1968–69 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town's 1968–69 campaign was Town's first season under new manager Ian Greaves. He would lead Town for six seasons, including two seasons in the top flight. His first season saw Town finish in 6th place in the Second Division, 10 points behind second-placed Crystal Palace.

Huddersfield Town
1968–69 season
ChairmanEngland Frank Drabble
ManagerEngland Ian Greaves
Football League Second Division6th
FA CupFourth round
(knocked out by West Ham United)
Football League CupSecond round
(knocked out by Manchester City)
Top goalscorerLeague: Colin Dobson (11)
All: Colin Dobson (11)
Highest home attendance31,842 vs West Ham United (25 January 1969)
Lowest home attendance5,702 vs Charlton Athletic (12 April 1969)
Biggest win3–0 vs Cardiff City (14 September 1968)
4–1 vs Bury (28 September 1968)
3–0 vs Middlesbrough (8 October 1968)
4–1 vs Bristol City (18 January 1969)
3–0 vs Bolton Wanderers (4 March 1969)
3–0 vs Fulham (15 April 1969)
Biggest defeat1–5 vs Birmingham City (7 September 1968)
0–4 vs Manchester City (11 September 1968)
1–5 vs Millwall (1 February 1969)

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   IRL John Oldfield
-- DF   ENG Trevor Cherry
-- DF   ENG Roy Ellam
-- DF   ENG Geoff Hutt
-- DF   ENG Billy Legg
-- DF   WAL Ray Mielczarek
-- DF   ENG Alex Smith
-- MF   ENG Colin Dobson
-- MF   ENG Brian Hill
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF   ENG Bobby Hoy
-- MF   SCO Jimmy McGill
-- MF   NIR Jimmy Nicholson
-- MF   ENG Steve Smith
-- FW   ENG Paul Aimson
-- FW   ENG Jimmy Lawson
-- FW   ENG David Shaw
-- FW   ENG Frank Worthington

Review

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Ian Greaves was made the new manager in June 1968 and tried to improve on Town's faltering league form. He brought in new signings Terry Poole from Manchester United and Jimmy Lawson from Middlesbrough. The start to the season was in no way spectacular, with Town winning only 2 of their first 10 matches, although one of those was against eventual champions Derby County. Following that they went on a run of 6 wins out of 7, which helped Town rise the Division 2 table.

From December, Town went on a run of only 1 win in 8, but the last 2 months saw Town lose only 2 more matches from their last 13 matches, which saw Town finish in 6th place with 46 points.

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   IRL John Oldfield
-- GK   ENG Terry Poole
-- DF   ENG Trevor Cherry
-- DF   ENG Dennis Clarke
-- DF   ENG Roy Ellam
-- DF   ENG Geoff Hutt
-- DF   ENG Billy Legg
-- DF   WAL Ray Mielczarek
-- DF   ENG Alex Smith
-- MF   ENG Colin Dobson
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF   ENG Brian Hill
-- MF   ENG Bobby Hoy
-- MF   SCO Jimmy McGill
-- MF   NIR Alan McNeill
-- MF   NIR Jimmy Nicholson
-- MF   ENG Steve Smith
-- FW   ENG Paul Aimson
-- FW   ENG Jimmy Lawson
-- FW   ENG David Shaw
-- FW   ENG Frank Worthington

Results

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Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance Position
10 August 1968 Portsmouth H 0 - 0 10,855 9th
14 August 1968 Crystal Palace A 1 - 2 Nicholson 16,260 16th
17 August 1968 Preston North End A 0 - 1 12,673 19th
20 August 1968 Norwich City H 2 - 2 Nicholson, Aimson 9,167 16th
24 August 1968 Derby County H 2 - 0 Aimson (2) 10,442 11th
27 August 1968 Middlesbrough A 1 - 1 Aimson 25,422 10th
31 August 1968 Carlisle United A 0 - 0 7,935 10th
7 September 1968 Birmingham City A 1 - 5 Worthington 25,001 17th
14 September 1968 Cardiff City H 3 - 0 Worthington (2), Dobson 7,523 15th
21 September 1968 Charlton Athletic A 0 - 1 15,331 17th
28 September 1968 Bury H 4 - 1 Cherry, Hill (2), Ellam 9,442 14th
5 October 1968 Blackpool H 2 - 1 Aimson, Nicholson 13,023 14th
8 October 1968 Middlesbrough H 3 - 0 Lawson (2), Dobson 14,799 5th
12 October 1968 Hull City A 0 - 3 21,344 11th
19 October 1968 Sheffield United H 1 - 0 Aimson 13,667 9th
26 October 1968 Bolton Wanderers A 3 - 2 Lawson, Dobson, S. Smith 12,431 7th
2 November 1968 Aston Villa H 3 - 1 Dobson, Nicholson (2) 9,346 5th
9 November 1968 Bristol City A 1 - 0 S. Smith 13,738 4th
16 November 1968 Millwall H 0 - 2 18,614 7th
23 November 1968 Fulham A 3 - 4 Lawson (2), Aimson 11,394 8th
30 November 1968 Oxford United H 2 - 1 S. Smith, Dobson (pen) 9,903 6th
7 December 1968 Blackburn Rovers A 0 - 0 9,312 8th
14 December 1968 Hull City H 0 - 3 12,418 8th
21 December 1968 Sheffield United A 0 - 0 17,408 9th
26 December 1968 Blackpool A 0 - 0 20,319 9th
11 January 1969 Aston Villa A 0 - 1 29,029 10th
18 January 1969 Bristol City H 4 - 1 Nicholson, Aimson, Dobson (2, 1 pen) 9,059 8th
1 February 1969 Millwall A 1 - 5 Kitchener (og) 13,613 12th
15 February 1969 Oxford United A 0 - 3 8,260 13th
1 March 1969 Portsmouth A 2 - 1 Lawson, Worthington 16,427 10th
4 March 1969 Bolton Wanderers H 3 - 0 Dobson (2), Hutt 8,614 8th
8 March 1969 Preston North End H 1 - 1 Ellam 10,281 8th
15 March 1969 Derby County A 0 - 1 28,293 10th
22 March 1969 Carlisle United H 2 - 0 Cherry, McGill 8,560 9th
29 March 1969 Birmingham City H 0 - 0 8,105 10th
5 April 1969 Bury A 1 - 1 Lawson 6,794 9th
7 April 1969 Norwich City A 0 - 1 9,261 12th
8 April 1969 Crystal Palace H 0 - 0 12,113 12th
12 April 1969 Charlton Athletic H 0 - 0 5,702 12th
15 April 1969 Fulham H 3 - 0 Lawson, Cherry, Dobson (pen) 5,837 9th
19 April 1969 Cardiff City A 2 - 0 Cherry, Murray (og) 11,549 7th
30 April 1969 Blackburn Rovers H 2 - 1 Nicholson, Dobson 5,843 6th
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
4 January 1969 Round 3 Bury A 2 - 1 Hill, Nicholson 14,251
25 January 1969 Round 4 West Ham United H 0 - 2 31,842
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
3 September 1968 Round 2 Manchester City H 0 - 0 23,426
11 September 1968 Round 2 Replay Manchester City A 0 - 4 26,948

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
Paul Aimson   England FW 24 (4) 8 2 0 2 0 28 (4) 8
Trevor Cherry   England DF 42 4 2 0 2 0 46 4
Dennis Clarke   England DF 15 0 0 0 0 0 15 0
Colin Dobson   England FW 38 (1) 11 2 0 2 0 42 (1) 11
Roy Ellam   England DF 41 2 2 0 2 0 45 2
Brian Hill   England MF 20 (2) 2 2 1 2 0 24 (2) 3
Bobby Hoy   England MF 8 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 8 (1) 0
Geoff Hutt   England DF 14 1 1 0 0 0 15 1
Jimmy Lawson   England MF 37 (1) 8 2 0 2 0 41 (1) 8
Billy Legg   England DF 26 0 1 0 2 0 29 0
Jimmy McGill   Scotland MF 39 (1) 1 2 0 2 0 43 (1) 1
Alan McNeill   Northern Ireland MF 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (1) 0
Ray Mielczarek   Wales DF 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Jimmy Nicholson   Northern Ireland MF 40 7 2 1 2 0 44 8
John Oldfield   Republic of Ireland GK 15 0 1 0 1 0 17 0
Terry Poole   England GK 27 0 1 0 1 0 29 0
David Shaw   England MF 6 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 6 (1) 0
Alex Smith   England DF 28 0 2 0 2 0 32 0
Steve Smith   England MF 22 (1) 3 0 0 0 (1) 0 22 (2) 3
Frank Worthington   England FW 14 (2) 4 0 0 0 0 14 (2) 4