Welcome to the latest installment of the Gloucester Groundhopper blog.
For this installment, we travelled to Yorkshire for some Sky Bet EFL Championship action as Huddersfield Town took on Swansea City at the John Smith’s Stadium.
It's All In The Name
Huddersfield was simply known as 'The Town' for many years until a change in the 1969-1970 season marked a shift in the town's character going forward, according to the Huddersfield Town Collection.
Bill Brook, the club's promotion officer, believed that the squad needed to rebrand in order to capitalise on their on-field success as they competed for promotion from the Second Division.
While references to the new nickname were minimal in its early days, the insignia was gradually introduced to the jerseys, albeit exclusively on away shirts, as the club gradually absorbed the new identity.
The new nickname was accompanied by the installation of a new mascot - a real-life Yorkshire terrier named Skippy from Honley who served as the poster figure for the rebranding, appearing in a 1969 home programme versus Bolton Wanderers.
The town of Huddersfield's relationship to the Yorkshire Terrier predates that of the club's nickname, with Huddersfield Ben, the breed's internationally recognised originator, dating back to the late 1800s.
Some Notable People From Huddersfield:
Harold Wilson- Former Prime Minister
Tristan Simmonds- 'I'm in me mum's cyarrr'
James Mason- Actor
Simon Armitage- Poet
Jon Stead- Footballer
Some Notable Former Players
Philip Billing
Denis Law
George Brown
Ray Wilson
Frank Worthington
Aaron Mooy
Christopher Schindler
Emile Smith-Rowe
A History Lesson From Gloucester Groundhopper
In 1908, the club was established. For £500, the founders purchased a location on Leeds Road and became members of the North Eastern League. To save on travel expenses, they joined the Midland Football League the next season. The team hired Scottish architect Archibald Leitch to rebuild Leeds Road in an attempt to get into the Football League. A 34,000-seat capacity was to be achieved by building a 4,000-seat stand and implementing terracing. Once the designs were approved, Leeds Road work started as soon as Huddersfield directors applied and were accepted as Football League members in 1910.
Huddersfield Town was reportedly £25,000 in debt in 1919, with attendances down to roughly 3,000. Chairman John Hilton Crowther sought to unite Town with the newly created Leeds United and relocate to Leeds.The reports prompted supporters to start fundraising to prevent the migration. Shares of £1 had been released, bringing the club under public ownership. After a month of raising finances and negotiating, the club remained in Huddersfield.The team then advanced to the 1920 FA Cup final, winning promotion to the First Division for the first time.
Herbert Chapman, a former Leeds City manager, was appointed during their first season in the top division. The team won their first major trophy, the FA Cup, after defeating Preston North End 1-0 in the 1922 FA Cup final. Huddersfield also won the 1922 Charity Shield, beating Liverpool 1-0. Town finished third in 1922-23, then won their first First Division championship in 1923-24. The team defeated Cardiff City, but by the narrowest of margins. They both finished with 57 points, but Huddersfield won by 0.024 goal average. Huddersfield defeated Nottingham Forest 3-0 in their most recent match, while Cardiff drew 0-0 at Birmingham City and missed a penalty.
The team defended their First Division title in 1924-25, losing only one of their last 27 league games. Huddersfield only conceded 28 goals and never more than two per game, making them the first team to accomplish this accomplishment. Another remarkable achievement occurred in October 1924, when Billy Smith became the first player in history to score from a corner.
After winning consecutive league titles, Chapman went for Arsenal, which paid him a double salary and drew higher audiences than Huddersfield. Cecil Potter was appointed as his successor. Under Potter, Town became the first club to win three consecutive English League titles in 1925-26. The team came close to winning a fourth consecutive title the following season, but only won one of their final seven games, handing the trophy to Newcastle United.
In 1938, Huddersfield Town lost the FA Cup Final against Preston North End after extra time, which was the first FA Cup final aired on television.
Town was relegated for the first time during the 1951-52 season. Andy Beattie was appointed manager of Stockport County in April 1952, and he handled both Stockport and Huddersfield in three divisions that month. He also pinned two horseshoes to his office wall for luck. The team finished second in the Second Division in 1952-53 and immediately returned.They finished third in their debut season back in the top level. After Town were relegated in 1955-56, Beattie resigned as manager in November 1956, and Bill Shankly took over.
Town won the Second Division in 1969-70, led by Ian Greaves. The team remained in the first division for their first season back, but were demoted in 1971-72, followed by another relegation to the Third Division for the first time the following season. Huddersfield were demoted to the Fourth Division for the first time in 1974–75.
Huddersfield won the Fourth Division in 1979-80, with 101 goals. The following season, Town ended narrowly outside of the promotion places. In 1982-83, the team finished third, resulting in promotion to the Second Division.
Huddersfield Town beat Blackpool 2-1 in their final match at Leeds Road on April 30, 1994. They relocated to the new Kirklees Stadium for the 1994-95 season. During their first season at the new stadium, Huddersfield were promoted to the second tier through the play-offs following a 2-1 victory over Bristol Rovers at Wembley.
Following relegation and the failure of ITV Digital, the team owed £20 million in the early 2000s. The players went months without being paid, and manager Mick Wadsworth was fired in January 2003, only to be reinstated since the club didn't have the money to pay him off. Wadsworth was eventually fired in March and replaced by Mel Machin, who supervised relegation to the fourth division. The club went into administration, but Ken Davy purchased it in the summer of 2003, saving Town from collapse. Manager Peter Jackson had only four senior players on his roster before to the start of the 2003-04 season, following which many young players from the academy were added. Huddersfield finished fourth, shocking everyone, and defeated Mansfield Town in the play-off final to return to the third division.
Simon Grayson led Town to the 2012 play-off final against Sheffield United. The game ended 0-0 after extra time, with Huddersfield winning on penalties 8-7.
In November 2015, David Wagner became the club's first manager who was not born in the UK. He introduced the Gegenpressing style of play. In 2016-17, Town finished fifth with a negative goal difference, qualifying for the play-offs. After beating Sheffield Wednesday on penalties in the semi-finals, they faced Reading in the final. Another penalty shootout was held, and Huddersfield won again. Promotion to the Premier League resulted in a return to the top flight for the first time since 1972.
The team finished 16th in the Premier League in 2017-18 and remained there, however they were demoted after finishing 20th in 2018-19. Wagner departed the club by mutual consent in January 2019, and was replaced by Borussia Dortmund II manager Jan Siewert, although Town were relegated in March after six games. The club had only three wins and 16 points before the end of the season.
Huddersfield finished third in the EFL Championship and faced fourth-place Nottingham Forest in the 2022 EFL Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium, losing 1-0 leaving them in the Championship, where they currently remain.
Honours
🏆 First Division (Champions: 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26)(Runners-up: 1926–27, 1927–28, 1933–34)
🏆 Second Division / Championship (Champions: 1969–70) (2nd Place Promotion: 1919–20, 1952–53) (Play-off Winners: 2017)
🏆 Third Division / Second Division / League One (3rd Place Promotion: 1982–83 (Play-off Winners: 1995, 2012)
🏆 Fourth Division / Third Division (Champions: 1979–80)(Play-off Winners: 2004)
🏆 FA Cup (Winners: 1921–22) (Runners-up: 1919–20, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1937–38)
🏆 FA Charity Shield (Winners: 1922)
🏆 Football League Trophy (Runners-up: 1993–94)
Matchday: Huddersfield Town 0-4 Swansea City
We travelled to Huddersfield on a warmer, Saturday morning as we sought another game with some great quality. We arrived in Huddersfield in good time, having booked parking at the nearby Sainsburys. It took us around 20 minutes to walk from there to the ground, which was well signposted.
Arriving at the ground, we initially were met with the memorial garden dedicated to Huddersfield fans and players who had passed away. Nearby there was a superstore which was doing a one day only offer of 25% off all products with a match ticket. This meant that the pin badge I purchased cost a mere £2.25-excellent value.
We then went to the fanzone. It must be said that this fanzone was excellent. I am currently trying to get my own club (Cheltenham Town) to improve their fan experience and this was the epitome of what I am trying to achieve. There were interactive games for fans to have go on, bars and a big screen showing the early kickoff (Leicester City vs West Bromwich Albion) local businesses selling their produce. One notable stall was one held by Liv’s Bakes and Cakes. I am quite critical of food, but when I say the cake I tried (The Old School Cake) and I was taken aback by how good it was- that shows good it actually was.
We then went to have a look at the mural that is situated around a 10 minute walk from the ground (via the exotic fish shop). The mural depicts the thrice champions in Huddersfield’s history, and their former manager, Herbert Chapman- it really showed that the club and the town take great pride in their club, and that they want the club to be at the heart of the area.
We then entered the ground. The ticketing system was fairly simple as it was just a case of buying the tickets and getting them sent to our phones. Entering the ground they merely scanned the bar code and hey presto, we were in. Finners at this point wanted to try some of the food, and found that they offered a vegan sausage roll, however when he ordered one, they told him they ‘weren’t doing that today.’ In the end, he ended up with a cheese and onion pasty, which he thoroughly enjoyed (my regulars will now be able to translate this for themselves).
We were housed in the Chadwick Lawrence stand, and it has to be said that everybody, to a person, was lovely and welcoming. Where we were sat, Finners ended up having a long chat with a Huddersfield fan from Shanghai who was a massive Aaron Mooy fan. I, myself, ended up chatting to a local supporter who was giving me advice for our trip to Rome (evidently is taking place on Monday). We really appreciated this welcome, especially at such a difficult time for the club.
The atmosphere was a bit 50/50. In the early stages of the game, the fans were right behind their team, with a lot of noise being made. However, understandably, as the game went on the fans became more frustrated and more demoralised and a lot of fans ended up leaving when the scoreline got to 0-3, which again you can’t blame them for. It’s been a long hard season for the club, and even we could see that some players were not giving 100% to the club in the game.
Teamsheet
Huddersfield Town
Manager: André Breitenreiter
Lee Nicholls
Matty Pearson
Michal Helik (c)
Delano Burgzorg
Jack Rudoni
Josh Koroma
Sorba Thomas
Brodie Spencer
David Kasumu
Alex Matos
Tom Lees
Substitutes
Chris Maxwell
Bojan Radulovic
Jaheim Headley
Tom Edwards
Ollie Turton
Ben Wiles
Danny Ward
Ben Jackson
Rhys Healey
Swansea City
Manager: Luke Williams
Carl Rushworth
Josh Key
Jay Fulton
Ben Cabango
Harry Darling
Matt Grimes
Jamie Paterson
Josh Tymon
Liam Cullen
Ollie Cooper
Ronald ⚽️
Substitutes
Andy Fisher
Jerry Yates ⚽️
Jamal Lowe ⚽️
Charlie Patino
Liam Walsh ⚽️
Nathan Wood
Bashir Humphreys
Azeem Abdulai
Mykola Kuharevich
There wasn't really anything to talk about or much of an event in the first half. Substitute Jamal Lowe entered the game from the left and struck the bottom corner with a strong right-footed effort after Liam Cullen's curling attempt from the edge of the penalty area had struck the post in the first half.
Danny Ward, a replacement for Huddersfield, hit the crossbar in an attempt to keep the home team in the game, but Ronald's decisive finish after a brilliant counterattack ensured victory for the Swans.
Swansea scored twice in extra time to further inflict their opponents' suffering. First, substitute Liam Walsh struck the top corner with a stunning strike, and then Jerry Yates converted from close range to double the pain on Huddersfield Town.
Scores on the Doors
Atmosphere: 7.5/10
Food and Drink: 7/10
Stadium: 8/10
Welcome: 9/10
Overall Experience: 8.5/10
GG
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