The Shay Stadium
Halifax, West Yorkshire, England
The Shay Stadium, Halifax, England — opened 1921, 433 rugby league games hosted, home of Halifax RLFC (Halifax Panthers), shared with Halifax Town A.F.C. / FC Halifax Town.
Sourcing caveat: Rugby League Project's venue-results page for 'The Shay' lists a first fixture dated 22 January 1986 (Halifax 8-15 Widnes), well before Halifax RLFC's well-documented move-in date of April 1998 given by Wikipedia and club sources — this likely reflects the venue-results page aggregating matches under a venue-name that also covers an earlier ground or a data-matching quirk rather than Halifax actually playing there in 1986. The 1998 move date is treated as authoritative for the 'opened' (as a rugby league ground) field above; the discrepancy is flagged rather than silently resolved.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1921 (1921 is when The Shay opened for football (Halifax Town 5-0 Darlington, 3 September 1921); Halifax RLFC did not move in until 1998.) |
| Home club | Halifax RLFC (Halifax Panthers), shared with Halifax Town A.F.C. / FC Halifax Town |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 433 |
| Top recorded crowd | 10,666 |
| Capacity | 14,061 (5,830 seated) in current rugby league configuration |
| Test matches hosted | 1 |
| First rugby league match | Halifax 8-15 Widnes, 22 January 1986, Championship (per Rugby League Project's earliest recorded fixture at the venue) — see caveat on Halifax's actual 1998 move-in date |
| Years used | 1986–2026 |
| Location | Halifax, West Yorkshire |
Name history
- The Shay — 1921–1987
- The Shay Calderdale Sports Stadium — 1987–c.1990s, following a council rescue takeover
- The Shay / MBI Shay Stadium — current
Rugby league history
Halifax RLFC left their historic Thrum Hall ground after 112 years, selling the site for supermarket development, and played their first match at The Shay on 10 April 1998 against Huddersfield Giants. The move made The Shay a shared home for rugby league and association football (Halifax Town, and its phoenix club FC Halifax Town from 2008), alongside a long earlier history hosting Halifax Dukes speedway (1949-52 and 1965-86). The Shay also hosted a fixture from the 2013 Rugby League World Cup and staged Huddersfield Giants' Super League home games during 2011 while Kirklees Stadium was redeveloped. In 2025, Calderdale Council approved plans to sell the freehold to Huddersfield Giants owner Ken Davy, part of proposals that could see Huddersfield Giants groundshare at The Shay from 2026 while their own new stadium is built.
Long-time home of Halifax Town A.F.C. / FC Halifax Town (since the ground opened in 1921) and, historically, Halifax Dukes speedway (1949-52, 1965-86) — making it a three-sport venue for parts of its history.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 2013 Rugby League World Cup, Group C — Tonga 16-0 Italy, attendance 10,266
Pre-dates the site's structured match-by-match records for these competitions, so listed here as sourced facts rather than linked match pages.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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