[Lord Snooty]

December 9:

Another day, another victory over the Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

This one was played at the McAlpharm on this date in the year 2000, just a few weeks after Steve Bruce had been sacked and replaced by his number two, Lou Macari. We were rock bottom of the what is now called the Championship after a dreadful first four months of the season. But a magic December, which saw Lou win the only Manager of the Month award in his 18 years in Football League management, had us up to 19th by the new year.

After winning last week at home to Crewe, we welcomed the old gold shirts to the stadium and a tense first half ended goal less. It was a good Town first 45 though and we looked lively with new loan signing from Birmingham City, Peter Ndlovu catching the eye. This was his Town debut and after the match we were all wondering why Trevor Francis had sent him here. They were in the same league as us and Peter had played in their last two Play Off campaigns. Before that, he'd played for Coventry City and was the first African to play in the Premier League.

It was he who opened the scoring four minutes after the break. Sub Delroy Facey made it 2-0 in the 86th minute and then Ndlovu doubled his own tally in the last minute to send the crowd wild with delight and finish the game with a 3-0 win.

The back to back wins didn't move us off the bottom of the table. That's how bad a start we'd had.

Another player who scored twice on his Town debut was Steve Mounié, our record signing (before we spaffed 17 million on Terence Kongolo). That was down at Crystal Palace in our first Premier League game. He hadn't scored since, having spent some time out with a heel injury, until on this date in 2017 when he scored twice again.

This was at the John Smith's against one of the team's we'd been promoted with, Brighton & Hove Albion. In that promotion season, we beat the Seagulls 3-1 in what was probably the best performance of the campaign. We won this one as well. Not quite up to the same level of slick, classy football, but a win nonetheless.

It was a 2-0 win and big Steve scored them both from well worked corner routines. The first in the 12th minute, an almost carbon copy of the first goal down at the Palace, a flick on from Christopher Schindler and bundled in by Mounié this time instead of going in off a defender like at Selhurst Park.

The second was just before half time when Zanka won the first header this time, big Stevie got the second, headed it goalwards and their Aussie keeper Matthew Ryan (who's cock up saw Australia knocked out of the World Cup on Saturday) let it through his grasp. A soft one, but they all count. The win moved us up to 11th.

We have a birthday in the current squad today. That's Danny Ward, who is 32 today, having been born on this date in Bradford in 1990.

He's scored 39 goals so far for the bright blue n white stripes of Huddersfield Town and hopefully he'll be adding to his tally tomorrow at Sheffield United.

Danny of course, has scored our last two hat tricks. One at Reading last season and one down at Watford in 2014. Two hat tricks in 8 (eight) years. That's ridiculous. Come on Danny lad. Let's have another.

Another birthday today is that of Wealdstone FC legend, Jermaine Beckford. He was born in Ealing on this date in 1983 and is 39 today.

Becks scored an absolute potload for Wealdstone (54 in 82 games), which earned him a move into the EFL with Leeds. They didn't play him though and sent him out on loan to Scunthorpe, where he scored another potload while his parent club got relegated to League One.  

It was from Leicester City though that he came on loan to us in 12/13 and his 9 goals for us kept us up in the Championship that season. His last one being in that crucial match at home to Barnsley.

Jermaine is now a well respected tv pundit and here's a picture of him scoring in yet another Town victory over Wolves. 

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Ninety nine years before the birth of the Beckford, Sandy Mutch was born on this date in 1884 in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. He was the goalkeeper in our first ever Football League match in 1910 and stayed around until 1922, sharing the number 1 position at times with Olympic Gold winner and dentist Ron Brebner and the famous goalkeeping doctor and war hero Leigh Richmond Roose.

We signed him from Aberdeen at the age of 26 and he was 38 by the time he left for Newcastle. In that time he played in 251 games for us, just getting him into our all time appearances chart in 40th place. Two of those games were FA Cup Finals. The one we lost in 1920 and the one we won in 1922.

His last game for us was at Old Trafford when a Tom Wilson goal won us the FA Charity Shield against Liverpool. He then had a couple of seasons in goal for the Magpies and would've played in a third FA Cup Final until a knee injury made him miss the match.

That injury finished his career, but he stayed on Newcastle's books, eventually becoming head groundsman.

Sandy (or Alex or Cody as he was also known) died of kidney failure in 1967, in Newcastle, aged 82.

Here he is when Town played up and brought the Cup back to Huddersfield. (We're Yorkshire! We're Yorkshire!)

Finally toaday, a final cap for Austen Campbell. It was at Arsenal's Highbury Stadium on this date in 1931 against Spain and it was his 8th cap for England.

It was a friendly match and the Spanish got hammered 7-1. Portsmouth's Jack Smith scored twice, as did Everton's Tommy Johnson and Sammy Crooks of Derby County. The most famous footballer at the time, Everton's goal machine Dixie Dean, got the other. Guillermo Gorostiza scored a late consolation.