FC Halifax Town play their third match in the opening week of the new Evo-Stik Premier Division season when they make the trip south to Chasetown this Saturday.
It's been a tough introduction to life at this level for the Staffordshire club, having lost their opening two matches in their first ever campaign in the Northern Premier League.
They came mightily close to getting what would have been a superb point at Bradford Park Avenue on the opening day of the season but succumbed to a 90th minute winner, and lost at home to Marine 1-0 during the week.
The club is best known for its 21st Century heroics in the FA Cup, when they reached the first round for the first time in their history in the 2005-06 season, and held Oldham to a 1-1 draw live on the BBC.
Two seasons later, the club went two rounds further after beating Staffordshire rivals Port Vale in the second round and drawing Cardiff at home in round three, but lost to the Welshmen 3-1.
All of that was under the stewardship of current manager Charlie Blakemore, who is now in his seventh full season in charge of the club.
Chasetown will be looking to last season's top scorer Gary Birch for firepower again this season, as the 28 year-old former Walsall striker bagged 18 goals last year on the way to promotion.
Another notable member of their squad is Andy Turner, who has held the same crown as Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and James Milner of being the youngest player to score in the Premier League aged 17 years and 166 days when he found the net for Tottenham against Everton on 5 September 1992.
Halifax have collected an encouraging four points from their first two matches in the Evo-Stik Premier with two impressive performances in a 2-1 win at home to Buxton and a 0-0 draw at Frickley, the first goalless draw for the club since Neil Aspin took charge.
Jamie Vardy limped off during the second-half of Tuesday night's game and is a doubt for the trip to Chasetown, while James Dean, Danny Lowe and Scott Phelan are still continuing their rehabilitation from injuries.
The Scholars have been taught some harsh lessons on life in the Evo-Stik Premier, and to see if The Shaymen can subject them to further punishment, be at The Scholars Ground for Saturday's 3pm kick-off. If you can't make it to the game, the official FC Halifax Town website will be providing regular updates on all the action throughout the afternoon, while highlights of the match will be available on Shaymen Player from Sunday.
Tom Scargill
