1973–74 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town's 1973–74 campaign was a season of new beginnings for Huddersfield Town as they experienced life in the 3rd Division for the first time. The season was not spectacular as Town finished in 10th place, behind fellow West Yorkshire club Halifax Town. At the end of the season, Ian Greaves resigned after 6 years as manager. The alarming slide down the Football League was temporarily halted, but the following season would see Town continue their perilous freefall to the basement of the Football League.

Huddersfield Town
1973–74 season
ChairmanEngland Stanley Kinder
New Zealand Garrick Graham
ManagerEngland Ian Greaves
Football League Third Division10th
FA CupSecond round
(knocked out by Chester)
Football League CupFirst round
(knocked out by York City)
Top goalscorerLeague: Alan Gowling (24)
All: Alan Gowling (25)
Highest home attendance11,514 vs Halifax Town (26 December 1973)
Lowest home attendance2,522 vs Wrexham (24 April 1974)
Biggest win5–0 vs Rochdale (23 February 1974)
Biggest defeat0–6 vs Oldham Athletic (20 April 1974)

Squad at the start 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 Terry Poole
-- GK   ENG Dick Taylor
-- DF   ENG Dennis Clarke
-- DF   ENG Paul Garner
-- DF   ENG Geoff Hutt
-- DF   ENG Dave Lyon
-- DF   ENG Brian Marshall
-- DF   ENG Grahame McGifford
-- DF   ENG John Saunders
-- MF   ENG Les Chapman
-- MF   ENG Terry Dolan
-- MF   ENG Bobby Hoy
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF   NIR Jimmy Nicholson
-- MF   ENG Graham Pugh
-- MF   ENG Paul Smith
-- MF   ENG Steve Smith
-- FW   ENG John Dungworth
-- FW   IRL Mick Fairclough
-- FW   ENG Alan Gowling
-- FW   ENG Terry Gray
-- FW   WAL Dick Krzywicki
-- FW   ENG Jimmy Lawson
-- FW   ENG Dave Smith
-- FW   ENG Phil Summerill

Review

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Following Town's second relegation in 2 seasons, Town had reached a division not seen by any previous Town team in their history. Town would visit 13 grounds for the first time in league football, although 4 of them had hosted Town in cup matches before. Town's start to the season was pretty mediocre with Town drawing 6 of their opening 12 games, losing only 2 of them, but it was a far cry from 1st Division football they were playing just 2 seasons earlier. The previous season's top scorer, Alan Gowling, continued with his goalscoring form scoring 24 goals in the league campaign.

Town eventually finished the season in a disappointing 10th place with 47 points, 2 points behind local rivals Halifax Town. However, at the end of the season Ian Greaves resigned as manager of the side. He became Jimmy Armfield's assistant at Bolton Wanderers. The next season would see Town get even further down the league ladder, so even though Greaves had halted the slide, it was temporary, not permanent.

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 Terry Poole
-- GK   ENG Dick Taylor
-- DF   ENG Paul Garner
-- DF   ENG Peter Hart
-- DF   ENG Geoff Hutt
-- DF   ENG Dave Lyon
-- DF   ENG Brian Marshall
-- DF   ENG Grahame McGifford
-- DF   ENG John Saunders
-- MF   ENG Les Chapman
-- MF   ENG Terry Dolan
-- MF   ENG Martin Fowler
-- MF   ENG Bobby Hoy
-- MF   ENG Bob Mountain
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF   ENG Graham Pugh
-- MF   ENG Paul Smith
-- MF   ENG Steve Smith
-- FW   ENG John Dungworth
-- FW   IRL Mick Fairclough
-- FW   ENG Franny Firth
-- FW   ENG Alan Gowling
-- FW   ENG Terry Gray
-- FW   WAL Dick Krzywicki
-- FW   ENG Jimmy Lawson
-- FW   ENG Bob Newton
-- FW   ENG Dave Smith
-- FW   ENG Phil Summerill

Results

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Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F — A
Scorers Attendance Position
25 August 1973 Watford A 1–1 Hoy 6,246 12th
1 September 1973 Cambridge United H 2–1 Gowling, Hoy 5,559 8th
8 September 1973 Port Vale A 2–4 Dolan, Gowling 5,003 12th
11 September 1973 Chesterfield H 1–0 Fairclough 6,164 8th
15 September 1973 Aldershot H 1–0 Gowling 5,849 7th
17 September 1973 Walsall A 0–3 5,491 8th
22 September 1973 Wrexham A 0–0 6,665 9th
29 September 1973 Bournemouth H 1–1 Gowling (pen) 5,360 12th
6 October 1973 Rochdale A 1–1 Arnold (og) 3,220 12th
9 October 1973 Walsall H 2–2 S. Smith, Dolan 4,436 12th
13 October 1973 Plymouth Argyle H 2–1 S. Smith, Summerill 4,927 8th
19 October 1973 Tranmere Rovers A 1–1 Gowling (pen) 4,715 5th
24 October 1973 Chesterfield A 2–0 Dolan, Gowling 6,589 6th
27 October 1973 Bristol Rovers H 1–2 Dolan 9,532 9th
3 November 1973 Southend United A 2–5 Gowling (2) 7,255 10th
10 November 1973 Brighton & Hove Albion H 2–2 Dolan, Summerill 6,057 12th
13 November 1973 Shrewsbury Town H 1–0 Summerill 4,154 6th
17 November 1973 Hereford United A 1–0 Gowling 7,925 6th
1 December 1973 Southport A 0–0 2,109 6th
8 December 1973 Oldham Athletic H 2–1 Gowling (2) 8,074 5th
22 December 1973 Bournemouth A 0–1 9,141 7th
26 December 1973 Halifax Town H 4–0 Lawson, Dolan, Gowling (2) 11,514 6th
29 December 1973 Port Vale H 3–0 Lawson (2), Gowling 7,702 6th
1 January 1974 Cambridge United A 2–2 Chapman, Hoy 5,667 6th
12 January 1974 Aldershot A 0–1 5,029 6th
19 January 1974 Watford H 1–2 Gowling 6,301 6th
26 January 1974 Charlton Athletic A 1–2 Lawson 5,391 7th
29 January 1974 Blackburn Rovers H 1–0 Lawson 5,204 5th
2 February 1974 Grimsby Town A 1–2 Gowling 7,188 6th
16 February 1974 Plymouth Argyle A 1–1 Summerill 7,299 10th
23 February 1974 Rochdale H 5–0 Lawson (2), Gowling (2), Summerill 5,679 7th
2 March 1974 Halifax Town A 0–0 8,126 7th
8 March 1974 Bristol Rovers A 1–2 Gowling 13,543 7th
16 March 1974 Tranmere Rovers H 0–0 4,702 7th
20 March 1974 Grimsby Town H 1–0 Gray 4,473 7th
23 March 1974 Brighton & Hove Albion A 2–1 Gowling (2) 12,444 7th
27 March 1974 Blackburn Rovers A 0–1 6,671 7th
30 March 1974 Southend United H 0–1 4,453 7th
2 April 1974 Charlton Athletic H 2–0 Gowling (2) 3,142 7th
6 April 1974 Shrewsbury Town A 0–3 1,675 7th
12 April 1974 York City A 1–2 Dolan 10,189 8th
13 April 1974 Hereford United H 0–0 4,148 9th
16 April 1974 York City H 0–1 7,737 11th
20 April 1974 Oldham Athletic A 0–6 16,466 13th
24 April 1974 Wrexham H 2–1 Dolan, Summerill 2,522 13th
27 April 1974 Southport H 3–1 Summerill, Dolan, Gowling 3,320 9th
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F — A
Scorers Attendance
24 November 1973 Round 1 Wigan Athletic H 2–0 Newton (2) 9,557
15 December 1973 Round 2 Chester A 2–3 Saunders, Gowling 3,296
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F — A
Scorers Attendance
29 August 1973 Round 1 York City A 0–1 6,497

Appearances and goals

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Name Nation Position League Apps League Goals FA Cup Apps FA Cup Goals League Cup Apps League Cup Goals Total Apps Total Goals
Les Chapman   England MF 31 (2) 1 1 0 1 0 33 (2) 1
Dennis Clarke   England DF 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Terry Dolan   England MF 43 8 2 0 1 0 46 8
John Dungworth   England FW 1 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (2) 0
Mick Fairclough   Republic of Ireland FW 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 1
Franny Firth   England FW 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (1) 0
Martin Fowler   England MF 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (1) 0
Paul Garner   England DF 43 0 2 0 1 0 46 0
Alan Gowling   England FW 45 24 2 1 1 0 48 25
Terry Gray   England FW 9 (4) 1 2 0 0 0 11 (4) 1
Peter Hart   England MF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Bobby Hoy   England MF 26 (1) 3 2 0 1 0 29 (1) 3
Geoff Hutt   England DF 26 0 2 0 0 0 28 0
Dick Krzywicki   Wales MF 2 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 2 (1) 0
Jimmy Lawson   England MF 31 (1) 7 0 0 0 (1) 0 31 (2) 7
Dave Lyon   England DF 2 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 2 (1) 0
Brian Marshall   England DF 24 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 24 (2) 0
Grahame McGifford   England DF 16 0 0 0 1 0 17 0
Bob Mountain   England MF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Bob Newton   England FW 4 0 1 2 0 0 5 2
Jimmy Nicholson   Northern Ireland MF 3 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 3 (1) 0
Terry Poole   England GK 41 0 2 0 1 0 44 0
Graham Pugh   England MF 28 0 2 0 0 0 30 0
John Saunders   England DF 43 0 2 1 1 0 46 1
Dave Smith   England MF 1 (1) 0 0 0 1 0 2 (1) 0
Paul Smith   England MF 1 0 0 (1) 0 0 0 1 (1) 0
Steve Smith   England MF 41 3 1 0 1 0 43 3
Phil Summerill   England FW 29 (1) 7 1 0 1 0 31 (1) 7
Dick Taylor   England GK 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0

References

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