[Lord Snooty]

October 28:

Starting today with an obituary, for on this date in 1940, Fred Walker, the first ever manager of Huddersfield Town died in Leeds, aged 62.

He was born in 1878 and so would've been 30 years old when he took to the field as player/manager of our first ever match, in the North-Eastern League, away at South Shields Adelaide. He was from up in that neck of the woods having been born in Longbenton and starting his playing days with Hebburn Argyle as an amateur, combining this with his day job as a brass founder.

After a couple of seasons there, he went over to the west coast and played a couple of seasons, as captain, with Barrow. But then he was signed by Leeds City in 1905 and a had a chance to play in the Football League with the newly elected Peacocks.

He had three seasons down Bellend Road, playing at centre half mainly, but all along the back line at times when needed for cover. Sadly, he missed most of the 07/08 season with a bad illness and was allowed to leave at the end of the season.

Luckily for him, it was to join what would become the greatest football club in the world. But obviously nobody knew that then and so when the board of directors of the newly formed Huddersfield Town appointed him as manager/secretary, he was unsure how things would progress.

They progressed alright actually. He played in that first ever game, playing 21 times in that first season. He only played twice in the Midland League season before hanging up his boots and concentrating on managing the club and on getting the team elected into the Football League.

He did play in a couple of the FA Cup games and scored his only goal for the club in a 7-0 win against Rothwell White Rose at Leeds Road. In the next round of the Cup, Fred got his career ending injury against the rough house tactics of South Kirkby Colliery. He was deliberately kneed in the head and was carried off unconcsious and spending a week in hospital. The internal injuries meant that he was to pack in on medical advice. More on this infamous match next month.

Town did get elected into the FL at the end of the 09/10 season and Fred wasn't offered the job. Instead he stayed on as assistant to the new manager, Dick Pudan, but left in November 1910. And we know nothing else about him apart from the fact that he died thirty years later on this date in 1940. Did he go back to the brass foundry? Who knows?

Upon the field of play, we had a second replay in the League Cup on this date in 1963. It was against Plymouth Argyle in the second round and came after we had drawn 2-2 at Home Park (Derek Stokes 2) and then 3-3 at Leeds Road (Peter Dinsdale, Kevin Lewis pen, Len White).

A few years later when we had a second replay against Leeds, the two captains tossed for the venue for the replay. This time, they chose a venue sort of equidistant between the two clubs, Villa Park. It's 113 miles from Huddersfield and 210 from Plymouth. So to get a crowd of 3,000 in for the game was quite good really for a Monday night.

Town won it 2-1. Les Massie and Kevin McHale scored the goals to earn a money spinning, glamour tie away in the next round at, errm...... Workington. 

And of course, you guessed it. We lost 1-0. 

This game with the Pilgrims was one of six games we had over the season, drawing them in the FA Cup as well. Of the six games we won one and drew one in the league, drew two and won one in the LC and then won away in the FA Cup to set up a proper glamour tie this time, with Chelsea at the Bridge.

We even played the green gargoyles twice in the opening four games of the next season and you may recall that manager Eddie Boot quit after the second one. It wasn't football he'd had enough of. He was sick of the sight of bloody Plymouth.