[Lord Snooty]

December 27:

The Boxing Day double header for the 86/87 season came just hours after Mick Buxton had been sacked following four straight defeats, which saw us hit the foot of the Second Division table.

The first game of the post Buxton era came on the actual Boxing Day, away at Blackburn Rovers, which we won 2-1 with Duncan Shearer scoring as well as Simon Barker giving us an own goal.

The second game was played 24 hours later, on this date in 1986, at Leeds Road when a season high crowd of 10,003 turned up to see us hammer Bradford City 5-1. Former Town star player Steve Smith was sitting in as caretaker manager. He would later be thrust begrudgingly into the job full time after a series of good results.

The star of the day though was Shearer, the boy from Clachnacuddin, adding four goals to the one he got yesterday. He finished the season as top scorer with 21. Ian Banks, one of Buxton's final signings, scored the other goal. Don't know, or care, who scored for the Bantams.

Six years prior to all that happening though, Buxton was very much the King of Huddersfield. He'd gotten us promoted to the 3rd Division after five years in the bowels of the Football League and after last year's Christmas present of super striker Steve Kindon, Mick bought us another striker for this Christmas, from Mansfield Town. And on this date in 1980, he scored in a 5-0 win at home to Hull City. Who he? Ex Ipswich striker Terry Austin or Tracy as he became known.

He'd actually scored twice, his first Town goals, in a 2-2 Boxing Day draw down at Fellows Park against Walsall. The win at home to Hull was 24 hours later and Tracy was one of five scorers on that day in front of 13,240 spectators, a win that took us up into 5th place.

The scorers were Brian Stanton, Austin, David Cowling, Mark Lillis and Ian Robins.