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The Shay: new stand

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National League One Halifax were the first Super League 'outsiders' to come under the Boots 'n' All licensing spotlight.

With clubs being asked to put their bids in for a permit to take part in the competition from 2009, every week Angela Powers will be out and about seeing how the candidates meet the necessary criteria.

This week she dropped in on The Shay on the back of Fax's prestigious friendly with Melbourne Storm ahead of their World Club Challenge with neighbouring Leeds.

And the news for the locals is not that good. Thanks in no small part to the football club's relegation from the Football League, there is still a stand that remains half-built.

That in turn means they do not boast the required 12,000 capacity, neither does the ground meet premier competition standards and nor do they operate at a 40 per cent capacity.

And with Bradford, Leeds and Huddersfield all on their doorstep, like the majority of clubs, they also have clubs within a 20-mile radius.

Their six-year absence from Super League also means they are not considered to have contributed to the competition - although the Rugby League are considering whether input to the game outside the top flight should be taken into account.

Despite having former players dotted about the leading clubs, they do not get a point for junior development, although solvency and no breaches of the salary cap do give them something in the bank.

And if there were points available for determination, then Halifax would have another.

Chairman Michael Steele is adamant the club will try again. A share scheme has already been implemented and he is also confident that plans to get The Shay up to scratch will boost their chances this time around.

"The potential is massive with that stand finished because we intend this to be a seven-day-a-week operation like so many of these new stadiums," he said. "It's modelled very much in the ones that have succeeded.

"We're a solvent. We're a company limited by shares, which weren't until a few months ago but because it's in the criteria we've done the necessary, with the approval of the Rugby League, to transfer it to a company limited by shares.

"The bottom line is as long as the competition says to move upwards you've got to do a different set of things, we will try and do that."

Here's how Halifax fared...