Three-time English league champions Huddersfield Town were a major force in the 1920s, but apart from a brief spell in the Premier League they have spent most of their time outside the top flight.

Huddersfield Town AFC are an English professional football club which currently play in League One, the third tier of the English football pyramid.

They are nicknamed The Terriers, and have resided at their current stadium since 1994.

In the early years of their existence, they were one of the most successful clubs in the country, becoming English champions three times and also lifting the FA Cup.

Huddersfield Town recently spent two seasons in the Premier League, before being relegated at the end of the 2018/19 campaign.

Legendary figures associated with the club include Herbert Chapman, who guided them to the league title twice, Bill Shankly, who managed the Terriers during the 1950s, Denis Law and Ray Wilson.

Law played for the club prior to his spells at Manchester City, Manchester United and Torino, while Wilson had a lengthy stint with Huddersfield spanning 12 years before moving on to Merseyside giants Everton.

 

Huddersfield Town early history

Huddersfield Town AFC were founded in 1908 with the founders paying £500 for a site on Leeds Road and the Terriers joining the North Eastern League.

The following season, they sought to reduce their travelling costs by joining the Midland Football League. Huddersfield's director's successfully applied to join the Football League in 1910.

Development of Leeds Road began promptly, but costs were too high and attendances did not match, so Huddersfield Town were liquidated in 1912 and a new company was formed in order to take over the assets of the club.

In 1919, Huddersfield Town were reportedly £25,000 in debt. The plans of chairman John Hilton Crowther were reportedly to merge the club with Leeds United, then a newly-formed side, and relocate to Leeds.

This prompted efforts from Huddersfield Town supporters to prevent the merger from going ahead. They fundraised and shares of £1 were released, converting the club to a public ownership structure.

The club ultimately stayed in Huddersfield and then made the final of the 1920 FA Cup, also winning promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history. This success was a sign of what was to come for the Terriers.

Herbert Chapman, who would later become one of the key instigators of Arsenal's success, took over as Huddersfield Town manager in 1921. A pioneer of the counter-attack, he would prove highly successful in his four years in charge of the Terriers.

Huddersfield Town won the FA Cup in 1922, beating Preston North End 1-0 in the final. This was the first major honour in their history, but it was not to be the last. For starters, they would go on to beat Liverpool 1-0 in the 1922 FA Charity Shield.

In 1923/24, Huddersfield Town won their first ever First Division title, beating Cardiff City by the narrowest of margins on goal average and wrapping up the title on the final day of the season.

Huddersfield retained their title the following season and Chapman went on to leave the club for Arsenal.

The 1925/26 season saw Cecil Potter lead Huddersfield Town to their third successive First Division title as they became the first team in the history of the top flight to win the title three times on the trot.

However, Huddersfield Town's star players were not replaced and the club went into gradual decline. Although they remained competitive at first, they were eventually relegated from the top flight by the end of the 1951/52 season.

Huddersfield made an immediate return to the top flight after finishing second in the Second Division in 1952/53. Bill Shankly managed Huddersfield Town from late 1956 to late 1959, subsequently leaving to manage Liverpool.

In 1961, Hull City bought floodlights for their ground financed by Denis Law's British record £55,000 transfer to Manchester City.

"The Terriers" nickname was adopted by the club in 1969. In 1969/70, Huddersfield Town won the Second Division. However, they were relegated in 1971/72.

 

Huddersfield Town long spell out of the top flight

Huddersfield Town dropped out of the top flight in 1972 and did not return again for 45 years.

This period was characterised by bouncing between divisions, false dawns and financial pressures.

They fell as low as Division 4 in the mid 1970s, before manager Mick Buxton led them to the title in the 1979/80 season, with the Terriers scoring a club record 101 league goals that campaign.

They continued to bounce between Division 2 and 3 until the 1994/95 season when manager Neil Warnock guided them to Division 1 via the play-offs, in the first season at their new stadium.

Huddersfield stayed in the second tier of English football until relegation on the last day of the 2000/01 season and they didn't return to the Championship until the 2012/13 campaign under Simon Grayson.

They survived four battles with relegation until David Wagner was appointed as the Terriers' manager in November 2015, then fortunes changed for the better.

 

Premier League and relegation

Wagner led Huddersfield Town to promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2016/17 season, finishing fifth and then beating Reading 4-3 on penalties in the play-off final.

Huddersfield managed to narrowly avoid relegation in the 2017/18 season, finishing 16th four points off the relegation zone.

The highlight of the season was beating Jose Mourinho's Manchester United for the first time in 65 years, although they only managed nine wins in the league all campaign.

Wagner left the club by mutual consent in January 2019 with the club stuck at the foot of the Premier League table.

He was replaced by Jan Siewert, who was unable to get the Terriers firing on all cylinders. They were relegated as early as March that season - the joint-earliest relegation to the Championship since Derby County in 2008.

They won just three games all season, just two more than that awful Derby side, and ended the season with a goal difference of minus 54 - the second worst in Premier League history after Derby.

They were relegated at the end of the season and owner Dean Hoyle sold the club to lifelong supporter Phil Hodgkinson.

But Hoyle stepped back in as chairman in November 2022 after Hodgkinson saw his business empire collapse.

Apart from finishing third in the 2021/22 season, and just missing out on promotion after losing the play-off final to Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield Town have spent the last few seasons battling against relegation to League 1.

 

Warnock's great escape

The 74-year-old Warnock returned to Huddersfield in February 2023 replacing Mark Fotheringham, who was sacked with Huddersfield lying in the Championship relegation zone.

Warnock, who had managed ten clubs since he left Huddersfield in 1995, came out of retirement (again) after leaving his previous job at Middlesbrough in 2021.

"My first spell at Huddersfield Town had everything; we went to Wembley twice, moved into the new stadium, and really built the club from nothing. It was a special time," he said when taking the role.

Warnock inspired the club to a miracle 'great escape' when they had looked doomed to relegation before he took over.

A run of just one defeat in their last nine league matches ensured Huddersfield achieved safety as Danny Ward's stunning 25-yard strike got the job done against high-flying Sheffield United with a game to spare, instead sending Reading tumbling into League One.

"I'll remember tonight for the rest of my life," said Warnock after beating the Blades. "It's a massive achievement and I couldn't be any prouder."

The Terriers claimed a seventh win of 74-year-old Warnock's 15-match 'great escape' reign on the final day of the season.

Superb second-half strikes from Josh Koroma and substitute Joseph Hungbo, against already relegated Reading, ensured Warnock's latest management swansong ended on a high, boosting the 18th-placed Yorkshire side's final points tally to 53.

In June 2023, Warnock agreed a one-year extension to stay on as Huddersfield boss for the 2023/24 season.

However, that spell didn't last as long as Warnock had expected.

The club’s American owner Kevin Nagle wanted to make a long-term appointment as the club bid to regain Premier League status and decided Warnock should step down after a 2-2 midweek draw against Stoke on the September 20, 2023.

“We’ve actually done what we set out to do really,” Warnock told a press conference.

“Kevin has a three-year plan to reach the Premier League. I thought it would be about Christmas time but once they told me they wanted to bring someone in I think they had to move on quickly.

“I was gobsmacked really but when Jake (Edwards, chief executive) told me why I understood why.

“If you’re not wanted you want to go straight away. I don’t mean that how it maybe sounds.

“I always told him I’d do it until they were ready and then if they let me know I’d go. I’ve not fallen out with anybody.

“I think it was the right thing that I came back, I don’t think it would have helped anyone to come in in pre-season but we’ve made a lot of progress.”

 

Manager merry-go-round

Huddersfield appointed Darren Moore as their new manager following the departure of Warnock.

Former Derby and West Brom defender Moore guided Sheffield Wednesday back to the Championship via their play-off final win against Barnsley in May 2023.

But Moore left Hillsborough by mutual consent the following month after failing to agree a new contract with Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri.

Moore began his managerial career at West Brom in 2018, initially as caretaker after Alan Pardew’s dismissal, and also spent two years in charge at Doncaster.

However, in late January 2024, Moore was sacked after just three wins from 23 matches in charge.

His last game was a 1-1 at fellow strugglers QPR, leaving the club 21st in the Championship, three points above the relegation zone.

On February 15, Huddersfield named German Andre Breitenreiter as the club’s new head coach.

Breitenreiter guided Zurich to the Swiss Super League title in 2022 and took Paderborn into the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history in 2014. He also led Schalke to a fifth-placed finish and Europa League qualification and led Hannover to promotion.

However after just two wins in his 14 games in charge, Breitenreiter was unable to save Huddersfield from relegation to League One for the first time since 2012.

Breitenreiter caused controversy ahead of the final game of the season when he said that he might not have joined Huddersfield had he realised the extent of problems in the squad, hinting at an unsavoury atmosphere in the dressing room.

The former Northern Ireland international Michael Duff was named as Huddersfield new head coach on a three-year deal on May 13, 2024.

Duff started his managerial career with Cheltenham before leading Barnsley to the 2022/23 League One play-off final. He left his last job at Swansea in December 2023.”

 

Huddersfield Town fanbase

"Smile A While" is Huddersfield Town's anthem. The song was created by G. W. Chappell of Longwood, Huddersfield, ahead of the 1920 FA Cup Final against Aston Villa.

 

Huddersfield Town rivalries

Bradford City and Leeds United are generally recognised as Huddersfield Town's greatest rivals.

 

Huddersfield Town finances and ownership

American businessman Kevin M Nagle completed his takeover of Huddersfield in June 2023.

Nagle's deal, via his company Town FC LLC, with former chairman Dean Hoyle received the approval of the English Football League and the Financial Conduct Authority and gave him 100 per cent ownership of shares.