[HerefordBull]

I take it the little toss pot , Lee Johnson, is now the guy in charge of Hibs?

[Lord Snooty]

Yes, the silly little twerp once picked a fight with Peter Jackson.

Jacko had him round the throat and ended up with a touchline ban.

[Lord Snooty]

August 3:

It's a happy birthday today to our centre back Matty Pearson. Born in Keighley on this date in 1993, he's 29 today.

Ten years later, he joined the Academy at Blackburn Rovers, but never got through to their first team, instead going out on loan to Lincoln City in the Conference. After that, he was released by Blackburn and signed for Rochdale. He played nine League Two games for the Dale, but then went down to the Conference with FC Halifax Town.

From the Shay, to Accrington Stanley, then on to Barnsley in the Championship, before dropping back down to League One with Luton. He got promoted with Luton, played in the Championship for them, then signed for us last summer.

Last season, he turned out 41 times for us, being leading scorer early in the season, but then got injured and missed the Play Offs.

Allan Gilliver was also born on this date, in 1944 and so is 78 today. Sadly, he's one in a depressingly long list of former footballers suffering with Alzheimers.

He played for Town in the 60s, but left just before I started going. We were his first club, but there were many more on Gilliver's travels. He left us to go to Blackburn and that was followed by Rotherham (his home town club), Brighton, Lincoln, Bradford and Stockport. He then went to the US of A and joined Baltimore Comets in the NASL. Never heard of them? Not surprising. They were dissolved after just two years of existence.

So he came back to England, joined Boston United, then Gainsborough, before settling down in Bradford with the Bantamweights. He stuck around there taking up various roles including groundsman, safety officer and commercial manager.

In his Town career, he scored 22 goals from 53 games, scoring on his debut, a 4-1 win at home to Swansea Town. Most of his goals came in 65/66 when he top scored with 18. He scored seven in the first four games of that season, including a hat trick against Middlesbrough at Leeds Road which we won 6-0 with Les Massie also bagging three.

John Haselden was born on this date in 1943, but sadly died in 2020 aged 76. He was born in Doncaster and played for Rotherham for seven years before going back to Donny for another six years.

After that he took up coaching and was first team coach at Mansfield when they won the 4th Division title and was then persuaded by Tom Johnston to leave there to take up a similar role with us at Leeds Road. Old Tom was just preparing for retirement though and his playing squad were lacking motivation, down in the 4th Division, just five years after being in the First.

When Tom retired, John took up the managers job, but only managed 14 games. Tom came out of retirement, before handing over to Mick Buxton, who made John his number 2 and the two of them turned the club around, going from the 4th to the 2nd Division.

Here he is, front row, 4th from the right.

Why do we never get squad photos anymore? Answers on a postcard please.......

Right then, back to the action on the field and on this date in 2018, the excellent preparations for the 2nd season in the Premier League came to a conclusion with a resounding 3-0 victory over RB Leipzig.

Having beaten Lyon on home soil, David Wagner took the lads on a training trip to Austria. We'd beaten Bologna 2-1 when we played Lepizig at the Sportzentrum Stadium in Schwaz.

Goals from a Steve Mounié header, Adama Diakhaby in a one on one with the keeper and Phillip Billing tapping home after being set up by Laurent Depoitre, set us up nicely now for the visit of Chelsea to the John Smith's in the first game of the new season next week.

How on earth did it go so spectacularly downhill from here? Answers on a postcard please...... or just post your answers below.

[SHEP_HTAFC]

Gillivers travels

[Lord Snooty]

August 4:

Premier League new boys Huddersfield Town, were on a training camp holiday in Austria and on this date in 2017 played Italian Serie A side Torino.

This one was played at the Stadion Jenbach, four days after drawing with Stuttgart and it was another draw in this match as well. Two all this time with goals from Elias Kachunga and Steve Mounie.

So the squad will now fly back home with just over a week to prepare for our Prima Donna debut down at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace.

I'nt it exciting? 

[Lord Snooty]

August 5:

Only two matches played on this date, official first team matches that is. Both ended in defeat as well. Let's hope we do better at Birmingham tonight.

The first Huddersfield Town match on this date was in 2006 away at Gillingham in League One. It wasn't a great start to the season for a Town side led by Peter Jackson. He had picked Matt Glennon in goal and he had been beaten for a second time in the 67th minute, at which time Jacko brought off Danny Schofield and replaced him with Chris Brandon.

Town rallied and pulled one back in the 81st, through Gary Taylor-Fletcher, after Pawel Abbott had replaced Andy Booth up top, but it wasn't enough and we left the Priestfield with sod all.

Then in 2019 we had the final game of the first round of matches as Sky Sports chose us for the Monday Night Football slot for our home game with Derby County. It was our first Championship game after a couple of seasons in the Premier League and it got off to a terrible start.

We still had Martin from Wakefield Jan Siewert in charge (not for much longer) and Phillip Cocu was taking charge of the Ramsbottoms for the first time.

Two Town debutants, Kamil Grabara and Tommy Elphick conspired to cock up, giving Tom Lawrence the chance to lob the ball into the empty net. And than Lawrence made it 2-0 a couple of minutes later, dancing through some tentative Terriers tackling and curling one in.

We had a lifeline soon after though when Juninho Bacuna was fouled in the area and Karlan Grant scored from the spot. But it was a poor performance despite Elias Kachunga almost grabbing a late equaliser.

The players and management were booed off at full time, but all the Sky talk was about whether or not Wayne Rooney would be signing for Derby.

[HerefordBull]

Ah, good old Martin, wonder what he is doing now?

[Lord Snooty]

He was there in his role as Chief Exec of Martin House Hospice in a fund raising role when he was spotted and mistaken to be Jan Siewert by a dopey Sky reporter.

It looks like he's left the hospice now and is working for Wakefield Housing......

Martin Warhurst, Chair of Audit & Risk Committee
Martin is the Executive Director of Resources at Wakefield District Housing Association. He was previously Chief Executive of Martin House Hospice and prior to that an Executive Director at Isos Housing Group (now Karbon Homes) where he was Managing Director of Cestria Community Housing Association following several years as Director of Finance and Corporate Services.
He is a Chartered Accountant and worked in the past in the social housing teams at KPMG and RSM Robson Rhodes who later merged with Grant Thornton.
Martin has demonstrated his commitment to the not-for-profit sector by holding several voluntary audit committee, trustee and board positions. He is currently a Board Member at Broadacres Housing Association, where he chairs the Audit and Risk Committee.

[theo_luddite]

He supports the Blue Mancs. Are we bovvered?

[Lord Snooty]

No not really. He would've made a better manager than Siewert.