Ahh the joy of football, the one minute you are celebrating what has arguably been one of the more ‘complete’ performances and seeing your side return to the top of the league one day only to witness a chastening cup defeat for an albeit young squad the next. I don’t believe for one moment that the heavy midweek Vertu cup defeat will dent our squad’s belief and optimism that they must currently be feeling following last weekend’s 3-0 home triumph against Mansfield, a result that took us to the summit and also saw us register 3 goals in the ‘for’ column for the 2nd game running, it’d be very nice if we could make it 3 games in a row with that many hitting our opponents net again eh? On the subject of our opponents, we welcome an all too familiar visitor this weekend in the form of Huddersfield Town, one of the few clubs we have played frequently against in recent years but also one that we have generally had the beating of over the last decade or so too – long may that continue. Who Are You? The Terriers were founded in August 1908 and competed in the North Eastern League and Midland League, before gaining admittance to the Football League in 1910. They were promoted out of the Second Division in 1919–20 and went on to win the FA Cup in 1922, having been beaten finalists in 1920. Under the management of Herbert Chapman, Huddersfield were crowned league champions in three successive seasons 1923–24, 1924–25 and 1925–26 and played on the losing side in three more FA Cup finals, these being the 1928, 1930 and 1938 finals. Of course, that 1923-24 season was the year that Huddersfield pipped the Bluebirds to the league title, finishing just 0.024 better off than us on goal average. Unfortunately the Bluebirds tied their final game 0-0 away at Birmingham, with top scorer Len Davies missing from the spot during the latter stages of the game (he had never taken a senior penalty before but usual taker Jack Evans had been suffering a lack of confidence from the spot following a few misses himself). A win that day would have seen the City crowned as champions but, as it is, the Terriers would go on to score 2 late goals against Nottingham Forest to cruelly get the scoreline needed to snatch the title by the closest ever margin (a record that still stands today). Town have since spent the majority of their time since those glory days hopping between the 2nd and 3rd tiers of the league, much like ourselves, however they did return to the top flight for the 1st time since 1972 by defeating Reading at Wembley in 2017 (and becoming just the 2nd team to win all 3 divisional play-offs, Blackpool being the other). The Terriers survived the season in the top flight but were relegated the following year and have yet to return since. They are managed by former goalkeeper Lee Grant who is in his first spell as a head coach, having taken up the position in May of this year. He currently has a 44% win rate at the club. Squad wise there are a few familiar names. Keeper Lee Nicholls is now in his 4th year at the club, having clocked up well over 100 appearances in that time. Scottish defender Murray Wallace joined from Millwall this year and USA international Lyndon Gooch joins him at the back. Former Bluebird loanee Will Alves is at the club on loan from Leicester, though he has only managed 3 games so far for the Terriers. Former Birmingham forward Alfie May is a regular starter and has notched 3 goals in 15 games, with his return being bettered by current top scorer, midfielder Leo Castledine, a 20 year old loanee from Chelsea (wonder how well he gets on with Kellyman?) who has 4. Welsh U-21 Joe Taylor is also sitting on 3 for the season. First And Last Our first ever game v this weekend’s opponents was back in December 1921. The two sides played out a goalless draw at Ninian Park in front of 25,000 fans. That season was the Bluebirds 1st in the top flight, and despite a difficult start to life in the highest division (losing the first 6 games) the team would go on to record a very creditable 4th place finish with top scorer Len Davies going on to score 30 goals in 35 appearances. That season also saw Manchester Utd and Bradford City relegated, whilst Liverpool were crowned champions ahead of Spurs (I’m sure BfB recalls it well ). The Bluebirds' first ever top flight team - 4th spot, not bad, and better than any other Welsh side, only being surpassed by our 1923-24 side! Our most recent league game against the terriers was back on the 6th March 2024, where a solitary Famara Diedhiou goal from a Josh Bowler assist at the CCS saw the Bluebirds triumph to keep alive their push for a play-off spot a little longer whilst plunging our opponents into deeper relegation worries. To be fair, it was a lovely goal, very much akin to what we’ve become used to this season! it's worth noting that only 3 of that starting 11 are with the club now (and only 5 of the players used that day). Form The Terriers come to us in 8th spot having played 1 game more than ourselves, trailing our blue clad hearos by some 6 points. Our defence will need to be on their toes for this one however as Town have scored the same number of goals as we have (28) making them the joint 2nd best attack in the league. The same cannot be said of them defensively though, with the side conceding an alarming 25 times to give them the 4th joint worst back line. Taking just their away form, these stats change slightly, with them slipping to the 5th best attack away from their own patch (11 goals in 8 games), though their mantle of 4th worst defence stays the same (15 conceded in 8). They have picked up just 2 wins over their last 6 games, with their last victory being a 3-1 away win over Mansfield back on the 22nd November, with that being preceded by a home win v struggling Plymouth back on the 8th November. Their last league outing saw them snatch a late equaliser (86th minute) v Wimbledon in an entertaining 3-3 home draw. On The Pitch Our thin squad just got a little thinner again with news that Gabriel Osho has now picked up a toe injury, ruling him out of this one whilst he goes for a scan. Better news comes in the shape of Ollie Tanner joining in some 1st team training now, but he still isn’t likely to be fit until the end of the month. Will we see changes in the 10 role this week with Robbo not quite grasping the chance to make that spot his own I wonder? Predicted Starting 11 Trott Bagan Lawlor Fish Kpakio Turnbull Wintle Willock Kellyman Ashford Salech The Odds The bookies once again have us as favourites but also clearly don’t fancy a draw too much. Personally I’m surprised at how big a gap there is between the home and away wins. C’mon The City!!!!
Great write up BB. I missed the Liverpool/Spurs contest as too busy being nursed at the time. Bit of a miracle as Dad was only 1 at the time but a fast developer.
