Been down at The Shay this morning, the mood was very positive, even though we didn't get the decision the Board and rest of the club have been aiming for, there was plenty of positive news coming out.

Tony Abbot spoke very well and was able to confirm that the capacity of The Shay for the Bradford cup game will be around the 9000 mark, with some work (mainly toilets facilities) to bring the North Stand up to scratch, the capacity of the ground is over 12000

As I was saying to Malcolm after the announcement, we ought to be thankful we have a club, that's built on solid foundations, Its only 5 or so years since we were forever scraping by, having to have bucket collections, and raise enough money to get through the next few months, yet alone be able to plan for the next few years.

So I just want to thank All involved at the Club, Board, Office Staff, Volunteers ect for the hard work they put in, and hope they can keep it up moving forward!

[size=200Yes !!!!![/size




Marvellous post !!

Everybody at the club has done a fantastic job MC and the players, The backroom staff, The BOD, Mal etc. Thanks for getting us even near to being considered for SL. I am sure I am not alone in thanking each and every person at Halifax RLFC.

My anger is the clueless idiots at RFL-Woods, Lewis , Cummins etc. They are killing our game and also making it a laughing stock. Congrats to Widnes and the fans. They do have the best Club setup. But I would wager everything I have that 99% of the fans would have got more joy by winning promotion on the field instead of some pathetic announcement and decision made by people who have never played the game and one who helped nearly ruin a proud RL club.

yeah very big well done to everyone at the club.

Tony Abbot spoke before the cameras went on about our bid and the bradford game about how the capacity of the ground for that game would be about 9000 and how they are planning lots of entertainment for this. Although he didnt go into any detail i think they should bring back the international party doctors for this game???

Excellent post. Tought decision, I personally wanted Halifax to get the licence, and touch wood they still Might, But from an outsiders point of view some excellent work has been done to turn the team around

As a widnes fan I feel somewhat deflated at the way the RFL handle these things, your mob will be going through what we went through 3 years ago and that hurts. I am not looking forward to prices going up to pay inflated wages and will miss away days at the Shay, Batley and even Post Office Road. Have had some great times with great fans at great clubs and am saddened that it might not always be the case when we visit the delights of Hull, KR and Salford. Chin up people Rugby does exist outside of superleague because ot the great fans that support the clubs. Stay with it,

Sorry guys but I find it hard to be positive. OK we have a carrot that come July all will be different, but I just think this is a ploy by the RFL just to make rejection at this time slightly more acceptable. OK so our case will be reviewed along will all the SL teams in July to see who meets the criteria. But surely those clubs who meet the criteria today and those that do not today meet the criteria will not be possible to change anything in 12 weeks. Those with inadequate grounds, financial problems etc will still be the same in three months. Waiting another 12 weeks will not change anything. Why can't they tell us now who meets the criteria and lets finish this saga once and for all.

Quote ="exdysonroadie"Sorry guys but I find it hard to be positive. OK we have a carrot that come July all will be different, but I just think this is a ploy by the RFL just to make rejection at this time slightly more acceptable. OK so our case will be reviewed along will all the SL teams in July to see who meets the criteria. But surely those clubs who meet the criteria today and those that do not today meet the criteria will not be possible to change anything in 12 weeks. Those with inadequate grounds, financial problems etc will still be the same in three months. Waiting another 12 weeks will not change anything. Why can't they tell us now who meets the criteria and lets finish this saga once and for all.'" www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... cF5R8oLfag

Quote ="exdysonroadie"Sorry guys but I find it hard to be positive. OK we have a carrot that come July all will be different, but I just think this is a ploy by the RFL just to make rejection at this time slightly more acceptable. OK so our case will be reviewed along will all the SL teams in July to see who meets the criteria. But surely those clubs who meet the criteria today and those that do not today meet the criteria will not be possible to change anything in 12 weeks. Those with inadequate grounds, financial problems etc will still be the same in three months. Waiting another 12 weeks will not change anything. Why can't they tell us now who meets the criteria and lets finish this saga once and for all.'" www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... cF5R8oLfag

As a Widnes fan I know the anticipation and the disappointment that many feel now.

What you now have that we didn't 3 years ago is this second bite of the cherry in July, more anticipation and the possibility (and I hope it's not) of further disappointment.

Reason I mention this is that I don't think it's really fair, the effect of this second announcement date may well be an unwanted distraction to the team on the field and spoil performances, which at the end of the day is why we all support rugby!

I fancy Fax over Cas or Wakey, so let's hope this wait will be worthwhile!

Great post Brew and I just want to echo what you have said. A big well done to everyone at the club and I am very proud to be a Fax fan today as our super league bid past my expectations so a big well done to the fantastic effort by everyone at Halifax RLFC lets keep going now. Onwards and upwards

It strikes me that there must be still bad news out on SL land if the RFL have decided to keep the pressure on the at risk clubs by saying that Halifax are a potential franchisee.

I suppose we have to continue to aim to be the best of the rest and wait for an opportunity to happen - which it will in this difficult economic climate

It is quite ridiculous that the RFL state that a club moving up from the Championship needs an extra 4 months to prepare , and yet if you were given the nod you wouldn't get any extra time

You are there to try in some weird way to exert pressure on Castleford and to somehow give credibilty to the process

3 apply ,1 is accepted , 1 is given a second chance , 1 is dropped , all very neat and tidy

Do not kid yourselves.

In your heart of hearts you know it is true. Franchising stinks and you know it does.

Noone from the Championship will be promoted now till Cru or Quins throw in the towel.

Then what happens ? And although I can't help it I shall follow my team. Try telling that to folk who are not as passionate and they tell you no point cos we can't reach the top level

We could do with a run of form up until extra time of castleford a couple of years ago. Thats if we wanted a shout in july. However, a rational and patient person would look at this and say the ball is in our court for a return sometime in the near future.

And 3 to 5 years is the near future imo. Hopefully by which stage the rfl cover up machine has blown up

Top post Brew.
I agree we have to 'do a Widnes' and take this on the chin, keep positive and make sure we keep doing things right on and off the field.

We have to make sure that the RFL and Sky make us the next club that 'should get into SL' based on merit.
The most important thing for me is to ensure we do well off the field as it seems that wins the RFL over even more than results on the field in relation to Franchises (look at Widnes).
Obviously as a fan we want success and I am not saying we should not strive to win things but we must not give our detractors any material to use against us.

We never know the RFL may see sense and kick 2 teams out of SL letting us in, based on their own system there are 3 clubs who do not 'tick all the boxes' right now so we do have a chance.

In the meantime I would love to thrash Widnes when we play them just to stick two fingers up to this system.

Join the queue, everyone hates us now in the championship and wants to stuff us.

I don't think anyone hates you. But we all will now want to stuff you even more!!

We dont hate you at all , we just want to help you get used to what will be happening next year , oh and the ' stuffing ' bit , thats already started

We let you win, the real games next Thursday.

Going to be an interesting season now,

Part Time Players playing at the top of their game trying to "win" a full time super league contract. But some will inevitably realise that they won't be at Widnes next season, will they continue to put effort in knowing that there's an Aussie waiting to take their place at the end of the season?

Hey I did not say we hate Widnes its the RFL we all hate and my point is by beating you the rest of us left in the Championship will as I said stick two fingers up to them and their pathetic system.

Just to reiterate what plenty have already said, top post to start this thread.

Lets keep things in perspective. We are no worse off today than we were before the announcement yesterday. We all knew Widnes would get the nod, good luck to em. Is it fair that we are now up against the 14 super league members in July, probably not, but we are in it and thats better than nowt.

Is it just propaganda by the RFL to make things look transparent and fair? possibly but thats not for me to say.

What I do know for sure is that this club, its supporters and a board we all can believe in and trust, have faced much worse than this. We are always at our best when up against it, thats when we shine.

We will learn from yesterday. On July 26th we will fill the corpoarate suite in the new stand, we will make sure the media know it. Widnes did this better than us yesterday, yep they were 99% certain of success but tough. We now have a lot more good feeling and support from acorss the RL community than we did before. Lets reissue the petition far and wide, lets fill the shay when the Bulls come knocking and spend the next 3 months making it very uncomfortable for those in HQ that will have to say no to us.

We know we are more deserving than some already in SL. So do many others, people power is the strongest tool we have on our side and its not something we have always been in a position to say.

While picking up my Sheffield tickets yesterday one of the die hards who spends everyday running our club said something telling to me. '**** the rest of them, as long as we get where we should be then who cares.' He is spot on, if it means that a club that is losing money, has no fans and is struggling to carry on in SL has to make way then so be it. Lets highlight this and let nobody be under any illusion that we are ready to step in.

Keep the faith, the future is blue and white

I am hoping some of our players play better for a contract in Superleague, or a good deal at another Championship club.If the players do not play well, i would not sign them up if i was a coach.I always want to win and i hope we stuff Fax.