[Lord Snooty]

December 21:

What's the biggest lead you've ever seen Town blow? How about a 5-1 lead? My old friend Joe (now long gone), who I mentioned a few weeks ago, always used to go on about the match on this date in 1957, the day we lost 7-6 away at Charlton.

Bill Shankly was in his first full season as Town boss, after we had been relegated a couple of seasons ago, taking over from Andy Beattie. Charlton also had a relatively new manager in. They had been relegated at the end of the previous season, when Jimmy Seed resigned after 23 years in charge to be replaced by Jimmy Trotter.

This was the second meeting of the two teams in the season after they met at Leeds Road in the opening fixture of the 57/58 season. In another extraordinary match, it was Charlton who cocked up as Town came back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3.

Town had one team change to the one that had drawn away at Lincoln City on the previous Saturday and that was Stan Howard coming in to take the place of the wonderkid, Denis Law.

We were 11th in the table at the start of play whereas Athletic had been involved with the promotion race from the outset. They missed out at the end of the season by one place and one point, losing the final match of the season against Blackburn, who went up instead.

The hero of the day for Charlton was Johnny Summers. He became the only player to score five goals in a game against the Town. He still is. He scored another five, three years later in a game against Portsmouth. Sadly, he died of cancer in 1962, aged just 34.

A crowd of 12,535 turned out for the match at the Valley on a cold and wet Saturday afternoon. For a match with 13 (thirteen) goals in it, it was a slow start to the scoring with only two in the first half, both of them for us. The most significant part came in the 17th minute when Charlton's skipper, centre half Derek Ufton went off with a dislocated shoulder. No subs back then of course.

It wasn't until ten minutes later that Town took the lead through Les Massie and doubled it in the 35th minute when Alex Bain scored. So, two-nil to Town at half time.

During the break, Summers changed his boots and Trotter changed tactics, moving Summers from the left wing to play alongside John Ryan at centre forward. He had played there for his last club Millwall, but had preferred playing out wide. The plan worked a treat as Summers bagged his first just two minutes after referee Ron Warnke (Colin's dad?) had restarted the match.

However, Town were 4-1 up four minutes later. Bain got his second of the day and then Bill McGarry, the England international, scored from the penalty spot. Bob Ledger then made it 5-1 in the 62nd minute and this is where old Joe's tale got really unbelievable. He used to tell us that with Town 5-1 up and with just under half an hour of the game still to go, he decided to leave the ground, with the game well and truly won and go get the train back home.

Why would you do that? Was he dragged along with all the Charlton fans storming out?

By the time he would've got to the exit, Charlton had pulled back a couple of goals. Summers set up Ryan for their second and within a minute, he'd grabbed his own second to make it 5-3. He completed his hat trick in the 73rd minute and then scored his fourth and fifth goals in the 78th and 81st minutes and all of a sudden, Charlton were in the lead, 6-5 up with nine minutes to go.

Town's defence which included the likes of Ray Wilson, McGarry and Ken Taylor had conceded five goals in 18 minutes, against a team down to ten men. WTF, Shankly?

Well the thought of a bollocking from the mild mannered Scotsman must've rallied the Town team because they only went and equalised with four minutes left. Stan Howard getting a goal which took a deflection off John Hewie to leave keeper Willie Duff wrong footed.

Phew! Rescued a draw from the jaws of defeat. Hold on. This is Huddersfield Town. We ain't done yet.

With almost the last action of the game, Summers who had gone back out on the wing, crossed for Ryan to head home the winner past Town's South African goalkeeper Sandy Kennon, to send those of the Charlton persusasion still left in the ground, into unconfined joy and when Mr Warnke blew the final whistle, they ran onto the muddy pitch and carried young Johnny Summers and his pals off shoulder high.

The two teams knew they would meet again shortly after this one. They had been drawn together in the FA Cup, which Charlton won after a replay. The crowd for that replay was more than double of the league game. They won it 1-0.

This was and still is, the only occassion a team has scored six goals in a Football League match and lost. Just typical Huddersfield Town.

Moving forward to the 79/80 season, Town had been top of the 4th Division at the start of November following a brilliant 5-0 win at home to Northampton Town. Since then though, the team had struggled, drawing with Bradford City and Tranmere Rovers, losing at home to Hereford United, losing away at Torquay United and most alarmingly getting beaten at home in an FA Cup replay against bottom of the league Darlington.

So manager Mick Buxton had tried, in vain, to sign Steve Kindon from Burnley. He'd played for the Claret Jugheads in the First Division, as well as Wolves, but was now back at Turf Moor. They were still in the 2nd Division and Kindon didn't fancy moving down to the Fourth.

On this date in 1979, Town played Rochdale on a Friday night at Leeds Road. Don't know why it was on Friday. I think it was to do with not wanting such a huge crowd interfering with all the Christmas shopping going on. Something that had never bothered anybody before or since, but it turned out to be a great move.

It was a blummin' cold night and only 4,550 came out to see it. One of those there that night was a certain Mr Kindon from Burnley, who took advantage of his own team not playing until the next afternoon, to come to Huddersfield and have a word with Mr Buxton. Not that he went in the main stand with the Town dignitaries. No, he didn't even tell Buxton he was coming. He stood on the terraces with the Town fans and saw Buxton's boys hammer the Dale 5-1.

Dave Sutton, David Cowling, Peter Fletcher, Malcolm Brown and Ian Robins all scored in the game and Kindon was really impressed with what he saw. So much so, he went over the other side of the ground at full time, asked to see Buxton and asked him; "I suppose you don't need me now?"

Mick had the contract there, ready for him to sign. Steve took the pen out of Mick's hand, signed and made his debut on Boxing Day against Halifax Town at The Shay.

What a Christmas present that turned out to be.