[theo_luddite]

Used to be a pub game many a year back try took put a hoop on a string on a horn or a hook but don't recall any with horns on the wall in Wolvo. Seems there might be a reason for it. Musical horn?
Used to be a pub called The Pig on the Wall and another called the Little Pig but they were well south of Wolves in the Dudley/Cradley Heath (ish) area.

One of my mates was once walking around a pub up on The Steeps on the way back to Halifax from Burnalee with a divers helmet on his head.

[themaclad]

2/1/22 68 years ago today my parents got married

[Lord Snooty]

January 2nd:

Yesterday we had the start of a run of successes that at the time was questioned and has since been ridiculed by some. That was of course, the unbeaten run of "regular league matches" without defeat.

Starting on this date in 1932 was a run that can't be questioned. That was when we beat Grimsby Town 4-1 at Leeds Road, with two goals each for George McLean and Dave Mangnall.

McLean would finish the season with 9 goals, but Mangnall would score a whopping total of 42 (33 League and 9 Cup). On this day, he started a run of scoring in 11 successive matches, a club record that has never been beaten.

Adding to his two against the Mariners, he scored one against Oldham in a draw in the Cup at Boundary Park, following it with four in the replay on Wednesday (7 in 3 games). Back in the league, first division by the way, he scored one in a home win against Chelsea, then another couple in an FA Cup match at home to QPR (10 in 5).

Then came a hat trick. A spanking 6-1 win at Leeds Road against Sheffield Wednesday to make his tally to 13 in 6 games. That was followed two days later with one in a draw down at West Ham and another one in a 2-1 win at Bolton (15 in 8). On we go to the FA Cup again and this time he scored twice in a 4-0 home win against Preston to make it 17 in 9 and then 18 in 10 when he scored in a 1-1 draw at home to Middlesbrough. The last goal in the run then came in a 2-3 defeat at the Hawthorns against West Brom, finishing the run on 19 goals in 11 matches.

The run came to an end in one of the most famous matches in our history, the 0-1 defeat at Leeds Road against Arsenal in the Cup, with the record 67,037 crowd in attendance.

However, his consecutive run of scoring in League games continued in the next game. He scored in a 2-2 draw at home to Sheffield Utd and then two more in a 3-1 win at Sunderland to make his successive run of scoring in League matches to 13 in 9.

So, which one of our super strikers will score today at Blackburn to start a run that will beat Dave's brilliant achievement?

The closest we've come in recent years is six. Pawel Abbott in 2005 and then Anthony Pilkington in 2010.

Also on this date in 2009, the great Ian Greaves died, aged 76.

We all know him from managing Town to the Second Division title in 1970, but did you know, as a player, he was a League title and FA Cup runners up medal with Manchester United? What's more, an injury probably saved his life. That's because he missed the trip to Belgrade in February 1958 when eight of his team mates died on the way back in the Munich Air Disaster.

Out of tragedy came fortune for Greaves. Roger Byrne was one of those deceased and so he established himself in the side there after and played at left back in the 1958 FA Cup Final.

After playing for Lincoln and Oldham, he then went into coaching and Tom Johnston took him on as assistant, taking over the manager's job when Tom left in 68.

He managed us, Bolton, Oxford, Wolves and Mansfield, winning Div 2 with us, promotion with Bolton, promotion with Mansfield and then also with the Stags, the EFL PaintPot Freight Rover Trophy in 1987.

So we lost one legend on this date, but 49 years ago in 1973, another club legend was born. Chris Billy, scorer of the winning goal in the 1995 Play Off Final. Did you know that he was the last player to score a goal for Huddersfield Town at Wembley (not including penalty shoot outs obviously)?

That game at Wembley though was his last one for Town. Manager Neil Warnock quit and took the job at Plymouth instead and one of his first signings was young Billy. And so the pair of them were back at Wembley 12 months on from our win over Bristol Rovers, as the Pilgrims beat Darlington 1-0.

He went to Notts County after Plymouth and then Warnock signed him again, this time for Bury. After Bury, it was to Carlisle where he suffered relegation, but came straight back up again. He later played for Halifax, Farsley and Ossett Town.

[Lord Snooty]

January 3rd:

Two great Town players have birthdays today.

Born on this day in 1969 was Chris Marsden, making him 53 today. He book ended his career with the two Sheffield clubs, starting at United and finishing at Wednesday. He came to us from United in 1988 as a 19 year old and from what I remember, came in for a lot of stick. But he soon blossomed into one of the best midfielders we had in the 90s. A tough tackling, ball winning playmaker.

So impressive was he that he went to play for Coventry in the Premier League in 1993. Not a transfer, he went on loan, something that wouldn't happen today, a League One player going on loan to the Prima Donna. Coventry didn't take him on permanently but he did go up one notch on the Football League ladder, when Wolves took him on in 1994.

He stayed around Championship sides in Notts County, Stockport and Birmingham but then landed back in the Premier League with Southampton at the age of 30. He ended up as captain of the Saints and skippered them in the 2003 FA Cup Final, which they lost 0-1 to Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium.

He later had a season in the Korean K-League before coming home and finishing up with the Wendys.

The other one, born on this day in 1982, making this his 40th birthday and still playing in the Football League, it's Peter Clarke. He was born in Southport and according to the Unexamined when we played them in a pre season friendly in the summer, he still lives there. Obviously he still holds a torch for Huddersfield Town as he came to watch that day.

He plays for Tranmere Rovers now and is still an automatic pick in their side. They're 4th in League Two and Peter is joint second top scorer. Last season he became the oldest player to score in the Play Offs, but Rovers got beaten in the semis by Morecambe. He did get to Wembley though for the Pizza Pot Final, but again, they lost.

He started his career in the Premier League with Everton, turning out 9 times for them, whilst going out on loan as well to Blackpool, Port Vale and Coventry. He then had three seasons at Southend, but he spent the peak of his career at Huddersfield Town. I don't need to remind you all what an inspirational leader he was, leading us to the Play Offs three times and turning that penalty shoot out against the Blunts around by scoring our first one after the three misses.

Ever the popular guy, he won numerous Player of the Year awards wherever he went. Twice for Town, twice for Oldham, once each for Southend, Bury and Blackpool.

Oh and my dad, who took me to watch Huddersfield Town, would've been 93 today had he not pegged out a few years ago.

[Lord Snooty]

Thirteen years ago today, on his 27th birthday, Peter Clarke scored an injury time equaliser for Southend at Chelsea in the FA Cup.

Not just a Town legend!

[Lord Snooty]

January 4th:

Not a lot to write about for this date, just a couple of personal ones. The first one is my first away game, which was an FA Cup 3rd round match at Bury, which my dad took me to in 1969.

I don't remember much about the match apart from the fact that we won. Looking up the result, I see that it was 2-0 with goals from Brian Hill and Jimmy Nicholson. I do remember standing down by the corner flag and there were a lot of people there. I couldn't see much of what was going on, probably because there were 14,251 crammed in to this little ground and I was a very small 8 year old boy.

So looking at the picture, we must've been stood at the bottom left of this picture.

So do you remember your first away game?



The other one is a trip to Cleethorpes in 2014 for an FA Cup match against Grimsby Town. Me, Chaffers and our nephew Paul went, got parked up and went to Steel's Corner House for fish n chips. They were absolutely scrumptious. 

Town were the favourites, being a Championship side playing the Mariners, who I think were in League Two at the time. They played way above that standard on the day and wave after wave of attacks gave them a deserved 1-0 lead at half time. We were sat right behind the goal that Town were attacking in the second half and got a brilliant view of the free kick Olly Norwood smashed in for the equaliser.

Typical Town conceded again straight away, so with time running out, it looked like another embarrassing, early exit from the Cup for the Terriers. But no! Up popped Martin Paterson in the 86th minute to equalise and send the game for a replay. Or was it?

No we got dead lucky when a feeble shot from somebody I can't remember was deflected into his own net by a hapless Grimsby defender and the mighty Terriers were through.

[jjamez]

Ahh Grimsby, what a lovely, lovely place

[WakeyTerrier]

According to my Futbology app on this day 36years ago(1986) I was at Town 0 v 0 Reading at Leeds Road. Can't say i remember it.

[Lord Snooty]

January 5th:

Not so much happening on this date. The most interesting I can find are two FA Cup victories over Birmingham City. We have a couple of interesting instances of "history repeating itself" as well.

The first one in 1971 was during our first First Division season for quite some time, with Ian Greaves as manager. This was a Tuesday night replay at St Andrews after a draw at Leeds Road on the Saturday. Bobby Hoy had scored in the first match that ended 1-1 and Town made two changes to the line up for the replay with Dick Krzywicki and Les Chapman coming in for Brain Greenhalgh and Jimmy Lawson. Terry Dolan was on the bench and he came on for his first ever appearance for the first team in rather unusual circumstances.

He came on as reserve goalkeeper (only one sub allowed in those days) when Terry Poole had his leg broken by a bad challenge from Bob Latchford. Poole would miss the rest of the season, with David Lawson taking over, and wouldn't get back into the side for almost two years. Anyway, we won the match 2-0 with goals from the Welsh wing wizard Krzywicki and Frank Worthington, but the history repeating itself came in the next season....

That was in the Quarter Finals of the next season's competition when Lawson had his leg broken this time. Again from a challenge from that big bully Latchford. Once again, it was the boy Dolan who went in goal.

The second piece of history repeating itself was us knocking Birmingham out of the FA Cup on the 5th of Jan. This time it was 2008 and we had moved on to our new stadium by now. They, believe it or not, were a Premier League side back then and we were lowly League One. But it was Town who won 2-1 with goals from Luke Beckett and Chris Brandon.

Yesterday I wrote about my dad taking me to my first ever away game. Well sadly, this game was the last time we went to a match together. I'd started taking him to some home games by now. We hadn't been to any matches together since the 80s and that season I had started taking him to some games. The old lad had Alzheimer's and although he enjoyed going to the match, he'd decided he'd had enough of going and announced that he wasn't going anymore.

Today is also the 12th Day of Christmas, so until the next one........Merry Christmas Gobnait.

[Lord Snooty]

Also on this day in 1980, Halifax Town beat Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup.