Conference National Playoff Final 2006
Encyclopedia
The 2005-06 Conference National Playoff Final took place on 20 May 2006 and was contested between Halifax Town
and Hereford United
. It was held at the Walkers Stadium
, Leicester
for the first time, the previous Playoff Finals having been held at the Britannia Stadium
, Stoke
. The result promoted Hereford to League Two while Halifax had to remain in the Conference.
Halifax went into the match having finished fourth in the 2005-06
Conference National
with 75 points. They defeated Grays Athletic
5-4 on aggregate in the Semi Final. Hereford went into the match having finished second for the third year in succession with 80 points. They had defeated Morecambe
4-3 on aggregate in the Semi Final, although the second leg needed extra time to be decided.
Over 15,000 spectators attended the match, of which approximately 10,000 were Hereford fans. The match was televised live by Sky
and then made available on DVD by Hereford United.
handled the ball in his own penalty area, but the offence was not spotted by referee Dean Whitestone. Both teams had shots on target in the first 25 minutes before Halifax took the lead. Hereford had briefly been reduced to 10 men while Rob Purdie
received treatment for a cut lip. While he was being treated, Greg Young's cross was not properly cleared and a lucky ricochet fell to Lewis Killeen
, who curled a shot into the top corner from outside the area.
Hereford equalised seven minutes later when Mkandawire won possession and found Adam Stansfield
on the right wing, before continuing on a decoy run into the Halifax box. Stansfield's cross evaded the Halifax defence and found Andy Williams at the back post, who scored with a diving header. The first half ended with the run of play fairly equal, with Halifax making the better start to the match and Hereford responding after going a goal down.
The second half saw more of the same with both sides having the upper hand at different stages. In the 57th minute Purdie made a run into the Halifax penalty area, and was brought down by Tyrone Thompson. This time the referee had a better view, but again did not give what seemed to be a penalty. It was not until after Halifax brought on John Grant
that the deadlock was broken. After a spell of Hereford pressure, with Stansfield in particular having a couple of good chances, Killeen went on a surging run into the Hereford area before crossing to Grant who flicked the ball into the net.
Hereford responded by bringing on Guy Ipoua
who equally made an impact on the game. He controlled a flick on by Andy Ferrell
, before playing the ball out to Simon Travis on the right. Travis' cross was powerfully headed in by Ipoua, who was unmarked. Neither team had a clear cut chance in the remaining ten minutes and the match went to extra time. By this stage Chris Wilder
had used all his substitutions, while Graham Turner
still had two available.
Minutes into extra time, Halifax had a goal disallowed for offside and the tempo of the match slowed down as players tired. Then in the 109th minute of the match Hereford won a throw in. Substitute Stuart Fleetwood
received the ball from Ryan Green
but was tackled. The ball ran loose to Green who deftly clipped the ball into the far corner of the goal with his left foot, scoring what was only the second senior goal of his career. With eleven minutes to go it looked as if Hereford had done enough for victory. However the drama was not over as Hereford goalkeeper Wayne Brown received a head injury after going for a ball. With all substitutions now made it looked at one stage as though Hereford would need an emergency goalkeeper, and midfielder Ferrell even had a spare goalkeeper's jersey on for a moment. But, after several minutes, Brown recovered and play resumed although there was six minutes of stoppage time added on. Halifax tried everything to equalise, putting centre-back Adam Quinn up front who had a shot destined for the top corner well saved by Brown.
Ultimately though it was Hereford who hung on to win the match, and they regained their Football League status after nine years in the Conference.
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HEREFORD UNITED
|
GK
14
Wayne Brown
DF
2
Ryan Green
DF
5
Tamika Mkandawire
(c)
DF
28
Dean Beckwith
DF
20
Alex Jeannin
MF
3
Simon Travis
MF
15
Craig Stanley
MF
11
Andy Ferrell
MF
21
Rob Purdie
FW
16
Andy Williams
FW
9
Adam Stansfield
Substitutes:
GK
1
Craig Mawson
MF
8
Jamie Pitman
FW
18
Danny Carey-Bertram
FW
7
Stuart Fleetwood
FW
10
Guy Ipoua
Manager:
Graham Turner
Halifax Town A.F.C.
Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...
and Hereford United
Hereford United F.C.
Hereford United Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Hereford. Founded in 1924, they are competing in Football League Two in the 2011–12 season. Hereford have played at Edgar Street for their entire history and are nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites',...
. It was held at the Walkers Stadium
Walkers Stadium
The King Power Stadium is a football stadium which hosts home matches of English football club Leicester City. The all-seater stadium, inaugurated in July 2002, holds 32,500 and has the 19th largest stadium capacity in England. The stadium is named after King Power, a company owned by club owner...
, Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
for the first time, the previous Playoff Finals having been held at the Britannia Stadium
Britannia Stadium
The Britannia Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England and the home of Premier League club Stoke City Football Club. With space for 27,598 spectators . The name is taken from the sponsors of the Stadium the Britannia Co-operative Bank...
, Stoke
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
. The result promoted Hereford to League Two while Halifax had to remain in the Conference.
Halifax went into the match having finished fourth in the 2005-06
2005-06 in English football
The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether...
Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
with 75 points. They defeated Grays Athletic
Grays Athletic F.C.
Grays Athletic Football Club is an English football club currently based in Corringham, Essex after leaving the New Recreation Ground in Grays at the end of the 2009–10 season...
5-4 on aggregate in the Semi Final. Hereford went into the match having finished second for the third year in succession with 80 points. They had defeated Morecambe
Morecambe F.C.
Morecambe Football Club is an English football club based in Morecambe, Lancashire. It plays its football in League Two, the fourth division of English football, having been promoted in 2007 for the first time in their history to the Football League. They played their home matches at Christie Park...
4-3 on aggregate in the Semi Final, although the second leg needed extra time to be decided.
Over 15,000 spectators attended the match, of which approximately 10,000 were Hereford fans. The match was televised live by Sky
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...
and then made available on DVD by Hereford United.
Match summary
As early as the 6th minute there was controversy as Hereford captain Tamika MkandawireTamika Mkandawire
Tamika Mkandawire is a Malawi-born footballer who plays for Millwall in The Championship. He can play as a Centre back or in a holding role, as a defensive Midfielder.-Early life:...
handled the ball in his own penalty area, but the offence was not spotted by referee Dean Whitestone. Both teams had shots on target in the first 25 minutes before Halifax took the lead. Hereford had briefly been reduced to 10 men while Rob Purdie
Rob Purdie
Robert James 'Rob' Purdie is an English footballer who currently plays for Hereford United after being released by Oldham Athletic on transfer deadline day, 31 January 2011....
received treatment for a cut lip. While he was being treated, Greg Young's cross was not properly cleared and a lucky ricochet fell to Lewis Killeen
Lewis Killeen
Lewis Keith Killeen is an English professional footballer. Killeen is currently with Conference North side Droylsden after being released by Crawley in June 2010....
, who curled a shot into the top corner from outside the area.
Hereford equalised seven minutes later when Mkandawire won possession and found Adam Stansfield
Adam Stansfield
Adam Stansfield was an English footballer who played as a striker. He played for Cullompton Rangers, Elmore, Yeovil Town, Hereford United and Exeter City.-Career:...
on the right wing, before continuing on a decoy run into the Halifax box. Stansfield's cross evaded the Halifax defence and found Andy Williams at the back post, who scored with a diving header. The first half ended with the run of play fairly equal, with Halifax making the better start to the match and Hereford responding after going a goal down.
The second half saw more of the same with both sides having the upper hand at different stages. In the 57th minute Purdie made a run into the Halifax penalty area, and was brought down by Tyrone Thompson. This time the referee had a better view, but again did not give what seemed to be a penalty. It was not until after Halifax brought on John Grant
John Grant (footballer)
John Anthony Carlton Grant is an English footballer and plays as a striker for Macclesfield Town.-Crewe Alexandra:...
that the deadlock was broken. After a spell of Hereford pressure, with Stansfield in particular having a couple of good chances, Killeen went on a surging run into the Hereford area before crossing to Grant who flicked the ball into the net.
Hereford responded by bringing on Guy Ipoua
Guy Ipoua
Guy Ipoua is an Cameroonian footballer who has played for Oryx Douala and a string of British and Continental clubs. His elder brother Samuel Ipoua represented Cameroon at the 1998 World Cup....
who equally made an impact on the game. He controlled a flick on by Andy Ferrell
Andy Ferrell
Andrew Eric "Andy" Ferrell is an English footballer who plays for Barrow as a midfielder. He played in League Two for Hereford United during the 2006–07 season.-Career:...
, before playing the ball out to Simon Travis on the right. Travis' cross was powerfully headed in by Ipoua, who was unmarked. Neither team had a clear cut chance in the remaining ten minutes and the match went to extra time. By this stage Chris Wilder
Chris Wilder
Christopher John "Chris" Wilder is an English former footballer, and current manager of Oxford United.Previously, he was the last manager of Halifax Town F.C., becoming their manager in July 2002 just after relegation from the Football League and remaining there until June 2008, when the club was...
had used all his substitutions, while Graham Turner
Graham Turner
Graham John Turner is an English former footballer who became a manager. He is currently manager of League Two club Shrewsbury Town. His son Mark was also a professional footballer....
still had two available.
Minutes into extra time, Halifax had a goal disallowed for offside and the tempo of the match slowed down as players tired. Then in the 109th minute of the match Hereford won a throw in. Substitute Stuart Fleetwood
Stuart Fleetwood
Stuart Keith Fleetwood is an English-born Wales under-21 international footballer who plays as a striker for Luton Town.-Early life:...
received the ball from Ryan Green
Ryan Green
Ryan Michael Green is a Wales international footballer who plays as a defender for Hereford United. He is perhaps best known for breaking Ryan Giggs's record as the youngest player to be capped for the Wales national football team, a record which has since been surpassed.-Career:Born in Cardiff,...
but was tackled. The ball ran loose to Green who deftly clipped the ball into the far corner of the goal with his left foot, scoring what was only the second senior goal of his career. With eleven minutes to go it looked as if Hereford had done enough for victory. However the drama was not over as Hereford goalkeeper Wayne Brown received a head injury after going for a ball. With all substitutions now made it looked at one stage as though Hereford would need an emergency goalkeeper, and midfielder Ferrell even had a spare goalkeeper's jersey on for a moment. But, after several minutes, Brown recovered and play resumed although there was six minutes of stoppage time added on. Halifax tried everything to equalise, putting centre-back Adam Quinn up front who had a shot destined for the top corner well saved by Brown.
Ultimately though it was Hereford who hung on to win the match, and they regained their Football League status after nine years in the Conference.
Legacy
The result of the game had a profound effect on each times. Hereford went on to gain a further promotion from league two, just two seasons later. Halifax's future however was a different story. With continuing financial problems off the pitch Halifax struggled to maintain this form in the 2006/7 season and only avoided relegation from the conference on the last day of the season. Chris Wilder found himself again in a relegation battle in 2007/8 after the team were docked 10 points when they were placed into administration by a local consortium trying to buy the club. Halifax again survived relegation on the last day of the season, only to find out later that they would be relegated anyway due to the consortium failing to meet the creditors demands to bring the club out of administration. At a meeting of the Football Association, discussing the makeup of the football pyramid for the 2008/09 season, Halifax Town were not placed in either the Football Conference, the Conference North or the Northern Premier League Premier Division. Though the club appealed against the decision to remove them from the Football Conference, they were unsuccessful and the club was wound up.Match details
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| HALIFAX TOWN | ||||
| GK | 1 | Jon Kennedy |
||
| DF | 2 | Steve Haslam Steve Haslam Steve Haslam is a right back who currently plays for Football League One side Hartlepool United.-Early career:... |
||
| DF | 5 | Adam Quinn |
||
| DF | 16 | Greg Young Greg Young Gregory James "Greg" Young is an English footballer who plays for Alfreton Town as a defender.Young started his career with the Sheffield Wednesday youth system and after being released in 2002 he joined Grimsby Town of the First Division... |
||
| DF | 3 | Matt Doughty Matt Doughty Matthew Liam Doughty is an English footballer who plays as a defender.He joined Hyde from Witton Albion in 2011. He started his professional career at Chester City, whilst at Chester he was sent to prison for four months following an incident outside a nightclub in Warrington, this meant he missed... |
||
| MF | 8 | Martin Foster Martin Foster Martin Foster is an English footballer who plays for Harrogate Town as a midfielder.-Career:Born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Foster started his career with Leeds United but did not make any senior appearances for the club. He moved to Scottish football to sign for Greenock Morton having had... (c) |
||
| MF | 19 | Peter Atherton Peter Atherton Peter Atherton , is an English former professional English footballer who plays as both a defender and a midfielder... |
||
| MF | 18 | Tyrone Thompson Tyrone Thompson Tyrone I'Yungo Thompson is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for FC Halifax Town.He has previously played for Sheffield United, Lincoln City, Doncaster Rovers, Huddersfield Town, Scarborough, Halifax Town, Crawley Town, Torquay United, Mansfield Town and Grimsby... |
||
| FW | 26 | Danny Forrest Danny Forrest Daniel Paul Halafihi "Danny" Forrest is an English footballer. He currently plays for Conference North side Guiseley.He formerly played for Bradford City, his local team. He represented England at Under-19 level... |
||
| FW | 11 | Ryan Sugden Ryan Sugden Ryan Stephen Sugden is a professional footballer, currently playing for Bradford Park Avenue. He was released by Morecambe at the end of the 2003/04 season and signed by Halifax on a free transfer in July 2004. In January 2007, he was given a further free transfer, this time to Farsley. In July... |
||
| FW | 10 | Lewis Killeen Lewis Killeen Lewis Keith Killeen is an English professional footballer. Killeen is currently with Conference North side Droylsden after being released by Crawley in June 2010.... |
||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| GK | 24 | Lee Butler |
||
| DF | 4 | Steve Bushell |
||
| MF | 25 | Brian Smikle Brian Smikle Brian Junior Smikle is an English footballer who plays for Cheltenham Town.-Club career:A product of West Bromwich Albion's youth system. He signed a professional contract in the summer of 2005, however in February 2005 he had a short loan spell at Hereford United, where he made 6 appearances and... |
||
| FW | 15 | Chris Senior Chris Senior Christopher Marc 'Chris' Senior is an English footballer who plays for Alfreton Town as a striker.-Career:Senior started his professional youth team footballing career at Sheffield United at 19. He stayed for one season before 'The Blades' released him, though the Yorkshire-based club recommended... |
||
| FW | 20 | John Grant John Grant (footballer) John Anthony Carlton Grant is an English footballer and plays as a striker for Macclesfield Town.-Crewe Alexandra:... |
||
| Manager: | ||||
| Chris Wilder Chris Wilder Christopher John "Chris" Wilder is an English former footballer, and current manager of Oxford United.Previously, he was the last manager of Halifax Town F.C., becoming their manager in July 2002 just after relegation from the Football League and remaining there until June 2008, when the club was... |
||||
Wayne Brown Ryan GreenRyan Green
Ryan Michael Green is a Wales international footballer who plays as a defender for Hereford United. He is perhaps best known for breaking Ryan Giggs's record as the youngest player to be capped for the Wales national football team, a record which has since been surpassed.-Career:Born in Cardiff,...
Tamika MkandawireTamika Mkandawire
Tamika Mkandawire is a Malawi-born footballer who plays for Millwall in The Championship. He can play as a Centre back or in a holding role, as a defensive Midfielder.-Early life:...
(c)
Dean BeckwithDean Beckwith
Dean Stuart Beckwith is an English footballer who plays as a central defender. He plays for Luton Town, signing for them in June 2011 having reached the end of his contract with Northampton Town.-Early career:...
Alex JeanninAlex Jeannin
Alexandre 'Alex' Jeannin is a French footballer, currently playing for Truro City. Jeannin plays at left-back.-Football career:...
Simon Travis Craig StanleyCraig Stanley
Craig Stanley is an English footballer currently playing for Bristol Rovers of League Two. His position is midfield.-Career:Stanley began his career with Walsall...
Andy FerrellAndy Ferrell
Andrew Eric "Andy" Ferrell is an English footballer who plays for Barrow as a midfielder. He played in League Two for Hereford United during the 2006–07 season.-Career:...
Rob PurdieRob Purdie
Robert James 'Rob' Purdie is an English footballer who currently plays for Hereford United after being released by Oldham Athletic on transfer deadline day, 31 January 2011....
Andy Williams Adam StansfieldAdam Stansfield
Adam Stansfield was an English footballer who played as a striker. He played for Cullompton Rangers, Elmore, Yeovil Town, Hereford United and Exeter City.-Career:...
Craig MawsonCraig Mawson
Craig Mawson is an English footballer who works as a goalkeeping coach for Burnley.- Burnley :...
Jamie PitmanJamie Pitman
Jamie Pitman is an English footballer turned football manager, who is now manager of Hereford United.-Playing career:...
Danny Carey-Bertram Stuart FleetwoodStuart Fleetwood
Stuart Keith Fleetwood is an English-born Wales under-21 international footballer who plays as a striker for Luton Town.-Early life:...
Guy IpouaGuy Ipoua
Guy Ipoua is an Cameroonian footballer who has played for Oryx Douala and a string of British and Continental clubs. His elder brother Samuel Ipoua represented Cameroon at the 1998 World Cup....
Graham TurnerGraham Turner
Graham John Turner is an English former footballer who became a manager. He is currently manager of League Two club Shrewsbury Town. His son Mark was also a professional footballer....
MATCH RULES
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