We are now almost at the end of the 2025/26 season. Halifax have two matches remaining and, after Southend’s victory at Aldershot a couple of days ago, they can no longer reach the play-offs to try and regain their place in the English Football League.
Whilst that might seem like a disappointing way to close out the season, on the whole, there have been plenty of positives under the stewardship of Adam Lakeland who only joined the club in June 2025 after the departure of previous manager Chris Millington.
I think the majority of Town fans were expecting the team to finish in the lower half of the twenty-four-team division. The fact that they are likely to finish in eighth position (worst case scenario is ninth) has to be viewed as a good season for the club.
For the majority of the season, Town had been in and around the play-off positions. It was only in the last six weeks or so that our hopes realistically diminished. This period coincided with a couple of disappointing results away from home combined with some rather difficult home matches against many of the side who were higher up the league table. It was always going to be a tough ask to pick up many points against these opponents, especially considering that The Shaymen have a lower playing budget than most teams in the division.
I have been a season ticket holder for every season, bar one, since the 2008/09 season. I missed two home league matches during the current season. Unfortunately, we lost those two matches despite decent performances on each occasion.
One of the highlights of the season has been the emergence of several players who we picked up from lower divisions. Lakeland joined us as from National League North team Kings Lynn Town. Amongst the players recruited from there, were Cody Johnson and Josh Hmami. The two midfielders have been standout players for us this season in my opinion. Others to have performed very well were fellow midfielder Will Hugill and centre forward Will Harris. Harris was rumoured to have been a target for League 2 Oldham during the January transfer window and it was speculated that a bid was received and subsequently turned down. Hmami apparently submitted a transfer request during this same period but he sustained an injury and it is not known whether any bids were received. In hindsight he may have regretted his action as fan support for him waivered a little upon his reintegration into the side although, some really good performances in more recent matches seems to have got the majority of fans back onside.
I would say that Town’s promotion-push really hit the buffers in early February. In the match at Aldershot, they surrendered a two-goal lead when conceding three goals in a five-minute period to lose 3-2. Four days later they conceded an added time equaliser to Brackley from the penalty spot.
The final nail in the coffin was the 2-2 draw at home to Tamworth on Easter Monday where Harris failed to convert from the spot in added time, this denying us the victory we so desperately craved. Our penalty taking this season has certainly been an Achilles heel with the number of spot kicks missed approaching double figures.
There have been some really good team performances during the season. A 3-2 victory at home to Boreham Wood was one of my personal highlights but my favourite was a match we didn’t actually win. This was the home match versus Rochdale where we fought back for a 2-2 draw after being 2-0 down on 87 minutes.
I would say that we have potential to improve next season although, this will be impacted as always by how many of the current squad we lose in the summer and how good our recruitment is.
Here’s looking forward to a successful 2026/27 season!