1975–76 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

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Huddersfield Town

1975–76 season
Chairman
Manager	Bobby Collins (until 23 December 1975) Tom Johnston (from 23 December 1975)
Football League Fourth Division	5th
FA Cup	Fourth round (knocked out by Bolton Wanderers)
Football League Cup	Second round (knocked out by Derby County)
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)
Biggest win	3–0 vs Darlington (21 February 1976) 3–0 vs Reading (28 February 1976)
Biggest defeat	1–4 vs Doncaster Rovers (4 November 1975) 1–4 vs Exeter City (27 March 1976) 0–3 vs Tranmere Rovers (17 April 1976)
← 1974–75 1976–77 →

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 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 Garner -- DF  ENG Peter Hart -- DF  ENG Geoff Hutt -- DF  ENG Grahame McGifford -- DF  ENG John Saunders -- DF  SCO Alan Sweeney -- MF  ENG Terry Dolan -- MF  ENG Martin Fowler

No. Pos. Nation Player -- MF  ENG Lloyd Maitland -- MF  ENG Brian O'Neil -- MF  ENG Steve Smith -- FW  ENG Rod Belfitt -- FW  NIR Bobby Campbell -- FW  ENG Barry Endean -- FW  ENG Franny Firth -- FW  ENG Colin Garwood -- FW  ENG Terry Gray -- FW  ENG Jimmy Lawson -- FW  ENG 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 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 Garner -- DF  ENG Peter Hart -- DF  ENG Geoff Hutt -- DF  ENG Grahame McGifford -- DF  ENG John Saunders -- DF  ENG Arnie Sidebottom -- DF  ENG Chris Simpkin -- DF  SCO Alan Sweeney -- MF  ENG Terry Dolan

No. Pos. Nation Player -- MF  ENG Martin Fowler -- MF  ENG Lloyd Maitland -- MF  ENG Steve Smith -- FW  ENG Rod Belfitt -- FW  ENG Mick Butler -- FW  NIR Bobby Campbell -- FW  ENG Franny Firth -- FW  ENG Wayne Goldthorpe -- FW  ENG Terry Gray -- FW  ENG Jimmy Lawson -- FW  ENG Bob Newton

Results[]

Division Four[]

FA Cup[]

Football League Cup[]

Appearances and goals[]

Name	Nation	Position	League Apps	League Goals	FA Cup Apps	FA Cup Goals	League Cup Apps	League Cup Goals	Total Apps	Total Goals
Steve Baines	England	DF	41	1	4	1	3	0	48	2
Rod Belfitt	England	FW	28	6	4	2	3	0	35	8
Mick Butler	England	MF	9 (1)	2	0	0	0	0	9 (1)	2
Bobby Campbell	Northern Ireland	FW	11	1	0	0	3	1	14	2
Willie Coulson	England	MF	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Terry Dolan	England	MF	29 (1)	1	3	0	3	1	35 (1)	2
Barry Endean	England	MF	2 (2)	0	0	0	0	0	2 (2)	0
Franny Firth	England	FW	16	2	0	0	0	0	16	2
Martin Fowler	England	MF	6 (2)	0	0	0	0	0	6 (2)	0
Paul Garner	England	DF	16	0	0	0	3	0	19	0
Colin Garwood	England	FW	12	6	2	0	0	0	14	6
Wayne Goldthorpe	England	FW	6 (2)	2	0	0	0	0	6 (2)	2
Terry Gray	England	FW	29	15	4	2	3	2	36	19
Peter Hart	England	MF	17 (2)	1	0	0	0	0	17 (2)	1
Geoff Hutt	England	DF	20	0	4	0	3	0	27	0
Jimmy Lawson	England	MF	22 (3)	4	3	1	0	0	25 (3)	5
Lloyd Maitland	England	MF	9 (6)	1	1	0	0	0	10 (6)	1
Grahame McGifford	England	DF	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Bob Newton	England	FW	16 (2)	5	0	0	0	0	16 (2)	5
Brian O'Neil	England	MF	38	1	3	0	3	0	44	1
Terry Poole	England	GK	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
John Saunders	England	DF	17	0	0	0	3	0	20	0
Arnie Sidebottom	England	DF	9	2	0	0	0	0	9	2
Chris Simpkin	England	DF	25	0	4	0	0	0	29	0
Steve Smith	England	MF	41	5	4	0	3	0	48	5
Alan Sweeney	Scotland	DF	36	0	4	0	0	0	40	0
Dick Taylor	England	GK	42	0	4	0	3	0	49	0