The 1969/1970 season

Coming from our feature writer David A Wood

AND so to that season 1969-1970 ... part two of a very special Five part series!

The first day of a new football season is always greeted with delight by the genuine football supporter who follows their team whatever the results might bring. Win, lose or draw, next week they will be there again either hoping for better or a continuation of the good form.

Saturday 9th August 1969 brought Huddersfield Town's young squad down to Oxford for the seasons opener. As the players gathered in the away dressing room at The Manor Ground their minds would be firmly on the big kick-off which was but minutes away and what this match and the rest of the season would bring. There was no doubt we had a keen, lean squad raring to go but over the past few seasons surely this had always been likewise and we had fallen short, what could take us that vital step further this time?

That we had a keen as mustard young boss just into his second full season in charge was not in doubt, but hadn't he been with the club these past couple of seasons under then Manager Johnston when we had just missed out previously?

The entire squad was fit and ready for battle; indeed the whole ethics of the club was unquestioned. The difference this season, though the fans on this momentous opening fixture day may not have realised it, was Ian Greaves.

Here was a man not only confident in his own ability to make things happen and take Town up, but with a steely belief in himself and his methods being the key to success. There was no room for doubt, no time for second best, do it my way or else, then given hard work and our - or should that read his - ability we are ready for any challenge.

Ten days later - Town, 3 matches into the season, had gone 2nd in the table with 3 wins, 7 goals scored, three conceded and of course a maximum six points haul (in those days just 2pts for a win). That Town dropped a place following their next game caused little worry for it came following a heart stopping, full bloodied, Yorkshire derby at Bramall Lane with neither side able to pierce the other's defence. Man of the match was Town's No1 Terry Poole. The point the home side gained enabling them to leapfrog us in the table.

Despite Mr Greaves - he who demands and most certainly usually gets, the driving force, this is our Town who have always been able to produce misery out of majesty, and so it was the following Tuesday evening down Leeds Road way.

That Town hit the front pages of the Examiner as well as the back says much for what went on that evening when Blackburn Rovers crossed the Pennines.

Football hooliganism hit Huddersfield big style both before and particularly after the game, with running fights breaking out all over and more so in the Town centre with the police hard pressed to keep order.

Equally so for a Town side nilled for the second successive match and the visitors up to third spot courtesy of the one goal they scored. Town slipped to 5th on top were QPR with 9pts, two more than Town.

As the first month of the season came to an end the Greaves factor kicked in as Town responded to their first reversal with a resounding 3 nil success over West Country visitors Bristol City. A victory that lifted us up to third spot with next opponents, QPR, slipping down to fifth. The Londoners, though, had a 100% home record and this would test Town to the full as we were the next visitors to Loftus Road.

As this third away game of the campaign loomed, Town were on their mid-week travels to Cumbria for a Tuesday evening FL Cup tie at Brunton Park. A 2-0 defeat saw us exiting the competition at the first hurdle.

When Town went down 4-2 in West London in their seventh match of the season surely alarm bells were starting to chime if not exactly ring!

Nothing of the sort.

Indeed this match and the performance was one of the best adverts for football you could ever hope to see. OK the result went against the visitors but anyone who was there that day will tell you the game had everything. It ebbed and flowed with the result always in doubt showing how evenly matched the two sides were. This victory lifted the Londoners to 4th boasting a most impressive 100% home record including scoring on no fewer than sixteen occasions.

A seasons low point as regards the table was reached that September evening and it was to remain the same the following Saturday of 6th though Town got back to winning ways with a 2-0 home win over 15th placed Blackpool.

Two successive 1-1 draws on the road saw us move up to 4th then drop one place following holding Watford at Vicarage Road then Peter Shilton's Leicester. Town fans even in those days could be pessimistic and I well remember when going one down at Filbert Street fellow fans around saying that's it we've lost now we won't beat their 'keeper!

We returned to Leeds Road for the final game in September where the visit of Bolton brought two more valuable points in a very poor game which other than the one nil win was celebrated by the launch of a new Town mascot.

Skippy, a Yorkshire terrier was paraded on the famous turf prior to kick off by her owner Mrs Fisher, this lady sadly passed away last year.

Thus The Town now had an official mascot and nick-name 'the Town Terriers'. To this day the Terrier proudly sits on top of the official club badge and can be seen on most other official Town merchandise and was the brainchild of Promotions Officer Lawrence O'Toole and Bill Brook the Commercial Manager.

That the game was scrappy could be judged by Sunday newspaper reports exclaiming if the dog wasn't to go hungry there would have to be more meat on the bones in future Town victories!

When Town avenged their League Cup defeat with a 2-0 victory back up the North West in Carlisle the scene was set fair for even more upward movement from the current 4th spot for the next game saw us at bottom of the table Aston Villa who had but one win to their name.

At the end of the night make that two! This is our Town, our team we are talking about when in front of a massive Midlands crowd of over 28000 we were tonked 4-1.

That we dropped but one place to fifth was not the only consolation from the result for this Town team under the stewardship of Ian D. Greaves would ensure lessons were learned from even the heaviest of defeats and used as stepping stones for future advancement.

Loose and learn could well have been the Manager's message for those Town Terriers of his. When the Boss spoke they certainly listened with losing to become something of a rarity.

We hope you have enjoyed our "Those Were The Days" articles, and find them an interesting look at some special memories of Town through the years. Memories that will not, and can not be forgotten - and memories only our beloved Town could have created