Huddersfield (a) - Saturday 21st September 2024

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Huddersfield Town FC (First Team) v Northampton Town FC (First Team)
Football League 1   
Referee: Singh Gill, Sunny
Assistant Referee: Woodward, Daniel
Assistant Referee: Khan, Abbas
Fourth Official: Mackey, Oliver

[MCHammer]

Nervous for this one could be painful.

Can't make it this time which is a real shame as really like the ground there.  Wonder if Smudger will be doing commentary?

[WadeyCobbler]

First time for me at the John Smiths Stadium, ground number 78 watching The Cobblers. Staying over Friday night and doing their parkrun on the Satdee morning (in my Cobblers shirt obviously).
Expecting a tough game and would probably take a 2 goal defeat now as could easily be more.........However, this could be the game everything starts to click?? We just need a settled team with the best players fit.

[guest3687]

It's a nice ground to visit, there used to be a nice welcoming pub just up the road called "The Slubbers Arms" as well

[Pablo69]

What are our ticket sales looking like.
Will we have a good following?

[the grumpy old man]

If we play like we have been playing I can see us getting hammered at Huddersfield. Please prove me wrong guys. We could really do with Eaves for this one.

[Observing]

First spanking of the season I fear.

[Ragdoll Cobbler]

Pretty much everyone is expecting a hammering here...

So, let's have a right go at it eh?

Lose 4-0 playing defensive hoof ball with the same old faces or shake it up & unleash the skillful pacey players from the off...

May well still get tonked but will be alot more exciting to watch...

One thing for sure, Mbete NOT Brough at left back else it will be even more of a sh1tshow!

[west stand oap]

Our former loaner keeper Lee Nichols in goal for Huddersfield, he kept 20 clean sheets in 51 games in his season with us.

[DavCobb]

From memory good acoustics and nice roast potatoes at the John Smith's.

That is the only positive thing I can say about Huddersfield. A small terrace will set you back £60k these days. Not too long ago you could have bought half the street for that price!

Just get in and out.

[GrangeParkCobbler]

Its a 250 mile round trip from Sixfields to the John Smiths Stadium for our next game, away against the Terriers of Huddersfield.

Our opponents currently sit 4th in the table with four wins from their five games thus far.

Its 100 years since the glory days of Huddersfield Town FC, they won the old Football League Championship three consecutives seasons between 1924 and 1926 alongside an FA Cup win in 1922. They stayed in the upper echelons of the League for many years until decline in the 1970's saw them have their only stint (to date) in the fourth tier. They bounced around in the second and third tiers before a playoff victory in 2017 saw them promoted to the Premier League. They played out two seasons at the top level before relegation after only 3 wins in 38 games. Five seasons then followed in the Championship before relegation last season to League 1.

As I say this season has been pretty good, four straight wins to start with before three defeats, one each in the league, Carabao Cup and Bristol Street Motors Trophy before a return to winning ways last weekend with a thumping 4-0 win at Bolton Wanderers. Josh Koroma scored twice in that game, he is their leading scorer with four goals this season, assisted by Ben Wiles (three from midfield) and Anthony Evans with two. Callum Marshall, a youngster in on loan from West Ham has also bagged a couple of goals, and Freddie Ladapo recently joined from Charlton to bolster their attacking options.

In the hotseat at the John Smiths is Michael Duff. Duff joined in the summer and will be hoping for success and to avoid the ever revolving door which has seen 15 managerial changes in just five years at Huddersfield. Duff made his name at Cheltenham before stints at Barnsley and Swansea.

Huddersfield moved from Leeds Road to the Kirklees Stadium (as it was originally named) in 2004. McAlpine soon gained naming rights over the ground, followed by Galpharm and now John Smiths who have had their name connected with the ground since 2012. At the time the ground was considered futuristic thanks to its sweeping curves and bright colours. It is currently shared by the football club and Huddersfield Giants rugby league side and has hosted World Cup matches in both League and Union codes. Capacity at the ground is in the region of 24500, they've had an average crowd of 18367 so far for their two league games to date.

Lee Nicholls has appeared in all their league fixtures so far this season, Nicholls had an ever present season for us on loan from Wigan in 2012/13. Martin Smith is another with links to both clubs, top scorer for the Terriers in 2002/3 he then moved onto the Cobblers spending three seasons with us making over 100 appearances before he moved up to the north east to turn out for Darlington (remember them?). Our former player and then manager Herbert Chapman was in charge of Huddersfield for those previously mentioned "glory days" in the 1920's.

This will be our first league meeting since 2009 and over the years we have met thirty times in the League. 12 wins to 11 in the Terriers favour at the moment. Our only win at this ground was in 2007 when goals from Poul Houbertz and Jason Crowe overturned a half time deficit to give us the three points. Our last meeting in any competition was in 2011 and was probably notable for two different things. Firstly we found ourselves in the northern section of the then Johnstone Paints Trophy, falling to a 2-1 home defeat to Huddersfield in front of a crowd of just 1,776. The second notable thing was one of just a few appearances by Ashley Corker who came on as a sub in the 65th minute and was then subbed off himself in the 89th.

As Deepcut has already posted, Sunny Singh Gill is the appointed ref, the former prison officer became the first British South Asian referee to take charge of a game in the Premier League in March of this year, and was the first British Asian ref in the football league since his father Jarnail Singh. Sunny's first EFL game was in fact a Cobblers game as we beat Hartlepool on opening day in 2022/3. Last season he dished out 183 yellow and 6 red cards in his 48 games, this season its eleven yellows in four games. We last saw him at the end of October last year for our 2-1 defeat at Bristol Rovers, a week later he was overseeing Huddersfields goalless home draw with Watford in the Championship.

[guest3687]

From memory good acoustics and nice roast potatoes at the John Smith's.

That is the only positive thing I can say about Huddersfield. A small terrace will set you back £60k these days. Not too long ago you could have bought half the street for that price!

Just get in and out.

People say that about Daventry 😂

[Manwork04]

People say that about Daventry 😂

At least Davs got a Waitrose (that’s a shop for posh people BTW).

[Worthless Recluse]

At least Davs got a Waitrose (that’s a shop for posh people BTW).

Even when I was at school there in the '70's.
Never could work that one out. Someone in an office somewhere must have mistaken Daventry for an affluent Shire town somewhere that began with the same letter.

[guest3687]

At least Davs got a Waitrose (that’s a shop for posh people BTW).

Northampton has two, and I have a Waitrose card cos I’m posh innit

[Manwork04]

Northampton has two, and I have a Waitrose card cos I’m posh innit

Like your style.

[DavCobb]

People say that about Daventry 😂

Say what you want about Dav. I’m a Townie who has just happened to live on one of the nice estates for 3 years. Much prefer it to Northampton. It does have the Ale Pole which must be one of the best little bars in the county.
I’ll be off retiring soon to Cornwall, Dorset, Shropshire or Norfolk. Undecided yet and enjoying exploring the little towns and villages. It won’t be Huddersfield. 

[Shoemender]

What are our ticket sales looking like.
Will we have a good following?

Not sure about this one but apparently we've sold our Wrexham allocation so I've been told.

[guest3687]

Say what you want about Dav. I’m a Townie who has just happened to live on one of the nice estates for 3 years. Much prefer it to Northampton. It does have the Ale Pole which must be one of the best little bars in the county.
I’ll be off retiring soon to Cornwall, Dorset, Shropshire or Norfolk. Undecided yet and enjoying exploring the little towns and villages. It won’t be Huddersfield. 

I've never been to Daventry and have nothing to say about it!

[GrangeParkCobbler]

What are our ticket sales looking like.
Will we have a good following?

The club announced sales of "nearly 800" yesterday on social media