The history of Huddersfield Town A.F.C., an English football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, dates back to the club's formation in 1908.
In 1926, Huddersfield became the first club to win three successive English League titles – a feat which only four other clubs have been able to match. They also won the FA Cup in 1922 and have been runners-up on four other occasions.
Formation and Liquidation (1908–1912) In 1908, the club was formed in the Albert Pub, Huddersfield and the Huddersfield Association Football Ground Co. was formed and, with capital of £500, set about purchasing the Leeds Road recreation fields. The stadium just started as a pitch but was still ready for their first game, which was a local semi-final. On 15 August 1908, Huddersfield Town Association Football Club was registered as a limited company. Fred Walker was appointed as the club's first manager. The stadium was opened on 2 September with a game against Bradford Park Avenue, which was also the club's first game, Huddersfield beat Bradford, 2–1 in front of a crowd of 1000. Their first match in a senior competition, came 3 days later (5 September), against South Shields Adelaide in which "salmon pink" shirts were worn.Page 10, "Huddersfield Town(the greatest team in the world) – A Complete Record 1910–1990"
In 1910, Huddersfield tried to gain entry to The Football League. The club had invited the ubiquitous Archibald Leitch to completely reconstruct Leeds Road at an estimated cost of £6,000. The pitch was to be turned by 90 degrees and a 4000-seat stand was to be constructed, with a design which was similar to those of Chelsea, Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur. Terracing was also planned, to provide an overall capacity of 34,000. After the plans went through Huddersfield directors applied successfully to become members of the Football League and development of Leeds Road began immediately.
The stadium was finished a year later and the club was granted Football League status. The stadium was officially opened on 2 September 1911 by The Football League president John McKenna. Not all was well with the club and the new ground, attendances sunk below 7,000 and the pitch had deteriorated. The club's directors attempted to sue Leitch but they had massive debt and in 1912 sank into liquidation. Town played on until 1915 when the League stopped during World War One.
Re-formation and Golden Days (1919–1945)
In 1919, Huddersfield Town continued but fared no better and were reportedly £25,000 in debt, prompting a plan to move to Elland Road (previously of Leeds City) in Leeds and sell the Leeds Road site for redevelopment. The reports galvanised supporters to start fund-raising to stave off the move. After a month of fundraising and negotiations the club stayed in Huddersfield. Huddersfield Town then reached the 1920 FA Cup final and won promotion to Division One for the first time.
During their first season in the top flight, the former Leeds City manager Herbert Chapman was brought in (after Huddersfield helped him overturn his ban) as the new assistant to Ambrose Langley after a disappointing run of results, which saw Town battling against relegation. At the end of March, with only seven league matches left to play, Chapman replaced Langley as manager and Huddersfield won four of those last seven matches. They eventually finished 17th, four places above the relegation zone.
The 31-year-old inside forward Clem Stephenson was acquired from Aston Villa for £4,000 and 18-year-old George "Bomber" Brown (who went on to become Town's all-time top scorer) was placed up front, linking up with Billy Smith. Chapman convinced the Huddersfield board to acquire the ageing Stephenson, who was renowned for his passing and vision, after stating that "the young players need a general to lead them". He implemented the basics of his famous W-M formation at his spell at The Terriers. His tactics were based upon the principles of a strong defence and a fast, counter-attacking response, with the focus on quick, short passing and mazy runs from his wingers, who would pass low inside the defence instead of crossing from the byline. Chapman is regarded as the first manager to successfully employ the counter-attack. Other progressive ideas included a disciplined fitness regime for the players and starting the practice of reserve and youth teams playing the same style as the senior team.
In Chapman's first full season in charge, Town finished in a mediocre 14th place. However, that season saw The Terriers win their first major honour, beating Preston North End 1–0 to win the FA Cup, Smith scoring the only goal. Huddersfield went on to win the Charity Shield for the first and thus far only time, beating Liverpool 1–0. After being granted control of all footballing affairs at the club by the board, which was very revolutionary at the time, Chapman employed a wide-ranging scouting network to find the right players for his tactical system. Backed up by the prize money of the FA Cup run, Chapman bought goalkeeper Ted Taylor and centre-forward Charlie Wilson. Herbert Chapman had already brought in the future England internationals Sam Wadsworth and Roy Goodall the previous season, and they formed a strong defence with Billy Watson and Tom Wilson. Town finished in third place in 1922–23.
The following season, Huddersfield fought off Cardiff City and Sunderland to be crowned champions of England for the first time, although it was by the narrowest of margins. Goal average proved to be decisive as Town and Cardiff both finished on 57 points, Huddersfield winning it by a difference of 0.024 (1.818 to 1.794) in goal average. This proved the importance of the third Huddersfield goal scored by Brown in a 3–0 win over Nottingham Forest and the missed penalty of Cardiff against Birmingham in the last match of the season. The Terriers only had five different scorers in the league all season; George Brown with 8 goals, George Cook with 9, Clem Stephenson with 11, Billy Smith with 13 and Charlie Wilson with 18.
During these very successful early years, Huddersfield's fan base increased, necessitating more capacity at their Leeds Road home. The terracing was extended so that it could hold 47,000 for a cup tie against Liverpool, and further work eventually led to the capacity increasing to 60,000.
The 1924–25 season started off well, with the new signing of winger Joey Williams and having an unbeaten streak in the first ten matches. Town slipped to ninth place in November, but retained the league title after only one more loss in the 27 remaining matches, after Chapman signed goalkeeper Billy Mercer to replace the injured Taylor. Huddersfield only conceded 28 goals in the league and never more than two in any league game. In October 1924, Billy Smith became the first player in history to score directly from a corner. After winning successive league titles, Herbert Chapman left for the more fashionable Arsenal, who offered to double his wages and attracted larger crowds than Huddersfield.
Cecil Potter was brought in as Chapman's successor and the highly rated Scottish winger Alex Jackson was bought (by Chapman days before he left for Arsenal) for a record £5,000. Injury to Wilson saw George Cook being placed up front with Brown and Jackson. The new front three scored more than two-thirds of Town's league goals during the 1925–26 season, as Huddersfield completed a historic hat-trick of league titles. The runners-up were Chapman's Arsenal, as The Terriers finished five points clear of The Gunners.
Town came close to winning a fourth consecutive title the following season. With three matches remaining, Huddersfield defeated Newcastle United to go a point behind them in the table. However, Huddersfield failed to win any of their last three matches and thus handed the title to The Magpies. The 1927–28 season saw Town finish runners-up in both the league and the FA Cup, narrowly failing to become the first since Aston Villa in 1896–97 to win the double. George Brown became Town's top scorer with 35 goals.
In March 1928, an international match between England and Scotland in the 1928 British Home Championship at Wembley featured five Town players. Tom Wilson, Bob Kelly, Billy Smith and Roy Goodall started for England, while Alex Jackson played for Scotland. Jackson scored a hat-trick as Scotland, nicknamed "The Wembley Wizards" after the match, thrashed England 5–1.
The team was ageing and players were not adequately replaced. Only five top-six finishes in the following eleven seasons followed, although two more FA Cup finals were reached under their new manager and former player Clem Stephenson. In 1930, The Terriers were beaten 2–0 by Chapman's Arsenal and in 1938 they lost to Preston in extra time.
Stephenson went on to become Huddersfield's longest-serving manager, managing them from 1929 until 1942. He also oversaw Town's biggest win in history, a 10–1 victory at home to Blackpool in December 1930.
Leeds Road
Leeds Road had very modest improvements despite Huddersfield's success, and in February 1932 Huddersfield recorded a record attendance of 67,037 against a Herbert Chapman led Arsenal; this led to two fans being crushed and over one hundred injured. During this game, 5,000 fans broke through the gates on the Popular Side while hundreds spilled onto the track. Five years later, the terracing barriers caved in again leading to four injuries on this occasion, which led to the club having to improve the barriers.
Post-World War II (1945–1970) Huddersfield Town, stayed in the top division until 1950 when disaster struck. A fire burnt down the schoolboy enclosure and the club were forced to move to Leeds United's Elland Road for two games. In the 1951–52 season, Huddersfield struggled in the top division and in April 1952, Andy Beattie was appointed manager, but failed to keep the Terriers up in the top division and they were relegated for the first time in their history. Beattie was one of the youngest managers in the Football League, and had two horseshoes nailed to his office wall for luck. During the summer he made four crucial signings, full-back Ron Staniforth, utility player Tommy Cavanagh and inside forward Jimmy Watson. At the end of the season, Huddersfield finished runners-up in Division Two sealing an immediate return.
Following their return to the top division, Huddersfield continued to climb the table and finished in third place, which remains Huddersfield's highest finish since World War II. The following season, Huddersfield slipped down the table finishing 12th and Beattie offered to resign despite their run to the FA Cup quarter-finals but was persuaded to stay on. Town appointed Bill Shankly to assist Beattie, the two men having been former teammates at Preston North End, but the following season Huddersfield were relegated in a season which saw the emergence of future England full-back Ray Wilson. Beattie then resigned in November 1956, believing that he had taken the team as far as he could, and Shankly was appointed as manager.
During the 1957–58 season, Shankly oversaw a Huddersfield side who became the only side to score six goals and lose the game against Charlton Athletic which finished 7–6, despite being 5–1 up with 30 minutes remaining. Shankly left on 1 December 1959, to manage Liverpool, Eddie Boot was appointed the day after. Floodlights were installed at Leeds Road in 1961, this was financed by the £55,000 transfer of Denis Law to Manchester City. They became known as the "Denis Law Lights". Two of them collapsed in a heavy gale a year later and they were all replaced.
It wasn't until 1970, that Huddersfield returned to the first division, under the guidance of Ian Greaves, who was appointed on 11 June 1968. The team struggled on their return to the top flight of English football, and finished the season in 15th place.
Decline (1970–1978)