Halifax FC Women head coach Rob Mitchell speaks to Impetus’ Ben Gilby about an exciting development at the tier three FA Women’s National League Northern Premier club (24/10/23).
Above: Halifax FC Women 2023/24. Photo: Halifax FC Women.
Halifax FC Women are a club who have consistently achieved. Under their previous name of Brighouse Town, they made cup finals and gained promotion up the pyramid to their present status as a stand-alone female-only club in tier three.
Their steady and sustainable progress has won them many admirers down the seasons – and their latest admirer has the potential to help the club to develop its infrastructure on and off the pitch and give opportunities to the young females of Yorkshire to pursue their footballing dreams.
Halifax were recently approached by Hokulani International, a private investment fund. The club’s head coach Rob Mitchell takes up the story.
“Hokulani are heavily involved in the growth of women’s football across Europe. As part of their long-term strategic values which include investment in the women’s game, and to build a sustainable structure for the future, Mr Daniel Loitz, who is the principle investor, made initial contact off the back of our announcement of the rebrand to Halifax FC Women as an independent women’s and girls club, the project excited him and he felt we could bring value to the Hokulani project. We had several meetings to confirm that our visions align and we felt now is the time to put our plans into action.”
Whilst the investment in the club is welcome, Mitchell is at pains to stress that it won’t change the club’s history as one who like to develop growth at a sustainable pace.
“The big thing for me is to point out that we will have a sensible and structured approach, growing the brand organically to become sustainable, we won’t be just throwing money at it without a plan, we have a vision for growth which would see us consolidate our place in tier three in the short term whilst putting a structure in place behind the scenes to allow us to operate more professionally.
“Longer term we will become more of a development hub for the best young talents around the UK and Europe whilst we try to compete for a place in the Championship. Offering an education programme for example will upskill players off the pitch which is something we feel adds value.”
Halifax will benefit from its partnership with Hokulani as the club will become part of a group of satellite clubs based around Europe in Finland, Romania, and Ukraine. This is an opportunity that excites Mitchell.
“A couple of the clubs regularly qualify for the Women’s Champions League and another is very much youth-driven. We would fit in the middle of this with an additional club being added in 2025 which would be fully professional and at the top of this structure.
“The relationship would allow players to move around the clubs depending on ability, development phase or to meet the needs of the clubs and each individual player. It would give coaches an opportunity to network and develop their skills together in a new environment, something I’m personally really excited to be involved in.”
In terms of where Mitchell sees the club’s development as a result of this partnership in the longer term, he said: “The Championship would be our ideal destination but it is going to take time, the level of the clubs in this league is high so it won’t happen over night.
“We’ve shown over the years that we can compete, develop and grow as a club, consistently improving year on year so this has given us confidence that we can reach our goals in the next few years. With regards to a facility, the best teams have access to state-of-the-art training facilities, so we want to give our players the same opportunities, a home ground in Halifax would be our ultimate goal so we can truly represent the people of our Town and give them a club they can be proud of.
“We want to develop our youth section and see players move through the age groups into the first team and beyond, so a facility for women’s and girls football specifically would help us to achieve that goal. All these discussions are in the early stages, but we are excited that they’re taking place, we won’t be running before we can walk so to speak.
“When we became Halifax FC Women rather than Brighouse Town, we had a bit of a reset and only have one junior team currently, they’re an excellent group of players who we have high hopes for, but we do need to grow this side of things too now, we will add additional teams each season in our own time and at our own pace to makes sure we get it right, and to ensure we can give everyone the same opportunities across the club for growth and development. I must emphasise, this is a long-term project and we want to get it right so that takes time.”
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