[Lord Snooty]

July 13:

The year is 1926. Huddersfield Town have just won the Football League for a third time in a row and on this date, unto Mr and Mrs Billy Smith, a son is born. That son they called Conway Smith and he followed in dad's footsteps and became a professional footballer. Not just any old footballer, a Huddersfield Town footballer.

He made his Town debut in 1947/48 as a 21 year old inside forward, taking the place of Jimmy Glazzard in a trip to Villa Park. He played three games that season and another sixteen in the next one, scoring four goals. His first goal came at Charlton. The second came at the same place that he made his debut, in a 3-3 draw against Aston Villa. He then followed that by scoring in the next game, a 2-0 win at home to Sunderland, his first Leeds Road goal.

He broke his leg in 1949 and so his Town career stuttered to a halt and his last Town goal was scored at Leeds Road in August 1950 in a 3-1 win against Stoke City. But then in 1951, tragedy struck. He was transferred to QPR. That wasn't the tragedy though. Barely a month after moving down south, his dad, the Town legend and record appearance holder, died of cancer aged 55.

The young un kept on going though and became a top goalscorer himself. He was the Hoops' top scorer for five seasons running. He scored 81 times for them before moving back north to play for Halifax Town where he just kept on scoring goals.

Billy had scored 126 goals for Town. Conway only got five, but add on his QPR and Halifax goals and that takes his career total to 159. They were the first ever father and son to score one hundred plus goals in the Football League.

He hung his boots up in 1962 and died in 1989, aged 63.

Here's young Conway in the 48/49 season for Town on the front row, second from the right, between Eddie Boot and Vic Metcalfe.

The goalkeeper in that picture is Harry Mills, but that season saw the debut in goal of Jack Wheeler. Jack was born on this date in 1919 and would go on to be the regular keeper over the next few seasons. He was born in Evesham, Worcestershire.

He of course, was the keeper in the famous unchanged defensive line up that played every game of the 52/53 promotion season, alongside Ron Staniforth, Laurie Kelly, Bill McGarry, Don McEvoy and Len Quested.

After he left Town, he finished up his playing career at Kettering, but then spent loads of years at Notts County. Long enough to be considered worthy enough of having a statue at Meadow Lane. He was there from 1957 to 1983, never missing a first team match. He was trainer, coach, scout and had a spell as caretaker manager before Jimmy Sirrel got the job.

Sirrel was manager for 28 years (with a two year spell away at Sheff Utd in between) and the two of them, Jack on the right, are sat together as a statue outside the ground. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-no...e-36215574

Jack died in 2009 in Nottingham, aged 89.

So the question today is, which Town player or players or manager or chairman or supporter would you want immortalised as a statue at the John McAlpharm Stadium?