I am becoming increasingly concerned at the divisive comments which are appearing on the message boards of the football and rugby league communities who are associated with The Shay. I am aware that neither is the official forum of either Halifax Town or Halifax RLFC however neither club can ignore the vitriol that is being expressed by people representing both sides of the ‘divide’.

As far as I am concerned both the clubs and the supporters should realise that they are in the fortunate position of having clubs with potential (and it is not everyone who can say that) and that the rightful place for the clubs is either Super League or the Football league. I am encouraged that those responsible for the governance of both clubs are moving in the right direction.

The fact that there are the differences between elements of both sets of supporters places a responsibility on the supporters organisations of both clubs (Fax Trust, HT Supporters Club, HTST) to show leadership and to ensure that the supporters of both clubs work together. There will always be differences of opinion between the supporters of the various codes, but there is no need for people to speak disparagingly of other supporters interests. At these times of economic and financial pressures, for many people, an involvement in sport as either a player or spectator is an outlet which enables people to take their minds of the problems of today and, with their club, to aspire to the success which I believe is within their grasp.

I believe that the clubs have a responsibility too, and they cannot ignore the responsibilities which are placed on them. Above all they should ensure that there is regular contact between them and their supporters, and then ensure that there are meetings with the other club and the Council to ensure that every parties issues are recognised. This forum should also ensure that the requirements of all three parties are considered in an open and transparent forum of the three working together.

The Council also have a joint and separate responsibility in their management of the facility that is consistent and decisive; I can tell you from bitter experience that you cannot win at certain times, but you must make your decisions based on the facts as you see them.

I am aware that in my time working for The Shay Stadium Trust I received criticism from both clubs and on both Message Boards, (but nobody is perfect). What can’t be denied however is with the Independents, Supporters and Clubs working together on the Board of SST, we achieved our aim of securing completion of the East Stand.

The clubs and supporters achieve more when working together and surely now is the time to ignore issues which get blown up out of all proportion and work for success for clubs and community which is long overdue.

Yer all true Geoff we want for fans to get on BUT what I find odd is that this is coming from a man who when running the SST you had to raise any valid question through fans representatives but even then you still got stone walled.

You used to insist on all communications through the 'proper channels' and would not allow anything through messageboards, which I agree with personally, but yet you come on here suggesting what the Trusts should be doing.

This is not the place as you said, so don't come on here telling the Trusts and HTST what to do thanks!


Oh and by the way if this game on Sunday was not a hot topic why has things been changed 3 times then???

GFB......

I can hear Nat and TS walking down the corridor with their keys ready to lock this!

So we can say the situation is pretty much akin to a property rented out to two seperate tenants. One doesn't like the other as they keep using his butter and has a better looking girlfriend. The other one thinks they they make too much noise and has to be constantly hassled to get their share of the bills.

It's a joke.

I know there has been talk of sharing resources, sharing ideas and sharing a shop. But I think with the kind of slander, stretched facts, repetition of the same old nonsense and just general rugby/foolball differences any sharing of resources would just make things worse.

Its not fair - the rugby lot have more stuff in the shop.
It's not fair - the rugby lot have more trophies on display.
It's not fair - AFC Halifax are hogging the fax machine.
It's not fair blah blah blah blah blah.

Personally I'd love to see a time when the resources are shared properly between the two clubs but history, long memories and general petty mindedness of people on both sides would never allow that to happen.