Tough start, hectic first two months and testing Tuesday nights: Analysing FC Halifax Town's 2023-24 fixture list

Busy start

By the end of September, we should have a fair idea of how FC Halifax Town's season will pan out.

Around 28 per cent of Town's league games next season will be played in the first two months, with 13 matches in the first eight weeks.

That means there are 39 points up for grabs in the first two months of the campaign.

Town only picked up eight points over the same period last term - a similarly poor start this time round would be a disaster.

Bromley at home on the opening day is a tough start. They pushed Chesterfield all the way in the play-offs last season and are always a tough team to play.

There are then two tricky away trips to Boreham Wood and Oldham Athletic, both of whom will be expecting a top seven finish.

Newly-promoted Oxford City at home looks a decent chance for three points, on paper at least, before Solihull away and Gateshead at home to round off August.

Rochdale, Chesterfield and Barnet away in September offer no easy games, but there should be some wins against Southend, Dorking, Dagenham and Redbridge and Eastleigh at home if Halifax are to be competing at the top end of the table.

Festive period

As last season, Town have a festive double-header against Altrincham, with a Boxing Day visit to Moss Lane before a rematch at The Shay to bring in the new year. Before that is a tasty-looking clash at home to Rochdale on Saturday, December 23. August's games against Solihull and Gateshead are reversed earlier in December, so Town will be hoping they can set themselves up with some points on the board before the Christmas games begin.

Midweek

Nine Tuesday night games are currently scheduled, but last season showed how quickly postponements can add to that. The four away Tuesday night games are at Oldham, Chesterfield, Fylde and, not quite as local, Woking. Halifax's five home Tuesday games are against Dagenham and Redbridge, Fylde, Hartlepool, Oldham and Chesterfield, meaning both games against Oldham and Chesterfield will be in midweek, potentially seeing fewer fans through the gates as a result. The away trips to Woking and Fylde are followed by weekend visits to Ebbsfleet and Fylde respectively - two sequences which could have been kinder to The Shaymen.

Run-in

The Easter double-header sees Town visit Hartlepool on the Friday and then host York on the Monday. It's then Kidderminster away, Barnet at home and Eastleigh away to finish the season. Most of those teams are hard to judge at this stage, Halifax included, so it could swing from being a tricky ending to one where points could be plentiful. Town probably wouldn't want to be heading to Eastleigh needing points to achieve their goal, but Barnet at home have the potential to be party-poopers for whatever The Shaymen need from their final home match of the campaign.