Todays game off today - pitch still frozen.

Second part of the Courier / Davy interview. “In the second part of the Courier’s interview with Huddersfield Giants owner Ken Davy, he discusses why the Giants would be moving to Halifax, how the the three clubs can share the Shay and what he wants to happen to the stadium long-term. Ken Davy says he hopes FC Halifax Town and Halifax Panthers will be in a better financial position in future to buy The Shay from him should his plans for the stadium come to fruition. The Huddersfield Giants chairman is hoping to buy the ground from Calderdale Council and instigate a raft of improvements to bring it up to Super League standard so the Giants can use it temporarily while they build a new stadium. Ken Davy. "I don't want to be the long-term owner of The Shay," Mr Davy told the Courier, "therefore when the Giants leave The Shay, which is the absolute intention, I've told both clubs I'd be prepared to offer it back to them and they can either buy it individually or jointly. Ken Davy "Or we might find some other solution, but that's the spirit of what we're trying to achieve." Mr Davy said the buy back price "would have to reflect the improvements" that had been made. When asked what would happen if both clubs were unable to afford to buy the stadium, Mr Davy said: "Hopefully somebody in Calderdale would be able to do so, or perhaps someone would come in to support the clubs, I don't know. "I don't want to be the long-term owner of The Shay but it's impossible to second guess what the situation might be in five years time. "I would hope that, by then, because of what we've done, they would be in a much better position. "Given it would be a Super League stadium, who knows, somebody might come in to support the Panthers and take them into Super League. "FC Halifax may have gained promotion and be in a much better position financially. "All of these things are possible and I think both clubs will benefit in the short-term and in the long-term, also stand to benefit from having a supportive owner of the Shay." When asked about the possibility of selling the ground to a third-party, and if that would involve assurances around both clubs remaining at The Shay, Mr Davy said: "Perhaps the best example I can give you is that when I rescued Huddersfield Town from the administrators, under my chairmanship we won promotion and when it came to selling the club, I rejected several approaches from foreign buyers as I was determined it went to someone locally who understood the club’s importance to the community.” Mr Davy says the Giants are making "significant progress" in their search for where their new stadium will be located. "Every site we look at has various issues so it's impossible to say how or where the new stadium will be," he said. "We have our third or fourth pre-planning application almost ready to go in relation to a site and we keep our fingers crossed. "We're hopeful this one will work." But Mr Davy insists it is currently "impossible to say" a timescale for when the Giants would leave The Shay. "My original objective was for it to only take two or three years," he said. "It's self evident from all the planning issues that it's going to take longer than that. "My guess is five years but that's purely a guess." Mr Davy admits "it would be much simpler and less expensive" for the Giants to remain at the John Smith's Stadium until a new ground is constructed. "But it's just not possible for us to generate the right atmosphere there," he said. "There's just not enough fans in a big stadium. The fact is we rattle. "I want to see that improve as quickly as possible. "And hopefully the availability of better facilities in a nice atmosphere, I genuinely believe it should increase the support of both clubs and that's what we all want to see. "I want The Shay to be a vibrant facility for FC Halifax, the Panthers and the Giants and for it to become a vibrant community space. "The plan is to call it the Calderdale Community Stadium, and that's what it's all about, providing a better experience for everyone. Mr Davy added: "The more use we can get from the stadium, the better. "It's too early to say what events might be held there but I'd certainly hope we'd be able to make it into a vibrant centre for the community." Mr Davy admits there is a chance the move could alienate some Giants supporters. "There is a risk and over the last few months I've been careful to try to explain what the intention was," he said. "More recently I've spelled it out in a bit more detail. "Obviously there are some negative comments but the vast majority of Giants fans have been supportive so I'm hopeful. "We're going to be running special transport from Huddersfield to The Shay. "We probably will have some supporters who are very reluctant to come to The Shay but hopefully it will be a small number. "Because of the better atmosphere and suitability, I would actually hope the support would increase." The Giants chairman insists there would be no cause for concern regarding two rugby league clubs and a football club sharing the same ground. "What's important is that football always has to have primacy, what you might call first pick," he said. "We're very used to dealing with that at the John Smith's Stadium, so the 13 or so matches the Giants play every year isn't going to be a significant issue. "And I know a football club has to have primacy of tenancy, so that's a non-issue for us." Mr Davy says he has no intention of merging the Giants and Halifax Panthers. "Absolutely and categorically, no." When asked what he would say to people who don't approve of his plans, Mr Davy said: "They might care to look at my background and see what I've done for sport in Kirklees and what I'd hope to be able to start to do in Calderdale." The Courier also asked Mr Davy the five key questions that were submitted by the working party group, who have also submitted proposals for the future of The Shay. Here is what he said. 1) What happens to The Shay when the Giants have a stadium of their own? "As I've said, we will offer it back to the clubs invidually and jointly because I have absolutely no wish to be the long-term owner of The Shay." 2) What happens to The Shay if the Giants ultimately don't secure a stadium of their own? "That's such a speculative question and so far from our objective, that it’s completely hypothetical question that we all hope will never arise." 3) How does this impact on the requirements of both the Football League and the Super League that their member clubs must have "primacy of tenancy"? Are the clubs prepared to forgo any chance of promotion in exchange for upgraded facilities? "That question misunderstands the requirements. The football club has to have primacy of fixtures. "There are a number of Super League teams who play in stadiums where football also takes place, so primacy of tenancy is not an issue for Super League, but it is for football so we fully acknowledge that FC Halifax will have that primacy of tenancy. "The second part of the question falls away because it has no relevance, but one of the things I would hope is that FC Halifax, because of the improved facilities and the more robust pitch, are able to achieve promotion. "That's something we'd all welcome." 4) Have the views of the National League and the RFL been sought? "Not by me, because it's not my role. It's difficult to envisage that either organisation would have any issues given the much improved facilities that both clubs would enjoy." 5) Has the council considered what happens to the town's professional sports clubs if this deal goes wrong, or are they unconcerned? "The council are concerned about the future of professional sport in Halifax, which is exactly why we're having these discussions. "It's well known that I'm a very active supporter of sport and that I've invested substantial sums ensuring that sport continues.” End.

This is starting to look a lot less appealing than it did as each interview comes out. It would still be pretty funny if it did go ahead just to see some Town fans reactions, and then even funnier if the ground was then sold on to some new Fax investors when the Giants leave. I can see Town fans hounding Bosomworth out over this and then to be honest I think they will find themselves on a slippy financial slope if that happens.

Another stumbling block for the Davy proposal are the EFL ground sharing rules that prohibit 3 teams of different sports at the same place. Should FC Town ever win promotion they would not be allowed in whilst both Fax and the Giants were playing there without special dispensation. EFL 2024 / 25 handbook page 78. 13.3. Quote: Ground sharing will only be approved at the discretion of the board. The board will ordinarily withhold approval where circumstances where the proposed ground share arrangement would result in the club sharing occupation of the playing surface with more than one other individual team from another sport ( by way of a example a club sharing occupation with one rugby league team would be acceptable but a club sharing with one rugby league team and one rugby union or sharing with two rugby union ( or rugby league ) teams would not. ) End. I wonder if he’s unaware of the limitation of the numbers of teams allowed because in his previous interviews he stated that plenty of other football and rugby clubs shared grounds with no issues and said that he had not sought the views of either the National League or the RFL because he didn’t think it was his role.

[quote="faxcar":21eqcikg]Another stumbling block for the Davy proposal are the EFL ground sharing rules that prohibit 3 teams of different sports at the same place. Should FC Town ever win promotion they would not be allowed in whilst both Fax and the Giants were playing there without special dispensation. EFL 2024 / 25 handbook page 78. 13.3. Quote: Ground sharing will only be approved at the discretion of the board. The board will ordinarily withhold approval where circumstances where the proposed ground share arrangement would result in the club sharing occupation of the playing surface with more than one other individual team from another sport ( by way of a example a club sharing occupation with one rugby league team would be acceptable but a club sharing with one rugby league team and one rugby union or sharing with two rugby union ( or rugby league ) teams would not. ) End. I wonder if he’s unaware of the limitation of the numbers of teams allowed because in his previous interviews he stated that plenty of other football and rugby clubs shared grounds with no issues and said that he had not sought the views of either the National League or the RFL because he didn’t think it was his role.[/quote:21eqcikg] A possible option: The Shaymen could play at Lawkholme Lane or even Brighouse Town while Fax and Giants share the New Shay. Just a thought that might annoy some people perhaps!