2011-07-25

1975-76 Huddersfield Town F.C. season

1975–76 Huddersfield Town F.C. season

Huddersfield Town
1975-76 season
Chairman England
Manager Scotland Bobby Collins (until December 23, 1975)
Scotland Tom Johnston (from December 23, 1975)
Division Four 5th
FA Cup Fourth Round
Second Round
Top goalscorer League:
Terry Gray (15)
All:
Terry Gray (19)
Highest home attendance 27,894 vs Bolton Wanderers (24 January 1976)
Lowest home attendance 3,595 vs Northampton Town (16 August 1975)

Huddersfield Town's 1975-76 campaign was the first season in the 67 years existence of the club, that the team had been in the fourth tier of the Football League. Under Bobby Collins and then Tom Johnston, Town managed a 4th round appearance in the season's FA Cup competition and a 5th place finish in Division 4. Town managed to finish just one place and two points behind 4th-placed Tranmere Rovers.

Squad at the start of the season

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
-- England GK Terry Poole
-- England GK Dick Taylor
-- England DF Steve Baines
-- England DF Paul Garner
-- England DF Peter Hart
-- England DF Geoff Hutt
-- England DF Grahame McGifford
-- England DF John Saunders
-- Scotland DF Alan Sweeney
-- England MF Terry Dolan
-- England MF Martin Fowler
No. Position Player
-- England MF Lloyd Maitland
-- England MF Brian O'Neil
-- England MF Steve Smith
-- England FW Rod Belfitt
-- Northern Ireland FW Bobby Campbell
-- England FW Barry Endean
-- England FW Franny Firth
-- England FW Colin Garwood
-- England FW Terry Gray
-- England FW Jimmy Lawson
-- England FW Bob Newton

Review

Following their third relegation in four seasons, Town started the 1975-76 season in the Fourth Division, a level never seen by the Terriers, or by any team who had won the First Division. The Board had decided to return Town to the all-blue kit. The early part of the season under Bobby Collins and general manager Tom Johnston saw Town make a steady early start to the campaign, which only seemed to have a minor falter between late October and just before Christmas saw Town lose 6 out of 10 games, although the other 4 in that run were wins. The strain of general manager Johnston took its toll on manager Collins, who resigned two days before Christmas, with Johnston taking over, making him the first man in the club's history to have the job twice (Although, that is strictly speaking untrue as Ian Greaves was caretaker manager in 1964, before taking the job on a full-time basis in 1968 .).

Under Johnston, Town went on a pulsating run in the FA Cup 4th round, which led to a match-up with Bolton Wanderers, now managed by Ian Greaves, which Town narrowly lost 1-0. But, near the end of the season, Town without top scorer Terry Gray and his strike partner Bobby Campbell were both out with broken legs. Town's form plummeted as they only won 1 of their last 12 league games, whereas if any 3 of those winless games had resulted in wins, Town would have got promoted back into Division 3 at the first attempt, but instead they found themselves languishing in the division for another 4 seasons.

Squad at the end of the season

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.PositionPlayer
--EnglandGKTerry Poole
--EnglandGKDick Taylor
--EnglandDFSteve Baines
--EnglandDFPaul Garner
--EnglandDFPeter Hart
--EnglandDFGeoff Hutt
--EnglandDFGrahame McGifford
--EnglandDFJohn Saunders
--EnglandDFArnie Sidebottom
--EnglandDFChris Simpkin
--ScotlandDFAlan Sweeney
--EnglandMFTerry Dolan
No.PositionPlayer
--EnglandMFMartin Fowler
--EnglandMFLloyd Maitland
--EnglandMFSteve Smith
--EnglandFWRod Belfitt
--EnglandFWMick Butler
--Northern IrelandFWBobby Campbell
--EnglandFWFranny Firth
--EnglandFWWayne Goldthorpe
--EnglandFWTerry Gray
--EnglandFWJimmy Lawson
--EnglandFWBob Newton

Results

Division Four

Date Opponents Home/

Away

 Result

F - A

 Scorers Attendance Position
16 August 1975 Northampton Town H 1 - 1 Gray 3,595 10th
23 August 1975 Watford A 2 - 0 O'Neil (pen), Gray 4,500 6th
30 August 1975 Rochdale H 0 - 0 4,185 5th
6 September 1975 Scunthorpe United A 1 - 0 Campbell 2,232 1st
13 September 1975 Lincoln City H 0 - 1 5,209 5th
20 September 1975 Cambridge United A 0 - 0 3,150 6th
24 September 1975 Bradford City A 2 - 2 Gray (2) 4,476 9th
27 September 1975 Brentford H 2 - 1 Gray, Garwood 4,160 5th
4 October 1975 Workington A 2 - 0 Maitland, Garwood 1,158 5th
11 October 1975 Swansea City A 1 - 1 Garwood 3,332 6th
18 October 1975 Newport County H 2 - 1 Garwood, Gray 5,477 4th
21 October 1975 Torquay United H 2 - 3 Belfitt, Garwood 5,777 5th
25 October 1975 Reading A 0 - 2 6,679 9th
1 November 1975 Hartlepool H 2 - 0 Garwood (pen), Smith 4,183 7th
4 November 1975 Doncaster Rovers A 1 - 4 Gray 10,650 9th
8 November 1975 Stockport County A 1 - 0 Gray 2,789 7th
15 November 1975 Darlington H 1 - 0 Smith 4,133 6th
29 November 1975 Barnsley A 3 - 2 Lawson (2), Smith 5,007 5th
6 December 1975 Exeter City H 0 - 1 4,987 6th
20 December 1975 Bournemouth A 0 - 1 4,012 8th
26 December 1975 Tranmere Rovers H 1 - 0 Belfitt 6,672 7th
27 December 1975 Southport A 2 - 1 Belfitt, Smith 2,546 6th
17 January 1976 Cambridge United H 2 - 0 Smith, Hart 5,195 6th
27 January 1976 Crewe Alexandra H 1 - 0 Newton 4,459 6th
7 February 1976 Doncaster Rovers H 1 - 2 Gray 6,305 7th
14 February 1976 Stockport County H 2 - 2 Newton (2) 5,307 8th
17 February 1976 Torquay United A 3 - 1 Gray (2), Baines 2,019 6th
21 February 1976 Darlington A 3 - 0 Firth, Gray, Lawson 2,052 6th
28 February 1976 Reading H 3 - 0 Newton, Gray (2) 6,546 7th
1 March 1976 Rochdale A 0 - 0 3,791 5th
6 March 1976 Hartlepool A 1 - 1 Gray 2,044 6th
9 March 1976 Workington H 2 - 0 Hughes (og), Lawson 5,010 5th
13 March 1976 Swansea City H 2 - 0 Butler, Firth 6,393 5th
17 March 1976 Newport County A 2 - 1 Sidebottom, Butler 1,374 4th
20 March 1976 Barnsley H 1 - 2 Goldthorpe 10,049 5th
23 March 1976 Lincoln City A 0 - 0 11,290 5th
27 March 1976 Exeter City A 1 - 4 Sidebottom 3,925 5th
30 March 1976 Bournemouth H 0 - 0 5,834 5th
3 April 1976 Northampton Town A 1 - 1 Belfitt 7,218 5th
5 April 1976 Brentford A 0 - 0 4,413 5th
10 April 1976 Scunthorpe United H 1 - 1 Dolan 6,502 5th
14 April 1976 Crewe Alexandra A 2 - 0 Belfitt, Newton 2,750 5th
17 April 1976 Tranmere Rovers A 0 - 3 8,308 5th
19 April 1976 Southport H 1 - 2 Belfitt 6,324 5th
24 April 1976 Watford H 1 - 0 Goldthorpe 3,787 5th
29 April 1976 Bradford City H 0 - 0 4,779 5th

FA Cup

Date Round Opponents Home/

Away

 Result

F - A

 Scorers Attendance
22 November 1975 Round 1 Walsall A 1 - 0 Belfitt 5,506
13 December 1975 Round 2 Port Vale H 2 - 1 Belfitt, Baines 6,218
3 January 1976 Round 3 Fulham A 3 - 2 Gray (2), Lawson 10,299
24 January 1976 Round 4 Bolton Wanderers H 0 - 1 27,894

Football League Cup

Date Round Opponents Home/

Away

 Result

F - A

 Scorers Attendance
19 August 1975 Round 1 1st Leg Barnsley H 2 - 1 Gray, Dolan 4,200
27 August 1975 Round 1 2nd Leg Barnsley A 1 - 1 Campbell 6,043
  • Huddersfield won 3-2 on aggregate.
10 September 1975 Round 2 Derby County A 1 - 2 Gray 20,602

Appearances and goals






Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975%E2%80%9376_Huddersfield_Town_F.C._season
Posted by at