Day 3b Of The 30 Day Football Challenge – Matches That Make Me Happy

Huddersfield Town 1-1 Lincoln City – 19/05/2004 – Favourite for ‘Drama and Relief’

There’s few things better than winning in the Playoffs. Despite our three triumphs, I’ve only actually seen us win one playoff game (Wembley, 1995) but this came bloody close to it. I still can’t think back to the night, to Robbie Edwards’ goal, without thinking that we actually won the game, rather than just remained level with a Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Jamie McCombe featuring Lincoln City. Weekday night; playoff game; its these games that you actually want to be a fan for, and things like this that can leave a smile on your face for days and weeks to come. Wonderful night. As was…

 

Huddersfield Town 3-3 AFC Bournemouth – 18/05/2011 – Favourite for ‘Drama, More Drama, A Bit More Drama, and Unconfined Joy’

If I wasn’t a Town fan, this might have featured in the top 10 games I’ve ever seen. It had everything, except I watched it through fingers with ever shortening nails. Bournemouth, if there was any justice, should have won the penalties, because they were, for my money, the better team, but that 25 game unbeaten run had obviously instilled a steely-unwillingness to lose that didn’t evaporate until 10 minutes before the end of the final. This match was tight, tense, exciting, had some wonderful goals (Lovell’s for Bournemouth particularly) and two teams who were dead set on trying to beat each other. It might even have made this list if we’d lost the penalties, but thankfully, our day out in Manchester was just rewards for it. By far the most thrilling Town match I’ve seen on television, and one that made me incredibly proud to be a Town fan, and a fan of lower league football.

 

Huddersfield Town 3-1 Leicester City – 21/11/1995 – Favourite for ‘Enjoying a Performance’

This is the first match I can remember coming away from (to tell the truth it might be the only match I remember coming away from) thinking ‘That Town team could play in the Premiership’. They completely outplayed a very good (Martin O’Neill managed and, look at what they did the next few seasons) Leicester City side, and not only was it a thrilling (night) game, it was a wonderful performance to boot. If only all home games could be like that. A delight.

 

Huddersfield Town 2-1 Nottingham Forest – 26/11/2005  – Favourite for ‘Justice Being Done’

Let’s get this straight. Jack Lester should’ve been sent off before half time. The foul he made on Paul Rachubka was as late as you could hope to see, anywhere, and pretty ill-tempered, too. That Forest team came to Town seeming to think they had some God-given right to beat us that day, just because they often had beat us recently. They never looked like it, and having gone 2-0 down, took more of a ‘kicking lumps’ approach to the game. It was played in a foul spirit, though a good atmosphere (unusual for Saturday games at the Galpharm) and in the end (after Ian Breckin had decapitated Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Jack Lester’s red card had finally arrived) Town prevailed in one of those games that you instantly want to watch again to see if your view of anything (everything) was skewed. It wasn’t. Jack Lester will not be welcomed back well, I shouldn’t think. But then he seldom is anywhere. Everyone likes seeing villains getting their just deserts, and this was one of those.

 

Huddersfield Town 2-1 Bristol Rovers – 28/05/1995 – How could it be anything else? You go to watch your team to see them win things. This was the first time I saw them win anything. That’s all there is to it, really.

Day 2b Of The 30 Day Football Challenge – My Least Favourite Town Games

Huddersfield Town 0 – 0 Southend Utd – 19th Oct 1997– Least Favourite For ‘Utterly Shite Match’

There’s been a few bore draws at the McAlpine in the years I’ve been attending, but this stands out as the worst. It was that first season after the Playoff win, and there was a couple of 0 – 0s (one against Oldham) but I can actually remember incidents from them – a shot against the crossbar that knocked some snow off, for example – but Southend, I remember being pretty flat about at the time, and I’m not viewing it any more favourably now, 15 years later.

Huddersfield Town 1 – 2 Birmingham City – 6th May 2001 – Least Favourite For ‘Painful Reasons’

3.06pm. That’s when this game ended, and when Town were relegated ‘back’ to Division 2. I was in Norwich, and I just went wandering round the Wensum, round and round, and ended just sat with my feet over the edge near where I lived then. I was just empty. I said that night it’d take me six or seven years to get over it, and I’m not even sure it was that quick. I used to have the exact date and time stuck on my computer, to remember it, to remind myself not to be so affected by football matches in future and, touch wood, I’ve been alright since, but this game, and the relegation that came with it, cut me to the core.

Huddersfield Town 6 – 0 Wycombe Wanderers – 14th Nov 2009 – Least Favourite For ‘Confusing People’

Town played well against Wycombe and deserved their 6-0 win. That was good. But this game, more than any other game, confused people about what to expect. A lot of people took their opinion of Theo Robinson from the way he performed in this game, as if each time he stepped onto the field was not independent of itself. A lot of people took their demands of Town’s performances and scorelines from this game as if six nil wins could become routine or commonplace; it was a high-water mark that happened to be on Sky, and people used it as a judgement point for all that came after which was incredibly annoying and not least a bit wrong.

Huddersfield Town 1 – 3 Mansfield Town – 1st May 2004 – Least Favourite For ‘Impending Doom’

Town were absolutely mullered this game by a team who, let’s face it, were only Mansfield Town. But they tore us to shreds with the pace of Junior Mendes and the vision of Liam Lawrence. This game was bad, but we knew that Mansfield were promotion rivals and the fact they beat us so convincingly meant that, when the playoff games came around we really wanted to avoid them, just on the strength of them having done this. I can’t remember Town being smashed so badly at home ever, we were never at the races at all. Awful.

Norwich City 1 – 1 Huddersfield Town – 30th Nov 2000 – Least Favourite For ‘Good Personal Ideas Going Bad’

I moved to Norwich in 2000, under the impression I’d be able to see Town a few times in places like Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester…. And took full advantage of it by going to see Town at Carrow Road in my first year there. I missed about 70 minutes of the game under the stand with a massive nose-bleed, which was, personally, quite a problem. This was followed by relegation (see Game 2) and Town failed to play in East Anglia again for the duration of my time in Norwich. I loved Norwich, but this aspect didn’t work out for me.

Day 1b Of The 30 Day Football Challenge – My Favourite Town Games

Crewe 2-5 Huddersfield T – 6^th Dec 1997 – Favourite For ‘Making Me Believe’

This was the game that I think I ever first believed in Town as an entity. They did that to me. I remember the 1994/95 promotion season, quite well, but I didn’t feel involved in it – it felt like they were doing it for us, not with us. The Great Escape was different; the Great Escape was something where everyone was pulling together – in desperation – for Town – if you look back on that (now) cringeworthy video, if you see some of those goal celebrations, and the faces on some of the players; this meant everything to them. That’s Peter Jackson’s gift as a manager. He gets people to care. This was just an amazing day; it was Town’s second win on the bounce, and the away end was rocking. So yes, when I think back to the Great Escape season (1997/98) I think back to this day; I think back to Marcus Stewart celebrating his goal in front of the Town fans, I think of David Phillips, I think of the red and black away shirt that gave me my nickname; this was its finest hour.

Bradford 2-3 Huddersfield T – 17^th April 1999 – Favourite For ‘Excitement’

For Bradford fans, this game is a small subscript in their triumphant rise to the Premiership. For us, we thought it might be the bubble bursting. I recorded this game from Goals On Sunday and must have watched it fifty times or so. I can see it all so vividly now; Steve Jenkins being ‘unhappy’ at being dismissed; Nico elbowing Dean Windass when the comeback was ‘on’; even Wayne Allison’s delicate flick. It was such a good day to be a Town fan, that was, and the game had everything.

Huddersfield T 2-3 Sunderland – 24th Feb 1998 – Favourite For ‘Best Performance Needed To Beat Town’

Allan Johnston was absolutely amazing that night, and that Sunderland team were amazing, too – Quinn, Phillips, Gray a certain Lee Clark – but they had to work every inch to get the victory against a really stubborn Town performance. The atmosphere was buzzing – 14,000 and odd – on a cold Tuesday night, and the football was slick, quick and incisive. Sunderland were going places and it felt for all the world like Town might follow them. Alas.

Huddersfield 2-1 Bradford – 21st Nov 1998 – Favourite For ‘Upsetting The Apple Cart’

Bradford were in great form coming into this, and played really well early doors – Lee Mills and perennial Town nemeses Robbie Blake and Peter Beagrie were buzzing, and they took a deserved lead. Second half, though, we managed to get a foothold and the momentum, and the momentum of the fans took us past Bradford which was a bloody surprise to everyone from before the match, but from during it, too. It was awesome. The form book was thrown out of the window, truly. Next week, this happened.

Huddersfield Town 2-1 Bristol Rovers – 28th May 1995 – Favourite For ‘Just Because’.

A goal, Chris Billy, Huddersfield Town.