1927–28 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town's 1927–28 campaign was the last season of Town's true dominance of English football. They finished 2nd behind Everton, although if they had won all their last 3 games, they would have won the title, but they only beat Portsmouth and lost to Sheffield United and Aston Villa. They also reached their 3rd FA Cup Final, losing to Blackburn Rovers in controversial circumstances.

Huddersfield Town
1927–28 season
ChairmanEngland Sir Amos Brook Hirst
ManagerScotland Jack Chaplin
Football League First Division2nd
FA CupRunners-Up
(knocked out by Blackburn Rovers)
Top goalscorerLeague: George Brown (27)
All: George Brown (35)
Highest home attendance55,200 vs Middlesbrough (18 February 1928)
Lowest home attendance7,098 vs Derby County (5 November 1927)
Biggest win8–2 vs Cardiff City (1 October 1927)
7–1 vs Sheffield United (12 November 1927)
Biggest defeat0–4 vs Cardiff City (11 February 1928)

Squad at the start of season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK   ENG Billy Mercer
-- GK   ENG Hugh Turner
-- DF   ENG Ned Barkas
-- DF   ENG Billy Carr
-- DF   ENG Roy Goodall
-- DF   ENG Tommy Meads
-- DF   ENG Levi Redfern
-- DF   ENG Norman Smith
-- DF   ENG Bon Spence
-- DF   SCO David Steele
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- DF   ENG Sam Wadsworth
-- DF   ENG Tom Wilson
-- MF   EIR Laurie Cumming
-- MF   SCO Alex Jackson
-- MF   ENG Billy Smith
-- FW   ENG George Brown
-- FW   ENG Johnny Dent
-- FW   ENG Bob Kelly
-- FW   ENG Harry Raw
-- FW   ENG Clem Stephenson

Review

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Town's team of the mid 1920s were all-conquering, almighty and described as the best team in the world. Just 1 season after relinquishing their championship title, but they were still a formidable force in the 1st Division. This was proven by their record 8-2 win over Cardiff City in October and the 7-1 win over Sheffield United in November. George Brown still continued his goalscoring exploits by scoring 35 goals during the season, including 27 in the league. They were still in the hunt for the title until late April. They needed to win their last 3 games to have a realistic chance of reclaiming their title, but defeats to Sheffield United and Aston Villa made the win over Portsmouth irrelevant. They missed out on the championship by 2 points to Everton.

Squad at the end of the season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK   ENG Billy Mercer
-- GK   ENG Hugh Turner
-- DF   ENG Ned Barkas
-- DF   SCO Willie Campbell
-- DF   ENG Billy Carr
-- DF   ENG Roy Goodall
-- DF   ENG Tommy Meads
-- DF   ENG Bill Pickering
-- DF   ENG Levi Redfern
-- DF   ENG Bon Spence
-- DF   SCO David Steele
-- DF   ENG Sam Wadsworth
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- DF   ENG Tom Wilson
-- MF   EIR Laurie Cumming
-- MF   SCO Alex Jackson
-- MF   ENG Jimmy Smailes
-- MF   ENG Billy Smith
-- MF   SCO George Wilson
-- FW   ENG George Brown
-- FW   ENG Johnny Dent
-- FW   ENG Bob Kelly
-- FW   ENG Harry Raw
-- FW   ENG Clem Stephenson

Results

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Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance Position
27 August 1927 Newcastle United H 1 - 3 Brown 24,465 17th
29 August 1927 Birmingham A 1 - 3 Brown 16,432 18th
3 September 1927 West Ham United A 2 - 4 Brown, Jackson 23,925 22nd
10 September 1927 Tottenham Hotspur A 2 - 2 Dent, Brown 27,983 21st
17 September 1927 Manchester United H 4 - 2 Brown (3), Dent 17,307 20th
24 September 1927 Everton A 2 - 2 B. Smith, Jackson 37,269 20th
1 October 1927 Cardiff City H 8 - 2 Kelly (3), Jackson, Dent (2), Goodall (pen), B. Smith 12,975 16th
8 October 1927 Blackburn Rovers A 1 - 1 Jackson 28,032 16th
15 October 1927 Bolton Wanderers H 1 - 0 Jackson (pen) 19,818 11th
22 October 1927 Aston Villa H 1 - 1 Jackson 14,679 12th
29 October 1927 Sunderland A 0 - 3 22,070 16th
5 November 1927 Derby County H 2 - 1 B. Smith, Goodall (pen) 7,098 15th
12 November 1927 Sheffield United A 7 - 1 Meads, B. Smith (2), Brown (2), Jackson (2) 22,163 13th
19 November 1927 Bury H 3 - 0 Brown (2), B. Smith 12,273 9th
26 November 1927 Liverpool A 2 - 4 B. Smith, Goodall (pen) 34,128 11th
3 December 1927 Arsenal H 2 - 1 B. Smith (2) 15,140 7th
10 December 1927 Burnley A 1 - 0 Brown 19,130 5th
17 December 1927 Leicester City H 3 - 1 Brown (2), Kelly 13,717 3rd
24 December 1927 Portsmouth A 1 - 2 Brown 21,785 5th
26 December 1927 Sheffield Wednesday H 1 - 0 Jackson 21,336 4th
27 December 1927 Sheffield Wednesday A 5 - 0 Barkas (pen), B. Smith, Brown (3) 41,824 2nd
31 December 1927 Newcastle United A 3 - 2 Brown, Jackson, Barkas (pen) 33,640 2nd
2 January 1928 Middlesbrough A 1 - 3 Brown 26,032 2nd
7 January 1928 West Ham United H 5 - 2 Jackson (2), Brown (3) 10,972 2nd
21 January 1928 Tottenham Hotspur H 4 - 2 Brown, B. Smith (2), Jackson 17,892 2nd
4 February 1928 Everton H 4 - 1 Dent, B. Smith (3) 51,284 2nd
11 February 1928 Cardiff City A 0 - 4 21,073 2nd
25 February 1928 Bolton Wanderers A 1 - 0 B. Smith 44,082 2nd
7 March 1928 Manchester United A 0 - 0 35,413 2nd
10 March 1928 Sunderland H 4 - 2 Stephenson, Jackson, Kelly, Brown 17,497 1st
14 March 1928 Blackburn Rovers H 3 - 1 Goodall (pen), Jackson, Brown 10,890 1st
17 March 1928 Derby County A 0 - 0 24,684 1st
31 March 1928 Bury A 3 - 2 G. Wilson, Raw, Dent 14,636 1st
7 April 1928 Liverpool H 2 - 4 Jackson, Brown 27,290 2nd
9 April 1928 Birmingham H 2 - 0 Dent (2) 28,779 1st
10 April 1928 Middlesbrough H 2 - 4 Stephenson, Goodall (pen) 29,034 1st
14 April 1928 Arsenal A 0 - 0 38,707 1st
25 April 1928 Burnley H 1 - 2 Brown 20,643 2nd
28 April 1928 Leicester City A 2 - 1 Raw, Barkas (pen) 29,191 2nd
30 April 1928 Sheffield United H 0 - 1 22,380 2nd
2 May 1928 Aston Villa A 0 - 3 30,173 2nd
5 May 1928 Portsmouth H 4 - 1 Jackson (2), B. Smith, Barkas 11,706 2nd
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
14 January 1928 Round 3 Lincoln City H 4 - 2 Brown, B. Smith, Goodall (pen), Steele 19,329
28 January 1928 Round 4 West Ham United H 2 - 1 Brown, Jackson 27,525
18 February 1928 Round 5 Middlesbrough H 4 - 0 Steele, Brown, Jackson, B. Smith 55,200
3 March 1928 Round 6 Tottenham Hotspur H 6 - 1 B. Smith (2), Brown (4) 52,390
24 March 1928 Semi-Final Sheffield United N 2 - 2 Jackson, Brown 69,260
26 March 1928 Semi-Final Replay Sheffield United N 0 - 0 53,749
2 April 1928 Semi-Final 2nd Replay Sheffield United N 1 - 0 Jackson 69,370
21 April 1928 Final Blackburn Rovers N 1 - 3 Jackson 92,041

Appearances and goals

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Name Nation Position League Apps League Goals FA Cup Apps FA Cup Goals Total Apps Total Goals
Ned Barkas   England DF 36 4 4 0 40 4
George Brown   England FW 32 27 6 8 38 35
Willie Campbell   Scotland DF 2 0 0 0 2 0
Billy Carr   England DF 1 0 0 0 1 0
Laurie Cumming   Ireland FW 1 0 0 0 1 0
Johnny Dent   England FW 18 8 2 0 20 8
Roy Goodall   England DF 29 5 8 1 37 6
Alex Jackson   Scotland FW 39 19 8 5 47 24
Bob Kelly   England FW 35 5 8 0 43 5
Tommy Meads   England DF 27 1 2 0 29 1
Billy Mercer   England GK 23 0 7 0 30 0
Bill Pickering   England DF 1 0 0 0 1 0
Harry Raw   England FW 10 2 0 0 10 2
Levi Redfern   England DF 23 0 7 0 30 0
Jimmy Smailes   England MF 3 0 0 0 3 0
Billy Smith   England MF 38 17 8 4 46 21
Norman Smith   England DF 6 0 0 0 6 0
Bon Spence   England DF 5 0 1 0 6 0
David Steele   Scotland DF 24 0 6 2 30 2
Clem Stephenson   England FW 31 2 8 0 39 2
Hugh Turner   England GK 19 0 1 0 20 0
Sam Wadsworth   England DF 17 0 4 0 21 0
George Wilson   Scotland MF 1 1 0 0 1 1
Tom Wilson   England DF 41 0 8 0 49 0