[Lord Snooty]

May 19:

Only two games on this day. The first one was in 1979. A hot sunny Saturday, two weeks after the rest of the 4th Division had finished. Or the regular fixtures anyway. There was a huge backlog following a bad winter and we couldn't get to play away at York City until now.

There was a very small crowd there, only 2,664, but at least half of them were from Huddersfield. Mick Buxton had been appointed earlier on in the season and had gradually been turning around the attitudes and the way things are done. He'd shifted out the wrong uns and brought in his own players and slowly but surely, the team was putting in the performances.

Not quite there yet, we lost at Hartlepool in the last game, but this game at Bootham Crescent was a sneak preview of what was to come next season. The all conquering 79/80 team, who won the 4th Division championship and scored a hundred and one goals.

We won 3-1 in a scintillating performance, easily the best we had played since relegation to the basement league. Goals came on that day from Ian Holmes, David Cowling and Ian Robins and gave us a final position of 9th in Division 4.

We have never finished that low since.

The other game played on this date was also played in the basement league, called Division 3 though at this time, in 2004. It was our only season back down there, following the promotion in 1980 and this was the second leg of the Play Off semi final at home to Lincoln City.

Town led 2-1 from the first leg but by half time, that lead had gone when Paul Rachubka and Efe Sodje made a right mess of a hopeful punt into the box and left Richard Butcher with a lob over the stranded keeper into the net.

We were behind for the first time in the tie just a minute later when Kevin Ellison stunned the stadium by putting the Imps 2-0 up on the night.

So Peter Jackson had some hard talking to do at half time. The lads came out fighting and we should've had a penalty for handball but stupid boy referee, Mike Pike, turned it down. However, he did give us one on the hour. The ball was played into the box, it was heading straight to Andy Booth, who unlike him, dived headlong onto the ground. Not like Boothy to cheat like that, but the ref gave it as a penalty. The Lincoln players went mad. On the replay though, a great spot from the ref as he spotted Boothy's heel had been clipped, sending him crashing to the floor. Nice one, Pikey boy.

Danny Schofield stepped up and slotted it home and we were once again level on aggregate.

The tie was settled though in the 83rd minute, without the need for extra time and penalties. Good work on the right of the box by Jon Worthington, who squared the ball to sub John McAliskey. He couldn't get his feet sorted in time for a shot and the ball was robbed off him. Thankfully it was his team mate Rob Edwards who stole it. He was in his second spell at the club, a midfield goal scoring machine in his first spell, but playing at left back now for Jacko, he absolutely blasted the ball past everybody in his way, into the back of the net and the crowd went wild.

It was a bloody long last seven minutes, full of tension and nervousness, but eventually the ref blew, cue yet another pitch invasion.