[Lord Snooty]

September 18:

On this date in 1909, Huddersfield Town played their first ever match in the FA Cup. Also on this date in 1909, Huddersfield Town scored their record FA Cup victory and the record victory in all competitions and it's a record that still stands today.

It was in the Preliminary round of the Cup and it was an away game at Heckmondwike. The match was played at Beck Lane, a ground that would become home to the Town juniors for many a year and the place where the great Denis Law first pulled on a Town shirt.

The score was 11-0 to the Town, a score only matched by a Wartime League game against Rochdale in 1941 and only the 10-1 win over Blackpool in 1930 in Division One has come close in a proper fixture.

Town were in the Midland League, one season away from joining the Football League. Hecky were in the West Yorkshire League, it was their first season. Jack Foster scored four of the goals, some reports gave him five. He was from Rotherham and at the back end of his career, having played for Blackpool, Rotherham Town, Watford, Sunderland and West Ham. He scored 25 goals in the season, 11 of them in the FA Cup, another record still standing today for FA Cup goals in a season. He later came back to the club as trainer and spent a total of 28 years at the club.

Walter Stacey also scored four. Unfortunately, I can't find anything about him and he was apparently released later on in this month. The other scorers were William McCreadie, who left for Halifax Town and two goals for Ernest Kenworthy. He was signed from Bradford City and would end up getting killed in action in the war. A gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery, he died in November 1917 and is buried in Coxyde Military Cemetery, Belgium. His name is in the Huddersfield Town Roll of Honour

In the photo, Kenworthy is sixth from the right on the back row. Foster is third from the right in the second row. McCreadie is sat to the left of the lad with the ball on the front row. The elusive Stacey isn't there.

Another from the HTFC Roll of Honour is Robert Gordon, who died on this date in 1940. He was only 23. He made his debut in a 1-0 win away at Middlesbrough in 1938, deputising for Ken Willingham who was away playing for England. That was his only game in 37/38 and he just made made another six appearances in the next season before the war started. His final match was in April 1939, a 3-1 win at home to Chelsea.

He volunteered for the RAF and became a Leading Aircraftman in IX Squadron and having been severely wounded he died in the RAF Hospital Ely in Cambridgeshire of pulmonary tuberculosis. His body was returned home and is buried in Cramlington Cemetery in Northumberland.

On this date in 1997, Karlan Grant was born and so is celebrating his 25th birthday today. He scored 23 goals for us, one of them, away at West Ham, was one of the highlights of our second season in the Premier League. He stuck around and scored the goals that kept us from dropping down to League One, but then naffed off to West Brom.