Halifax Town players who went on to bigger and better things
HALIFAX TOWN historian Johnny Meynell looks back on the players that went on to bigger and better things after leaving The Shay.
It’s a subject that occasionally crops up on the club messageboards and in pubs (before lockdown) - when talking of former Halifax Town players, what of the ones that got way? The players who failed to impress, then
It was always going to be a tall order for Hogan to force himself into the reckoning
went on to greater things with other clubs.
One player who immediately comes to mind is Scott Hogan, a striker brought to The Shay by Neil Aspin in November 2010 when Town were beating all before them in the Unibond Premier Division.
With a forward line already blessed with Jamie Vardy, James Dean, Lee Gregory and Danny Holland, it was always going to be a tall order for Hogan to force himself into the reckoning.
His only league appearance was as a substitute in August 2011, and Hogan left the club in December 2011 and did the nonleague rounds before rejoining League Two side Rochdale, where his career took off.
His transfer to Brentford commanded a £750,000 fee, from where he joined Aston Villa for £12m and won his first Ireland cap in the friendly with Turkey in March 2018.
You could draw parallels with Grant Holt, who arrived at The Shay as a raw 18-year-old.
Holt made only one start for Town that term, against Hartlepool United in the Auto Windscreen Shield, and his only goal for the club came the following eason, a header in the defeat by Tranmere Rovers in the second leg of a Worthington Cup tie.
He left The Shay in January 2001, with his footballing journey taking him far and wide, playing in Australia and Hong Kong, before returning to these shores to play for Barrow, where he found his goalscoring touch.
Impressive form at Rochdale was followed by a move to Nottingham Forest before he went on to play in the Premier League for Norwich City.
Two goalkeepers - Bobby Mimms and Jonathan Gould - also enjoyed greater success elsewhere.
Mimms joined the club as a sixteen-year-old straight from school in 1980, signed by then manager George Kirby.
He left without playing a competitive game, and went on to join then champions Everton for £160,000 from Rotherham in 1985. He also played for
Tottenham and Blackburn, and won three England Under 12 caps.
Gould was signed by Town manager Jim McCalliog in 1990 but was unable to establish himself in the first-team and signed for his dad Bobby at West Brom, following him to Coventry.
A surprise move to Celtic in 1997 saw him clinch the Scottish league title in his first season as number one.
His performances earned him a call-up to the Scotland national side, being a squad member at the 1998 World Cup Finals.
He won a second league championship with Celtic and is now goalkeeping coach at Preston North End.
Many years later, then chairman Jim Brown would reflect on the club’s decision to let Gould go on a free as an ‘out and out disaster’.
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