friends, folk from way back when, were all overcome by the emotion and significance of this victory.

But look at the papers, the websites; all of them are reporting the fact that FC Halifax Town are the 2015-16 FA Trophy Winners.

And it is hard to believe. But I'll take that....

Wembley Stadium 22/05/16

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Calder Valley Ale Trail - UPDATED December 2023

The essential guide to the pubs and bars that line the railways in the towns and villages of the beautiful Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, an area which has a lot to offer and captivate the visitor. Here's the latest, updated version.... The original Rail Ale Trail heads through the Pennines from Dewsbury through Huddersfield to Stalybridge, or vice versa, depending on your starting point. Made famous by Oz Clarke and James May on a TV drinking trip around Britain several years ago, it reached saturation point on weekends to such an extent that lager and shorts were banned by some pubs and plastic glasses introduced to the hordes of stag dos, hen parties, and fancy-dressed revellers that invaded the trans-Pennine towns and villages. There are some great pubs en route and whilst things have calmed down from a few years ago, they can still get very busy on a summer Saturday in particular. However, only a few miles away to the north, there is another trail possible which takes in s...

North Westward Ho! Sets Sail Again....

A visit to a brand new bar in Manchester, which has just been opened in the city centre by Pomona Island, and the fascinating story behind its unusual name, plus a visit to the brewery's original city centre bar.... Pomona Island started brewing in Salford, close to Media City, in 2017. I remember there was quite a buzz about them when they made their debut at the 2018 Manchester Beer and Cider Festival ( nudge to the relevant people - could really do with another one of those! ), and I remember enthusing about the two beers I tried from them that day, both on cask, a porter and a 5.3% NZ Pale. Over the years they have continued to grow and develop and produced a wide range of modern-style beers and whilst they have tended to major on craft beers, they have always produced cask ale. They got into canning their beers, and during lockdown they were regular visitors to my fridge. Today their web shop is stocked with some delightfully-named beers, all canned in a distinctive house-styl...

Through The Garden Gate To The Tetley....

I went over to Leeds last weekend for a wander around which took in a visit to the newly re-opened Tetley, but first I called in at one of the city's finest architectural gems.... The Garden Gate is one of Leeds' most historic pubs, with a spectacular Grade II-listed interior which is up there with the finest not just in the city but in the country as a whole. Situated in the area of Hunslet about two miles out of the city centre in the middle of an unassuming low-rise housing estate, it stands alone on a quiet pedestrianised street in what was once one of the city's main industrial areas. This large and sprawling suburb grew from the early 19th century when several mills were built for spinning flax, and other industries in the area developed including the manufacture of chemicals, glassware, and pottery, with heavy engineering becoming particularly important. And to water the workers pubs such as the Garden Gate were built, although few could match its magnificence. Desp...