[talkSAFT]

Was at that game ('92) - Visitors' End! Don't remember anything about it, except leaving b4 the end! Butler played for Albion as well for a year or 2.
Good article on Alonso. Funny I've not heard of him - what a great cricketer he must have been (before he switched to Grand Prix).

(Theo's almost yam-yam by now. )

[HerefordBull]

"yam yams" responded with polite applause...............

[Lord Snooty]

August 28:

This is a good day. A good day if you like goal scorers, for on this date, in Fort William in 1962, was born, the great Duncan Shearer. He's 60 today. Happy birthday, Duncan. 

After a trial with Partick Thistle, Dunc went and signed on for Clachnacuddin, which is where he was spotted by the Aberdeen manager, Alex Ferguson. He made a half arsed attempt to sign the big man, but the reserve game he was invited to play in got called off and the dozy red nosed pillock forgot to ask him to another.

Instead, Shearer ended up on a train to London and signed for Chelsea. He only played twice for them, but he said in his autobiography that he learned a lot at Stamford Bridge, which he eventually got to show when in 1986, Mick Buxton brought him up to Huddersfield Town. He was an instant success, scoring a hat trick on his debut at Barnsley on Easter Monday and there was no looking back for him.

He scored another two goals in the next game, a 2-0 home win over Stoke City. The season after, in the Christmas holiday match at Leeds Road, he score four goals in a 5-2 win over Bradford City and was leading scorer at the end of the season. He was leading scorer and Player of the Season in the next one. 

That was the relegation season though and he never got to play 3rd Division football because he was sold on to Swindon Town, with Lou Macari forking out a quarter of a million quid for him. We bought Craig Maskell with the money.

At Swindon, his goals won them promotion to the top tier, a couple of seasons before the Premier League was introduced. However, they never played a game in it, as they were demoted two divisions due to financial irregularities. And Derby thought they were hard done by! 

Dunc was top scorer and Player of the Year at the County Ground, before he was bought for £800,000 by his boyhood hero Kenny Dalglish, for Blackburn Rovers. He did the same again for them. Well not quite. He did win promotion with Rovers, but he was only a bit player and he was eventually replaced by another famous Shearer, who could score a goal or two.

Then it was up to Aberdeen, ten years after Fergie forgot to ask him back. He won the Scottish League Cup in 1995, scoring the second goal in a 2-0 win over Dundee. He was capped seven times for Scotland while he was at Aberdeen, scoring important goals as his country qualified for Euro 96. Craig Brown then unbelievably left him out of the squad for the tournament.

His next move was to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, scoring 17 goals, hanging up his boots at 38 years old, just a stones throw away from Clachnacuddin where he'd started.

He stayed on at Caley Thistle as a coach and was in the dugout for the famous Super Caley Go Ballistic Celtic Are Atrocious match when they won 3-1 at Celtic Park in a Scottish Cup game in 2000. He then had jobs with Aberdeen and then Buckie Thistle before returning to Inverness where he was a Youth Development coach until leaving in 2017.

He's now a columnist for the Press & Herald in Aberdeen and it was announced last week that he will be inducted into the Aberdeen FC Hall of Fame, to which he said; "I didn’t even know they had a Hall of Fame!" 

Anyway, in his time at Leeds Road, he played 93 (+3 subs) times and scored 48 goals, which stands him at this moment in time, in 26th equal place alongside Frank Worthington and David Cowling. And despite him saying that Aberdeen was the best club he ever played for, we all know he really meant to say Huddersfield Town.

Now at the top of today's page, I said it was a good day for goal scorers. Well just check out these names and these big wins, all on this date.

In 1965, we beat Middlesbrough 6-0 at Leeds Road. It was our third win out of the first three games and we were top of the 2nd Division. This was the last time we had two hat tricks scored in a single match. They were Alan Gilliver and Les Massie. If my trawling through the record books is correct, it was the fourth occasion that we managed two hat tricks in one game.

We can't get two hat tricks in a decade now.

That was the biggest second tier win for a few years until coincidentally on this date in 1999, we pumped the Palace 7-1 at the McAlpine. Some more ace goal scorers in this one. Clyde Wijnhard got a hat trick, Marcus Stewart scored twice, Chris Beech and Kenny Irons got one each.

There was another big score in the Wartime League on this date in 1943, when Billy Price scored four goals in a 7-4 home win against Bradford Park Avenue. But more recently, much more recently, last year to be precise, we walloped Reading 4-0 at the John Smith's Stadium on this date in 2021.

Some more ace scorers in this one. The (Ron) weasley Lewis O'Brien, the prolific Matty Pearson, the prolific assister Sorba Thomas scored a superb individual goal in this game. Why doesn't he do this more often? Danny Ward rounded the day off in style, rounding the keeper to pop the ball into the net. He would later on in the season, score a hat trick against this opposition, making him the first hat trick scorer for the club since he scored a hat trick at Watford in the previous decade.

And finally today, just a 1-0 win. That was on this date in 1920 when Huddersfield Town played it's first Division One match following promotion the previous season. It was a win at home to Preston when the top scorer in the promotion season, Sammy Taylor, got the only goal of the game.

So, we've had some brilliant goal scorers scoring on this date over the years. Pinching a question used on Twitter the other day, if you could bring back one striker from the past, in his prime, to play in this season's team, which one would you go for? I wouldn't mind Jordan Rhodes in his prime.

Have a think and while your thinking, have a watch of these two beauties.......

[SHEP_HTAFC]

Bringing back a favourite goal scorer of mine in his prime would have to be Craig Maskell.
He only played one season with us but that boy could score. Also took most of the free kicks and he scored a few of those too.

[Lord Snooty]

I'd love a fully fit, full throttle Steve Kindon. He was past his best by the time we got him. Closest we've had to owt like since, was Depoitre.

[theo_luddite]

Put him up front with big Frank and for near post headers from free kicks, Robins.

(Kindon, just in case you're wondering).

[Lord Snooty]

August 29:

Charlie Morris was a Welsh international defender who played for Town in our very first Football League game in 1910/11. He was born on this date in 1880 and so would've been 30 at the time.

He started his career with Chirk, who at the time were one of the big clubs in Wales. He then had ten years at Derby County. The highlight of that time would be getting to the 1903 FA Cup Final. The low light would be losing that Final 6-0 to Bury.

He was at the back end of his career when he joined the Town, but he still managed to gain three of his 27 caps for Wales whilst with us, making him our first international player. They were all in the British Championships in 1911. A win against Ireland, a draw with Scotland and a 3-0 defeat to England at Millwall's brand new stadium, The Den.

Charlie only made 20 appearances for the Town, eventually losing his place to Fred Bullock. He then left us for Wrexham and then back to Chirk.

After football, he became a Methodist preacher in Chirk and it was there that he died aged 71, in 1952.

Kevin Johnson was born on this date in 1952 and so is 70 today. He was born in Doncaster and in an interview on the Parkinson show, Kevin Keegan revealed that our Kev was the one who kept him out of the Doncaster Schools team. He was that good.

Keegan of course, went on to be a star player for Liverpool and England. Johnson was playing for Hartlepool when Tom Johnston signed him for us in 1976. He stayed for a couple of seasons before having a fall out with old Tom and so ended up at Halifax Town. He won our Player of the Year award in 1977.

Here he is, front row, third from the right.

On this date in 1953, Town played the fourth game of the 53/54 season and remained unbeaten. This was the season after we had won promotion back to the top tier and after this one, a 5-1 win at home to Portsmouth, our brave lads stood at the top of the Division One table.

Yesterday's thread was all about hat tricks. Today's hat trick was scored by Jimmy Glazzard. It was the first of his hat trick of hat tricks that season, scoring three goals in the matches against Sheffield United and Aston Villa as well. The two other scorers in this match were Willie Davie and Jimmy Watson.

[Lord Snooty]

August 30:

On this date in 1919, Huddersfield Town played the first game of the post war era. It was also the first game of what would turn out to be our first ever promotion season. And it would also be the first game of the season that saw us almost go under, first through lack of interest and bad finances, but then from a hostile take over bid from the people of Leeds, looking for a new team to become known as Leeds United, following the expulsion of Leeds City.

This first game was against Clapton Orient, who would become known as Leyton Orient following a move in 1937. Nine of the starting XI were players who had been with the club pre war. Sandy Mutch in goal, James Wood, skipper Fred Bullock, Jim Baker, Billy Watson, George Richardson, Charlie Slade, Jack Cock and Billy Smith were all still with the club, all with varying stories to tell from their war experiences.

Cock and Bullock had been in the Footballer's Battalion and both had played for Brentford in the last wartime league season, winning the London Wartime Combination League. Bullock had got injured at the Somme and Cock earned the Military Medal for Bravery in the Field.

So Town, managed by Arthur Fairclough, had two debutants in the line up. Tom Wilson played his first of 500 games for the club and Sammy Taylor played his first game, in a season where he would go on to score 42 goals, a record which still hasn't been beaten.

Anyway, Jack Cock would become our first England international in the next few weeks, scoring in the first minute of his debut, before being sold to Chelsea. He scored the first Town goal of the season in this 2-1 win. Jim Baker got the other. He would be one of the few who did take the exit door down the A62 to Leeds, going on to be their first captain and later a director.

So that was after the First World War. Twenty years later, the country was on the brink of the Second. On this date in 1939, the second game of the 39/40 season was played. It was a midweek away match in Sunderland, at Roker Park.

Clem Stephenson was Town manager and his team won this match 2-1, with Billy Price scoring one of them. The other was an own goal.

Next up. A trip to London, to see the barrage balloons and have a game of footy with Brentford at Griffin Park.

[Lord Snooty]

August 31:

It seems like ages since I mentioned Dave Mangnall. He was all over the first couple of months of the year with his consecutive goal scoring record. He's back though. On this date in 1931, Town played Aston Villa at home in the First Division. It was a 1-1 draw, but Dave scored the goal and it was the first goal of 42 in the season that he would score to equal the club record set in 19/20 by Sammy Taylor.

At the end of the Second World War, the Football League didn't return straight away. The 45/46 season was still a regional north and south affair. The normal Football League did get underway though in 46/47. And so on this date in 1946, Huddersfield Town welcomed Blackpool to Leeds Road for the first official League game for seven years.

Unlike at the end of the First World War, when Town had nine returning players from before play was stopped, this time only two players were still around from the last game. They were goal machine Billy Price and Eddie Boot, who would go on to manage the club later on and. The manager now though was another ex player, David Steele.

So there were lots of official debuts in this match, although most had played in the Wartime Leagues. Jimmy Glazzard was one of them and he scored the goal in this 3-1 defeat. That was the first of his 142 league goals, which is the club record he shares with George Brown. Another player on debut was Vic Metcalfe, who would supply a lot of those goals for him.

Other debuts were for Brendan Mcmanus, playing his only Town game, in goal. Also John Simpson, Jeff Barker, Tom Briggs, Eddie Carr and Albert Bateman.

When Albert died in 2020, it was thought at the time before his passing that he was the oldest living Town player. That was incorrect. It was his team mate, who was also making his debut in this match, Graham Bailey. He's still alive at 102 years old and living in Bridlington.

Here's an interview with the old boy on the HTFC Heritage site. https://www.htsa-web.com/post/heritage-a...ing-player

[theo_luddite]

Sorry - not been giving this thread as much attention as I really should recently, given the hard work that goes into it.

So on t'previous page, yes, Yam Yams is correct Snoots and to answer talkSAFT above, I moved down here very nearly 34 years ago as a 30 year old. Work it out yourself. If it weren't for the 7 years of (ahem) missionary work in our former North American colonies, I would indeed qualify for a full cap by now.
Bostin aye it ower kid?