The Shay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message.
This article has been tagged since November 2006.

The Shay
Location	Halifax, England
Opened	1921
Owner	Calderdale Metropolitan Council
Surface	Grass
Tenants
Halifax Town (Conference National)
Capacity
14,000

The Shay is an area of Halifax, West Yorkshire near Shaw Hill, the site of a football stadium where Halifax Town and Halifax RLFC both play their home games. Halifax Town's nickname is The Shaymen. Its capacity is about 14,000, and is the largest stadium for a non-league club.

The stadium is owned by Calderdale Metropolitan Council after the football club sold it back in the 1980s in order to pay off a number of debts which the football club owed. The lease however is now owned by the Shay Stadium Trust, a not-for-profit company set up to preserve the ground as a sports stadium.

[edit] History

Like some other football grounds, The Shay was a council refuse tip. The ground has always been owned by the local council and when Halifax Town moved there in 1921, the rent in that first year was £10. By their third season, it had risen to £100.

£1000 was spent on preparing the ground, a large proportion of that going towards the purchase of a stand from Manchester City's old Hyde Road ground. It still exists and is now the only part of the ground which dates back to the early years. Baseball was played at the ground just after the Second World War.

The Shay's highest attendance was 36,885, when Tottenham Hotspur were the opponents for an FA Cup 5th round tie on 14 February 1953. Floodlights were first used in 1961 and cost £18,000 to install. Real Madrid were invited to be the opponents for the first game under lights, but The Shaymen had to be content with Red Star Belgrade.

[edit] Speedway

Originally, the Halifax Dukes speedway side used a track at Thrum Hall, but on 8 February 1949 construction began on a new speedway track at The Shay. Speedway lasted for only a few years. The club folded due to poor attendances and financial struggles. On 31 March 1952, Dukes promoter Bruce Booth announced the end of speedway 'while rates and taxation remains at the present levels'. After a lengthy absence, the sport returned to The Shay in 1965. By the early 1970s, the Dukes were enjoying higher attendances than the Shaymen. However, by the mid 1980s, Halifax Dukes and Halifax Town had financial disagreements and in 1986 The Dukes left The Shay and Halifax, moving to Bradford.

Further information can be found at The Shay Stadium's own website.

Conference National Venues 2006/07

v • d • e