The 1969/1970 season

Coming from our feature writer.

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

With their team sitting proudly at the top of Division 2, Town fans entered the new year of 1970 in buoyant mood. A point clear of the chasing pack, games in hand and a couple of weeks break from league action for the first Saturday of the new year brought with it the 3rd Round of the FA Cup and a home tie with lowly Aldershot of the 4th Division.

When Sports Report chimed out that most nostalgic of signature tunes Town were in the hat for the draw, but only just and progress was not guaranteed either as the long journey north was much shorter on their return south for our guests who had a 1-1 draw to savour.

We had to wait a further nine days for the replay when a Jimmy Melia inspired Shots produced one of the shocks of the round turfing us out of the Cup 3-1. This was before squad rotation, not that that has reached Town even now, and a fully merited victory it was.

One notable inclusion in the Town ranks, making only his second appearance of the season, and indeed what was to be the last, was Welsh International Centre Half Ray Mielczarek. His only other game was also in the Cup up at Carlisle when Town had also gone out at the first hurdle of the League Cup.

As much as the Cup reversal hurt, any loss does but to opposition two divisions below it goes a bit deeper but I remember at the time saying this early exit will be a god send. Others thought I was only making excuses for the defeat but I really believed the Saturday's freed up could well give us the opportunity to strike a march on those around us. That positive thinking although unaware of it at the time was working on us all!

The first league game of the New Year finished one each at Burnden Park, the dropping of a point magnified by the loss of top spot as Sheffield United leap frogged us on goal average but having played three games more.

Evening games under the Leeds Road floodlights were always something a bit special, one extraordinarily so came on Tuesday 20 January 1970.

The visitors from London may have been down in 5th place but Queens Park Rangers were just a point behind us with a similar number of victories, 14, in the season to us and were looked upon by the southern press especially, as the team of the division studded with star names such as Rodney Marsh.

This was the big game and would show who really were the top dogs of Division Two. The game was a classic but really there was ever only one team in it. From the first to the last minute a Frank Worthington inspired wonder show, and the other ten were not that far behind, leaving the visitors gasping in our wake and fortunate to be on the wrong end of only a 2-0 defeat.

Fair dues the press went mad over the Town the next day with superlative after superlative. Town fan and Chief Soccer writer of the Daily Express Alan Thompson led the way with his headline 'I want to be in that number when my Town go marching in'.

Column inches and headlines were all glowing in their praise of a quite superb Town performance. I can see them now and still feel the pride I felt in these words about my team, my club. Huddersfield Town as a Club were truly on the march, the whole Town and district, the Spenborough area all suddenly had a massive injection of pride and commitment and the supporters at last started to think, to believe it really could happen this time.

This is it! We really are on the verge of success? Oh yes we were, we really were for this extra special night had seen us re-claim top spot and no way would we release it again.

The 3^rd Round cup defeat was a blessing in disguise for Town reeled off three successive Saturday victories, four goals scored just one conceded and six points clear at the top. Thank you Aldershot

A point was dropped in a 1-1 home draw with Norwich, which saw us just 5 points clear and Blackpool move into 4th spot. Five became 7 clear following a single goal home win over Oxford and then as February closed, unheard of, a solitary goal defeat at Millwall. The Lions who had been the visitors to Leeds Road when we first reached the summit of the Division back in November were the only team to stop Town scoring in both games.

March saw us open up with another Tuesday nighter and though Leicester City returned home with a point following a 1-1 draw they were still 10 points adrift of us though a game less played but effectively their title challenge was ended at Leeds Road that night. Six points separated us from Sheffield United - how dogged were they in their pursuit of us, and seven from 3^rd placed Cardiff City each having a game in hand over us. But down in 5^th and 6^th place were Blackpool and Swindon both with 2 games in hand and 7 and 8 points separating us.

Our next game was down in Wales and re-arranged for a Saturday as both sides were out of 'the Cup'. A home win and they would be just four points behind us still with a game advantage. A Terriers triumph and a nine point advantage would surely see Cardiff left out of sight with only 14 points to play for.

A great day in the Principality was crowned when a screamer by Jimmy Nicholson from 25yds put the Terriers into the lead and whilst we were unable to add to that goal victory was never in doubt. Another superb performance on their travels and the train journey home was rather enjoyable. Six points clear of those tenacious Blades but the pack kept chasing as Blackpool moved into third but with games running out if we carried on winning no one could catch us. Birmingham City returned home beaten 2-0

on a glue pot of a home pitch and the following Tuesday Swindon came to Town and took home a point following a 1-1 encounter. Blackpool had moved into a promotion spot and like Swindon still with a two game advantage, but eight points behind, Sheffield had slipped from the second spot they seemed to have made there own and our visitors from Wiltshire had 43points like the Blades.

Still tight at the top and though others had more games to play we had got on with ours after the Cup and gained maximum points and you can not better that, unless you count adding quality to your squad which is just what Mr Greaves had gone and done.

The new man at Leeds Road was Welsh international winger Dick Kryzwicki who joined us from WBA for £55,000 and very early in his Town career was paying back the Managers faith in him with a high powered goal scoring performance at Fratton Park. To silence the Pompey chimes is one thing to get their appreciation shows the quality shown in a brilliant 3-1 success for the Yorkshiremen. This great win set up the Easter Monday derby with Hull City. The crowds rolled in and were treated to another good performance but a third draw, 2-2, from the last four home games left the table looking like this.

Town at the top 39/55, Blackpool second 37/48, followed by Cardiff 38/45 and Swindon 37/45 the latter had finally been beaten for the first time since late November.

Easter Tuesday 31st March 1970 Middlesbrough v Huddersfield Town. What I had waited for all my life.

If Town took a point we were promoted.

How good does that look and sound. We took supporters by the thousands and trying to get on the train, which I swear was full to bursting having started out at Huddersfield; from a platform full to bursting at Mirfield the atmosphere was electric. As we journeyed to the northeast the sense of occasion was all around you everybody seemed to know one another a time in history to say 'I was there'.

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