[Lord Snooty]

May 6:

On this day in 1933, we played Manchester City at Leeds Road and beat them 1-0 with Jack Smith scoring the goal. It was the last game of the season and we were in 6th position and City were down in a lowly 16th place in the old First Division.

Only 5,440 spectators turned up.

Fast forward to 2018 and Manchester City are the opponents again on this date. Things have changed around a bit and now it's us in that lowly 16th place in what has now become known as the Prima Donna League. City had just won the title with three games to go and would be receiving the trophy at full time. Could Town turn up and piss on their manky chips n gravy?

There was absolutely no chance of us getting anything from this trip to the Emptihad, but somehow, we bloody well did. It was a real hard working performance and although City's millionaire players had slightly taken their eyes off the ball, they could score anytime they wanted, if they felt like it.

It was Town who had the best effort of the game, when the superb Alex Pritchard shot from 25 yards, forcing Ederson to full stretch to tip it around the corner. Ex City man Aaron Mooy was also brilliant in midfield, much better than any of the players who he never really got to know in his two minutes as a Man City employee.

Man of the Match though was the boy known as Zanka. As the BBC report of the match says, "Danish defender Mathias Jorgensen was a rock in a resolute Huddersfield defence, stopping City from playing the style of football that helped them to the Premier League title."

The result left us three points above both Swansea and Southampton, with Chelsea away and Arsenal at home still to come, will the 36 points we have already amassed be enough?

Manager David Wagner, speaking to BBC Radio 5 live:

"In football sometimes the impossible is possible. For sure before the game a clean sheet and getting a point looked impossible, but the players have done it and done it again.

"It makes this even bigger that a club of our size and circumstances, who are with no disrespect more like a League One club more than a Premier League club, can stick together and believe. That makes us special as a football club."

After such a momentous occasion, I'm loathe to mention what happened on this date in 2001. The season had started with Steve Bruce in charge, but he was sacked in October after just one win in the first twelve games. He was replaced by his assistant, Lou Macari, who struggled to turn things around. His first eight games only saw us take two points and by the start of December, we had 8 points from 19 matches and were bottom of the league.

Then came the turnaround. Lou won the Manager of the Month award for December as we won five and drew once in the six games. But it was still a big struggle. By the time the final game came around, a home match with Birmingham City, it looked like we had done enough and only a boat load of bad luck would send us down. Four games elsewhere had to go against us and for us to lose as well, for us to get relegated.

You know, it all went wrong. Portsmouth beat Barnsley, with the Tykes not even bothering to send any first teamers to the game and fielding an entire youth team. They did well really to keep it to 3-0. Grimsby beat Fulham 1-0 to secure their safety. All eyes were now on Edgeley Park where Stockport were playing Crystal Palace.

Town were 2-1 down at half time, with Andy Booth beating Ian Bennett to score an equaliser just before the interval, only for the Bluenoses to go and score again. And that's how the game finished. A point would still be enough, if we could get one, but we didn't. A defeat was still good enough, because Palace and Stockport were still 0-0.We could've overtaken County with a win, but as we were losing they were safe.

It wasn't until the 87th minute that Town actually dropped into the bottom three, alongside already relegated QPR and Tranmere. Stockport had a stonewall, handball penalty turned down, which would've sent Palace down and kept us up. But as their players were surrounding the ref, demanding their award, Palace broke swiftly and scored through Dougie Freedman.

Palace were safe. Stockport were also safe because we had lost. And so it was us who went down the the 3rd tier after six years in the 2nd. Never mind tiers, it was tears all round. We were stunned by the lateness of it all and knew just how those Peterborough fans felt 12 years later when us and Barnsley did it to them. But that's football for you.

There was a bit of trouble on the pitch as both sets of supporters ran on. Birmingham were happy at qualifying for the Play Offs. But you shouldn't take the piss when the home fans are in a state of shock.

Finish on a happy note! On this date in 1922, a week after winning the FA Cup, we concluded our second First Division season with a 2-0 win at home to Chelsea. That moved us up to 14th and it was Clem Stephenson and Frank Mann who scored the goals.