Dear WSC
A three-sided stadium (WSC 221)? Luxury. Here at The Shay we’d probably settle for such an arrangement. We do have a quite impressive three-sided stadium but the embarrassing fourth side, a large main stand down the full length of one touchline, has remained incomplete for several years. Originally intended to raise ground capacity to around 12,000, it’s a mocking reminder of the brave, but ultimately doomed, ambitions of a previous board and their vision of Halifax Town as a thriving League club and Halifax RLFC as a successful Super League side. Today, as both clubs struggle to attract crowds of two and a half thousand, those dreams seem a very long way away. Various scaled down proposals for the East Stand are currently under consideration but, as those of us who remember being promised accommodation in there as part of a season ticket deal stare mournfully across at the handful of blue and white plastic seats dotted randomly along the concrete rows, the idea of knocking the whole lot down and turning it into a car park doesn’t seem such an outrageous idea after all.
Charlie Adamson, via email
The Archive
Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
Friday 1 Sir Bobby’s interpretation of the Glazers’ outlook is rejected by Mark Longden of Man Utd fans group IMUSA: “I would like them to explain how they intend to pay off £500 million-worth of debt on profits of £19m. You do not need to be a financial expert to realise something big has to happen.” Middlesbrough’s new signing, Austrian defender Emanuel Pogatetz, may receive a six-month ban for an exceptionally violent tackle while on loan with Spartak Moscow; Boro reject Spurs’ £6m offer for Stewart Downing. George Burley is the new manager of Hearts. Good news for Wayne Rooney and Dennis Wise among others as FIFA scrap the ten-yards dissent rule. Greater Manchester Police reignite their old row with Wigan over an unpaid policing bill of £273,000, threatening to withdraw the JJB Stadium safety certificate unless it is paid by August.
It's the same old story, and we're getting tired of hearing it
Technology is moving on apace in all directions but not fast enough. Through the summer we scanned the science pages in the hope that during the six-week break between seasons someone might have invented a device that would be of immense value to football supporters everywhere. What is urgently required is a filter for TV sets that could be set up to give the sensitive viewer the option of bleeping out certain phrases when they crop up in a football broadcasts. (Of course there is always the option of watching TV with the sound off and the radio on, but that risks exposure to Alan Green.)
Steve Menary wonders when it became so difficult to simply build a stadium
Why can no one build a national stadium in this country without the entire project becoming a total embarrassment? A date has finally been set for a £20 million high court dispute between two firms rebuilding Wembley and this showdown will take place next April – a month before the first FA Cup final at the rebuilt stadium.
Why are French club owners smiling so much? That'd be the massive cash windfall they're getting from Canal Plus, says Ben Lyttleton
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas made a good point during the protracted negotiations with Chelsea over the transfer of Michael Essien. Not only did his club not want to sell their best player to a Champions League rival, he said, but they did not need to.