The 2005–06 Conference National Playoff Final took place on 20 May 2006 and was contested between
Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
and
Hereford United
Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...
. It was held at the
Walkers Stadium
King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...
Leicester for the first time, the previous Playoff Finals having been held at the
Britannia Stadium
The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as ''bet365 Stadium'') is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was ...
, Stoke. The result promoted Hereford to League Two while Halifax had to remain in the Conference.
Over 18,000 spectators attended the match, of which approximately 10,000 were Hereford fans."Hereford United 3–2 Halifax Town" ''The Guardian''. London. 22 May 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2008. The match was televised live by
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
and then made available on DVD by Hereford United.
Both clubs no longer exist in the form that contested the final. Halifax Town AFC folded in 2008 and reformed as
F.C. Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 seaso ...
. Hereford United folded in 2014 and reformed as Hereford.
Route to the final
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."Hereford 3–2 Morecambe (4–3 agg)" BBC Sport. 11 May 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2006
Match
Summary
As early as the 6th minute there was controversy as Hereford captain
Tamika Mkandawire
Tamika Paul Mkandawire (born 28 May 1983) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or defender. Born in Malawi, he made two appearances for the England C national team.
Early life
Born in Mzuzu, Mkandawire came to Engla ...
handled the ball in his own penalty area, but the offence was not spotted by referee Dean Whitestone."Green's art gives Turner prize of League return" ''The Independent''. London. 21 May 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2008. 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
Robert James Purdie (born 28 September 1982) is an English retired footballer who last played for Hereford as a midfielder.
Purdie was a versatile Utility player who played primarily as an attacking midfielder, but he could also play in the fu ...
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 Keith Killeen (born 23 September 1982 in Peterborough) is a retired ex English professional footballer who has over 400 career appearances to his name at clubs including Sheffield United, Halifax Town and Crawley Town.
Career
Killeen sign ...
, 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
Guy Ipoua (born 14 January 1976) is a former Cameroonian footballer who played as a striker. He previously played for a string of British and Continental clubs. His elder brother, Samuel, represented Cameroon at the 1998 World Cup.
Career
Born ...
who equally made an impact on the game. He controlled a flick on by Andy Ferrell, before playing the ball out to
Simon Travis
Simon Travis (born 22 March 1977) is an English former professional footballer. He played on both the right and left sides in a full-back or midfield role, and was capped by the England C national football team under Paul Fairclough.
Career
T ...
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
Graham John Turner (born 5 October 1947) is an English former footballer who became a manager. His son Mark was also a professional footballer. He is third behind only Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger in terms of most games managed.
After a ...
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 Keith Wakley Fleetwood (born 23 April 1986) is a semi-professional footballer who plays as a striker for Cinderford Town.
Early life
Fleetwood was born in Gloucester, Gloucestershire.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.
Details
Post-match
The result of the game had a profound effect on each team. 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 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 make-up 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.
Hereford were relegated after one season in League One, and were subsequently relegated from the Football League for the second time in their history in 2011–12. They did not last much longer, being expelled from the Conference in 2013–14 for financial irregularities, having initially survived relegation. Gross mismanagement led to the club folding the following season with their results being expunged from the 2014–15 Southern League Premier Division.