[Lord Snooty]

January 21st:

So after much speculation and false sightings, Martin from Wakefield Jan Siewert was appointed as the new Town manager to succeed David Wagner on this date in 2019. Big shoes to fill. Will he be able to? We'll see.

Well, we all know how it went, don't we? Let's not dwell on it.

We have two birthdays. Town legends of the Mick Buxton era. First one up is Dave Sutton, who was born in 1957 and so is 65 today. Buxton rated him as as one of his best ever signings, although Tom Johnston was manager when he actually signed. Mick was at the club though, in a coaching role, so maybe it was he who recommended him. Don't know what it was about Huddersfield that attracted him. He and his wife had to live in the small flat above the Supporters Club shop on Leeds Road when they first arrived.

Anyway, he won promotion twice with us, after his transfer from Plymouth, making 284 appearances for the club, scoring 15 goals. Not a bad scoring record for a centre back.

The other birthday is for Colin Russell. Born in Liverpool in 1961, he is 61 today. As noted a few days ago, his goals alongside Mark Lillis helped us to win promotion in 1982/83, with Colin bagging 16. He scored 25 in total for us, but fell out with Buxton and was sent out on loan. A strange loan really. Not to a 4th Division club as a punishment, but to First Division Stoke City. He made 11 appearances for the Potters, famously scoring a goal in a 2-0 win against his boyhood team, Liverpool, the team we signed him from.

As for matches. We have played Leeds three times on this date. A win, a draw and a loss. Let's talk about the win. It was in 1939 at Bellend Road, an FA Cup fourth round match and we won it 4-2 on a cup run that went as far as the semi finals. Billy Price score 7 goals in that run and he got three of them in this match against Leeds.

We have a penalty shoot out to report on. Did we win it? Of course we did.

It was in 1992 at Leeds Road, in the Autoglass Trophy against Blackpool. It was actually the second attempt to play the game. We had been there a week earlier, but with Town 1-0 up, the match was abandoned at half time due to fog. I was there. It really was thick.

Anyway, Iwan Roberts had scored in the previous week and he scored again in this as the match finished at 1-1. But then he went and missed his penalty. That was the first kick. Graham Mitchell, Kieran O'Regan and Mark Wright scored theirs, but the hero of the night was Tim Clarke, a clown of a keeper who earned himself the nickname Coco, but it was his night tonight as he saved two penalties and when Andy Garner missed his kick, Town had won the shoot out 3-1.

[Lord Snooty]

January 22nd:

Well it's a good day for Huddersfield Town to have a match. We are unbeaten on this date since losing 1-0 at Arsenal in 1972. And that's the only defeat we've had.

One interesting match among the series of games on this day was in 1938, when we played Notts County at Leeds Road in the 4th round of the FA Cup. This was the year we made it all the way to the final of course. We won the game 1-0, but the name of the scorer is one I'd never come across before. He only played 4 times for us and this was his only goal. His name was Jack Beattie.

He was an inside forward from Aberdeen and although he only played three league games for us, his career total was just under 300. He started out at Aberdeen, then came down south to Wolves. After that he played for Blackburn, then Birmingham, then us. After his time at Town, he went and played for Grimsby Town, but then the war came along and he never played again when the game started up again.

He died in Wolverhampton in 1992, aged 79.

Birthday boy today is Theo Larayan Ronaldo Shadiki Robinson, currently languishing in the 4th Division with Bradford City. He was born on this date in 1989 and so is 33 today. So he was still nobbut a kid when he came to us in 2009 and made his debut at Southend on the opening day of the 09/10 season. He came to us from Watford, for whom he made one Premier League appearance.

On that debut, he didn't look very good and the game changed when he went off and another young lad called Jordan Rhodes came on and scored the equaliser. He did score his first Town goal though in the next game, a 3-1 win at home to Stockport County in the League Cup. He followed that with two goals in the 7-1 win against Brighton and two goals in the remarkable League Cup match at Newcastle. He scored 13 goals in that first season as he, Rhodes and Lee Novak formed a fantastic attacking line up, with Gary Roberts and Anthony Pilkington supplying the ammo.

Bradford are the 16th club he's played for and the 16 goal tally he had for us is only bettered by the 18 goal haul he had for Derby County. Whilst at Derby, he gained 7 caps for Jamaica, even though he's a Brummie.

[jjamez]

Don't forget Theo was far worse the second time he came to us! Didn't he put a shot into the top tier of the fantastic media stand?

[Lord Snooty]

Aye it was a bit of a strange one whenever he came back. His name just appeared on the team sheet, out of the blue.
Not the best striker we've ever had, but certainly not the worst.

[jjamez]

Nah we've definitely had worse, one Keegan Parker would be one from my time

[theo_luddite]

Let's face it Martin from Wakefield couldn't have been any worse, oh sorry, we're now talking about players again. I must keep up.

Well even as a player, Martin from Wakefield ...........

[Lord Snooty]

January 23rd:

Jimmy Robson, who I wrote about in the Burnley match thread, was born on this date in 1939. He was of course, a Burnley legend, with his goals helping them win the title in 1960. Later in life, he came to Town as a coach for Mick Buxton and had one match as caretaker manager when Steve Smith resigned and before Malcolm McDonald was appointed.

He died in December and at that Burnley Cup match, he was given a minute's silence before the game.

I have to mention that man Dave Mangnall again for his exploits in 1932. On this date, we beat QPR 5-0 in the 4th round of the FA Cup, 5-0 at Leeds Road. This was his 10th goal in 5 successive matches on his way to a club record of scoring in 11 consecutive matches.

Dave scored twice in this game with Charlie Luke also getting two and Austen Campbell one.

Dave is 10th in our all time record scorers list. Charlie is 29th equal alongside Phil Starbuck.

Odd stat. we have only played once this century on this date and that was a 1-2 defeat at Brighton in 2016. We have never played a game at the John McAlpharm Stadium on this date either.

We had a 3-3 draw at the Victoria Ground in Stoke (not Hartlepool) in the 4th round of the FA Cup in 1971. Frank Worthington, Les Chapman and Brian Mahoney scored in that one. The replay is coming up on the 26th, see how that goes soon.

[HerefordBull]

Watched Phil Starbuck at Hereford United in 1990. Only played half a dozen games for us and didn't find the back of the net.

On loan from Notts Forest I think at that time.

[Lord Snooty]

Top quality he was for us. Signed on the year after he was at your place.
He has the distinction of scoring the last ever goal at Leeds Road.

[theo_luddite]

Oooh Phil Starbuck.