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Petition launched to stop Huddersfield Giants buying The Shay stadium

Huddersfield Giants’ plan to buy The Shay stadium have been met with opposition from Halifax Town fans who have launched a petition against the proposed purchase.

Giants’ chairman Ken Davy has launched his plan for Huddersfield to build and move into a new stadium, however, those plans rest on the club having a temporary home whilst building takes place.

Davy picked out The Shay as that temporary home with the long-term investor putting forward plans to purchase the stadium from Halifax Council before selling it back having vastly improved it.

Improvements would be required should Huddersfield Giants purchase and play at the stadium given that it does not currently meet the minimum standards in Super League.

However, any notion of Davy buying the ground has been met with stern opposition from Halifax Town football club fans with the National League club one of the current occupants of the ground, alongside Halifax Panthers.

Petition launched to stop Huddersfield Giants buying The Shay stadium

Halifax panthers rugby league- 24/03/2024 - Rugby League - Betfred Challenge Cup Round 6 - Halifax Panthers v Catalans Dragons - The Shay Stadium, Halifax, England - General view during the game

Credit: Ed Sykes/SWpix.com

The Shay is owned by Calderdale Council but Davy planned to purchase it, improve it to a level befitting Super League standards, and then sell it back with the Giants owner arguing it would be beneficial to both Halifax Panthers and Halifax Town.

He had previously told The Halifax Courier: “I would hope that, by then, because of what we’ve done, they would be in a much better position.

“Given it would be a Super League stadium, who knows, somebody might come in to support the Panthers and take them into Super League. FC Halifax may have gained promotion and be in a much better position financially.”

Despite his good intentions, a group of Halifax Town fans have launched a petition opposing the purchase with one of those fans, Alex Tepielow, speaking to the Courier about their decision.

He said: “Hopefully, we will gather the 2,000 signatures required to get a slot at the council cabinet meeting on March 17.

“We are not, in principal, against the Huddersfield Giants moving to the Shay on a temporary basis, but this has to be done so as not to endanger the future of either FC Halifax Town or the Halifax Panthers.

“The current Ken Davy proposal to loan money to the two clubs to do the pitch remediation, which they will then subsequently pay back to Mr Davy, would put the burden for funding this ultimately on the local clubs and not the Giants.

“More importantly, if and when the Giants move back to their new home in Kirklees, the offer to sell the ground back to the two clubs is unlikely to happen as neither club has the financial capacity to undertake such a significant investment.”

Tepielow fears that if neither Halifax Panthers or Town have the funds to purchase the stadium back then it could be sold on the open market, thus bringing an end to The Shay being a community asset.

He explained: “The petition is open to anyone, rugby fans included, who have the same concerns over the future of the Shay, as we would like the council to consider a hybrid approach using the other options for managing the ground on an ongoing basis alongside the Ken Davy proposal, without selling the ‘family silver’.”

Fans can read more about the petition here.

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