1976–77 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town's 1976–77 campaign was Huddersfield Town's second season in the 4th Division. Under Tom Johnston, Town almost gained promotion back to the 3rd Division, but a dreadful end to the season saw Town finish in 9th place with 50 points, 9 points off 4th place, which was taken by rivals Bradford City.

Huddersfield Town
1976–77 season
ChairmanEngland Keith Longbottom
ManagerScotland Tom Johnston (until 22 April 1977)
England John Haselden (from 22 April 1977)
Football League Fourth Division9th
FA CupFirst round
(knocked out by Mansfield Town)
Football League CupThird round
(knocked out by Chelsea)
Top goalscorerLeague: Kevin Johnson (13)
All: Kevin Johnson (13)
Highest home attendance11,829 vs Cambridge United (19 April 1977)
Lowest home attendance2,275 vs Southend United (7 May 1977)
Biggest win4–0 vs Scunthorpe United (9 April 1977)
Biggest defeat0–2 vs Darlington (18 September 1976)
0–2 vs Chelsea (20 September 1976)
0–2 vs Exeter City (12 November 1976)
1–3 vs Bradford City (19 March 1977)
0–2 vs Doncaster Rovers (25 March 1977)
0–2 vs Watford (16 April 1977)
1–3 vs Colchester United (19 April 1977)

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 Steve Baines
-- DF   ENG Paul Cooper
-- DF   ENG Neil Hague
-- DF   ENG Peter Hart
-- DF   SCO Peter Oliver
-- DF   ENG Arnie Sidebottom
-- DF   SCO Alan Sweeney
-- MF   ENG Terry Armstrong
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF   ENG Martin Fowler
-- MF   ENG Lloyd Maitland
-- MF   ENG Steve Smith
-- FW   ENG Mick Butler
-- FW   NIR Bobby Campbell
-- FW   ENG Franny Firth
-- FW   ENG Wayne Goldthorpe
-- FW   ENG Terry Gray
-- FW   ENG Bob Newton

Review

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Town had a mixed start to the season, with wins and draws seeming to come from all over the place. Although they were never on a massive losing or unbeaten run under Tom Johnston, they mainly relied on new signing Kevin Johnson from Hartlepool, who scored 13 goals during the season.

They had a run of 7 straight wins during late January to early March saw Town climb ever nearer to promotion, but the last nine games (6 of them under Johnston's replacement, John Haselden) saw Town fail to win a single match, which saw Town slumber down the table into a final position of 9th place, just 14 points off 4th place, which was taken up by rivals Bradford City.

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 Alan Starling
-- GK   ENG Dick Taylor
-- DF   ENG Steve Baines
-- DF   ENG Paul Cooper
-- DF   ENG Paul Gartland
-- DF   ENG Neil Hague
-- DF   ENG Peter Hart
-- DF   SCO Peter Oliver
-- DF   ENG Arnie Sidebottom
-- DF   SCO Alan Sweeney
-- MF   ENG Terry Armstrong
-- MF   ENG Martin Fowler
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF   ENG Kevin Johnson
-- MF   ENG Lloyd Maitland
-- MF   ENG Jim McCaffrey
-- MF   ENG Steve Smith
-- FW   ENG Mick Butler
-- FW   NIR Bobby Campbell
-- FW   ENG Terry Eccles
-- FW   ENG Franny Firth
-- FW   ENG Wayne Goldthorpe
-- FW   ENG Terry Gray
-- FW   ENG Peter Howey
-- FW   ENG Bob Newton

Results

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Date Opponents Home/

Away

Result

F–A

Scorers Attendance Position
21 August 1976 Torquay United A 0–1 3,955 19th
28 August 1976 Brentford H 1–0 Newton 4,559 15th
4 September 1976 Newport County A 1–1 Firth 2,247 14th
11 September 1976 Swansea City H 2–2 Newton, Firth 4,048 15th
14 September 1976 Southport H 1–0 Smith 4,174 8th
18 September 1976 Darlington A 0–2 3,037 11th
25 September 1976 Stockport County H 2–0 Johnson, Baines 5,916 9th
2 October 1976 Barnsley A 1–2 Butler 7,124 14th
9 October 1976 Bradford City H 3–0 Sidebottom, Butler, Johnson 10,608 10th
16 October 1976 Doncaster Rovers H 2–1 Sidebottom, Jones 7,494 7th
23 October 1976 Aldershot A 0–1 4,598 11th
26 October 1976 Watford H 2–2 Johnson (2, 1 pen.) 5,299 9th
30 October 1976 Hartlepool A 1–0 Goldthorpe 2,613 6th
2 November 1976 Cambridge United A 1–1 Goldthorpe 4,357 7th
6 November 1976 Workington H 2–1 Hague, Smith 5,621 5th
12 November 1976 Exeter City A 0–2 3,657 9th
26 November 1976 Rochdale H 2–1 Johnson (pen.), Jones 5,240 7th
4 December 1976 Southend United A 1–1 Baines 4,419 6th
18 December 1976 Crewe Alexandra H 0–1 4,932 8th
27 December 1976 Halifax Town A 0–0 8,720 8th
28 December 1976 Scunthorpe United H 1–0 Hague 7,028 6th
1 January 1977 Workington A 2–3 Baines, Johnson 2,133 8th
8 January 1977 Bournemouth A 0–1 4,494 12th
15 January 1977 Southport A 2–2 Campbell (2) 1,803 11th
22 January 1977 Torquay United H 2–1 Johnson, Eccles 6,237 10th
5 February 1977 Brentford A 3–1 Johnson, Campbell, N. Smith (o.g.) 4,830 11th
12 February 1977 Newport County H 3–0 Eccles, Campbell, Johnson (pen.) 5,452 9th
15 February 1977 Hartlepool H 4–1 Johnson, Baines, Fowler, Creamer (o.g.) 5,493 5th
26 February 1977 Darlington H 3–1 Campbell (2), Johnson (pen.) 6,315 7th
4 March 1977 Stockport County A 3–2 Campbell, Gray (2) 5,499 5th
12 March 1977 Barnsley H 1–0 Eccles 11,659 4th
19 March 1977 Bradford City A 1–3 Oliver 10,734 6th
21 March 1977 Colchester United H 0–0 7,508 4th
25 March 1977 Doncaster Rovers A 0–2 11,042 6th
2 April 1977 Aldershot H 2–0 Hart, Butler 5,073 7th
5 April 1977 Halifax Town H 1–0 Smith 7,591 5th
9 April 1977 Scunthorpe United A 4–0 Gray (3), Johnson 4,207 5th
12 April 1977 Cambridge United H 1–2 Johnson 11,829 6th
16 April 1977 Watford A 0–2 6,181 7th
19 April 1977 Colchester United H 1–3 Dowman (o.g.) 5,057 9th
23 April 1977 Exeter City H 0–1 4,717 10th
26 April 1977 Swansea City A 1–2 Gray 9,613 10th
30 April 1977 Rochdale A 2–2 Baines, Campbell 1,626 10th
3 May 1977 Bournemouth H 0–0 2,342 10th
7 May 1977 Southend United H 1–1 Howey 2,275 10th
14 May 1977 Crewe Alexandra A 0–0 2,153 9th
Date Round Opponents Home/

Away

Result

F–A

Scorers Attendance
20 November 1976 Round 1 Mansfield Town H 0–0 9,025
22 November 1976 Round 1 Replay Mansfield Town A 1–2 Sidebottom 9,036
Date Round Opponents Home/

Away

Result

F–A

Scorers Attendance
14 August 1976 Round 1 1st Leg Hartlepool H 2–0 Baines, Newton 3,603
18 August 1976 Round 1 2nd Leg Hartlepool A 2–1 Newton, Butler 2,060
  • Huddersfield won 4–1 on aggregate.
31 August 1976 Round 2 Northampton Town A 1–0 Newton 6,641
20 September 1976 Round 3 Chelsea A 0–2 19,860

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
Terry Armstrong   England FW 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Steve Baines   England DF 43 (1) 5 2 0 4 1 49 (1) 6
Mick Butler   England MF 23 (3) 3 0 0 3 1 26 (3) 4
Bobby Campbell   Northern Ireland FW 19 (1) 8 0 0 0 0 19 (1) 8
Paul Cooper   England DF 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Terry Eccles   England FW 17 3 0 0 0 0 17 3
Franny Firth   England FW 8 2 0 0 4 0 12 2
Martin Fowler   England MF 36 (3) 1 2 0 4 0 42 (3) 1
Paul Gartland   England DF 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
John Gilligan   England MF 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0
Wayne Goldthorpe   England FW 5 (2) 2 1 0 1 0 7 (2) 2
Terry Gray   England FW 17 (1) 6 0 0 0 0 17 (1) 6
Neil Hague   England DF 25 2 1 0 4 0 30 2
Peter Hart   England MF 44 1 2 0 4 0 50 1
Peter Howey   England MF 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 1
Kevin Johnson   England FW 38 13 0 (1) 0 0 0 38 (1) 13
Chris Jones   England MF 9 (5) 2 1 (1) 0 1 (1) 0 11 (7) 2
Lloyd Maitland   England MF 10 (2) 0 2 0 4 0 16 (2) 0
Jim McCaffrey   England MF 14 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 14 (1) 0
Bob Newton   England FW 15 (2) 2 2 0 3 (1) 3 20 (3) 5
Peter Oliver   Scotland DF 41 1 2 0 4 0 47 1
Terry Poole   England GK 24 0 2 0 4 0 30 0
Arnie Sidebottom   England DF 18 (5) 2 2 1 0 (2) 0 20 (7) 3
Steve Smith   England MF 44 3 2 0 4 0 50 3
Alan Starling   England GK 13 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
Alan Sweeney   Scotland DF 21 0 1 0 0 0 22 0
Dick Taylor   England GK 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Paul Walker   England MF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0