Timing of play-off switch 'ridiculous', says Halifax boss

FC Halifax Town manager Chris Millington has said his team are "victims" of the confusion surrounding the National League play-offs as they prepare to face Solihull Moors on Wednesday.

The Shaymen were slated to travel to Altrincham in their eliminator until the decision, announced on Sunday, that Gateshead would be removed from the equation forced a change of plan.

Gateshead, who finished sixth, have been barred from taking part in the play-offs after failing to meet the entry criteria for membership of the English Football League.

The reshuffle meant Altrincham were awarded a bye to the semi-finals and Halifax were forced to arrange a trip to the West Midlands at short notice.

Millington said Gateshead are the side that deserves most sympathy but said the confusion had not been helpful to his own team.

"I don't really know how it’s unfolded," he told BBC Radio Leeds. "We've been observing the journey, along with everyone else. It's something that's been completely out of our control."

'It doesn't change what we've got to do'

He continued: "As soon as the situation with Gateshead started to come to the surface, we knew we would be victims of it as well in one way or another, because it tends to be the case at the moment - if there's a way our plans and preparations can be undermined, they generally are.

"Our sympathies are with Gateshead, we do feel for them. It's incredibly harsh that a team which has contributed so well to the season as a whole, in how they've played, doesn't get the chance to compete for the final prize."

Asked if he was surprised about the timing of the decision, Millington said: "It's ridiculous. I always try to have a cautious approach to these things because I'm not privy to the conversations that have gone on, and the problems that the league and other parties are trying to overcome.

"I don't know how much work has gone on behind the scenes to try to get this sorted earlier but it certainly looks from the outside that it's all been left a little bit too late, and has possibly been a bit mismanaged, but that doesn't change what we've got to do.

“If it was Altrincham we were playing, we would have gone there confident that we could have got the job done and move on to the next round, and it's the same with Solihull."

The phoenix club, which was formed following Halifax Town's demise in 2008, lost in the play-offs in 2020 and 2022, and only secured seventh place with a win at Eastleigh on Saturday.

That completed a hectic end to the regular season, with postponements forcing them to play four games in the final week, with three "home" matches being switched to Accrington and Chesterfield.