1925–26 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town
1925–26 season
ChairmanEngland Joseph Barlow
England Sir Amos Brook Hirst
ManagerEngland Cecil Potter
Football League First Division1st (champions)
FA CupFourth round
(knocked out by Manchester City)
Top goalscorerLeague: George Brown (35)
All: George Brown (35)
Highest home attendance34,871 vs Blackburn Rovers (6 April 1926)
Lowest home attendance7,285 vs Liverpool (25 November 1925)
Biggest win5–0 vs Manchester United (13 March 1926)
Biggest defeat1–6 vs Bolton Wanderers (12 December 1925)

The 1925–26 Huddersfield Town season saw Town become the first team in English football to achieve the hat-trick of 1st Division championships,[1] a feat which as of the end of the 2022–23 season has not been surpassed.

Under the leadership of Cecil Potter, Town finished 5 points clear of Arsenal, now managed by Herbert Chapman.

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 England ENG Billy Mercer
-- GK England ENG Ted Taylor
-- DF England ENG Ned Barkas
-- DF England ENG Harry Cawthorne
-- DF England ENG Roy Goodall
-- DF England ENG George Shaw
-- DF England ENG Albert Smith
-- DF England ENG Bon Spence
-- DF Scotland SCO David Steele
-- DF England ENG Sam Wadsworth
-- DF England ENG Billy Watson
-- DF England ENG Tom Wilson
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF England ENG Harry Dennis
-- MF Scotland SCO Alex Jackson
-- MF England ENG Jacky Slicer
-- MF England ENG Billy Smith
-- MF England ENG Joey Williams
-- FW England ENG Sid Binks
-- FW England ENG George Brown
-- FW England ENG George Cook
-- FW England ENG Harry Raw
-- FW England ENG Clem Stephenson
-- FW England ENG Charlie Wilson

Review

Following the sudden resignation of Herbert Chapman, who joined Arsenal as their new manager, Town brought in Cecil Potter to steer the ship. Town continued their brilliant run of form with Charlie Wilson and George Brown being joined in the strikeforce department by Chapman's last signing Alex Jackson. Unfortunately injury cost Wilson his season and he moved to Stoke City by the end of the season. However, George Cook joined Jackson and Brown up front and between them scored 65 of Town's 92 league goals during the season.

They won their 3rd title with 2 games remaining after beating Bolton Wanderers 3-0 at Leeds Road with goals from Jackson, Billy Smith and Clem Stephenson. They finished 5 points clear of Chapman's Arsenal. That success was commemorated with a special trophy that has only been copied on 3 occasions for Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.

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 England ENG Billy Mercer
-- GK England ENG Ted Taylor
-- DF England ENG Ned Barkas
-- DF England ENG Harry Cawthorne
-- DF England ENG Roy Goodall
-- DF England ENG George Hobson
-- DF England ENG George Shaw
-- DF England ENG Albert Smith
-- DF England ENG Bon Spence
-- DF Scotland SCO David Steele
-- DF England ENG Sam Wadsworth
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- DF England ENG Billy Watson
-- DF England ENG Tom Wilson
-- MF England ENG Harry Dennis
-- MF Scotland SCO Alex Jackson
-- MF England ENG Jacky Slicer
-- MF England ENG Billy Smith
-- FW England ENG George Brown
-- FW England ENG George Cook
-- FW Scotland SCO William Devlin
-- FW England ENG Harry Raw
-- FW England ENG Clem Stephenson

Results

Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance Position
29 August 1925 West Bromwich Albion H 1 - 1 Williams 21,975 9th
5 September 1925 Sheffield United A 3 - 2 C. Wilson, Jackson, Brown 23,013 8th
8 September 1925 Bury H 2 - 1 Binks, Brown 11,933 5th
12 September 1925 Cardiff City H 1 - 1 Stephenson 19,033 4th
16 September 1925 Birmingham A 3 - 1 Cook (2), Brown 16,320 4th
19 September 1925 Tottenham Hotspur A 5 - 5 Jackson (3), Cook, Brown 20,880 4th
26 September 1925 Manchester City H 2 - 2 Cook, Williams 19,541 5th
3 October 1925 Everton A 3 - 2 Brown (3) 35,665 3rd
10 October 1925 Burnley H 2 - 1 Brown (2) 18,963 3rd
17 October 1925 Leeds United A 4 - 0 Cook (2), Williams, Brown 33,008 2nd
24 October 1925 Newcastle United H 0 - 1 18,285 4th
31 October 1925 Manchester United A 1 - 1 Cook 37,213 3rd
14 November 1925 Aston Villa A 0 - 3 33,401 7th
21 November 1925 Leicester City H 3 - 0 Brown (2), Williams 14,386 6th
25 November 1925 Liverpool H 0 - 0 7,285 5th
28 November 1925 West Ham United A 3 - 2 Jackson (2), Brown 13,914 5th
5 December 1925 Arsenal H 2 - 2 Jackson, Brown 22,115 4th
12 December 1925 Bolton Wanderers A 1 - 6 Brown 25,823 4th
19 December 1925 Notts County H 2 - 0 C. Wilson (pen), Brown 7,972 3rd
26 December 1925 Sunderland H 1 - 1 Brown 27,136 3rd
28 December 1925 Birmingham H 4 - 1 B. Smith, Stephenson, Brown, Jackson 16,565 3rd
1 January 1926 Blackburn Rovers A 0 - 1 Match abandoned after 40 minutes due to waterlogged pitch.
2 January 1926 West Bromwich Albion A 2 - 2 Williams, Brown 22,435 2nd
16 January 1926 Sheffield United H 4 - 1 Goodall (pen), Cook, Brown, B. Smith 16,181 2nd
20 January 1926 Sunderland A 1 - 4 Brown 27,833 3rd
23 January 1926 Cardiff City A 2 - 1 Cook, Jackson 13,049 3rd
6 February 1926 Manchester City A 5 - 1 Brown (3), Goodall (pen), B. Smith 36,645 1st
11 February 1926 Blackburn Rovers A 1 - 2 Brown 21,434 2nd
13 February 1926 Everton H 3 - 0 Brown (2), D. Raitt (og) 17,278 1st
20 February 1926 Burnley A 1 - 1 B. Smith 21,482 1st
27 February 1926 Leeds United H 3 - 1 Cook, Brown, Williams 26,248 1st
3 March 1926 Tottenham Hotspur H 2 - 1 Brown (2) 13,005 1st
6 March 1926 Newcastle United A 2 - 0 Brown (2) 56,496 1st
13 March 1926 Manchester United H 5 - 0 Cook (2), Devlin (2), B. Smith 27,842 1st
20 March 1926 Liverpool A 2 - 1 Devlin, Stephenson 35,255 1st
27 March 1926 Aston Villa H 5 - 1 Jackson (2), Brown (2), Cook 28,442 1st
3 April 1926 Leicester City A 0 - 2 29,903 1st
5 April 1926 Bury A 0 - 0 27,144 1st
6 April 1926 Blackburn Rovers H 3 - 1 Brown (2), A. Smith 34,871 1st
10 April 1926 West Ham United H 2 - 1 Jackson (2) 21,116 1st
12 April 1926 Bolton Wanderers H 3 - 0 B. Smith, Jackson, Stephenson 20,829 1st
17 April 1926 Arsenal A 1 - 3 Devlin 34,110 1st
1 May 1926 Notts County A 2 - 4 Cook, Jackson 4,715 1st
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
9 January 1926 Round 3 Charlton Athletic A 1 - 0 Goodall (pen) 21,184
30 January 1926 Round 4 Manchester City A 0 - 4 74,799

Appearances and goals

Name Nation Position League Apps League Goals FA Cup Apps FA Cup Goals Total Apps Total Goals
Ned Barkas  England DF 13 0 1 0 14 0
Sid Binks  England FW 2 1 0 0 2 1
George Brown  England FW 41 35 2 0 43 35
Harry Cawthorne  England DF 24 0 2 0 26 0
George Cook  England FW 29 14 1 0 30 14
Harry Dennis  England MF 1 0 0 0 1 0
William Devlin  Scotland FW 4 4 0 0 4 4
Roy Goodall  England DF 29 2 1 1 30 3
George Hobson  England DF 2 0 0 0 2 0
Alex Jackson  Scotland FW 39 16 2 0 41 16
Billy Mercer  England GK 13 0 0 0 13 0
Harry Raw  England FW 2 0 0 0 2 0
George Shaw  England DF 4 0 0 0 4 0
Albert Smith  England FW 1 1 0 0 1 1
Billy Smith  England MF 28 6 2 0 30 6
Bon Spence  England DF 1 0 0 0 1 0
David Steele  Scotland DF 18 0 0 0 18 0
Clem Stephenson  England FW 36 4 2 0 38 4
Ted Taylor  England GK 29 0 2 0 31 0
Sam Wadsworth  England DF 38 0 2 0 40 0
Billy Watson  England DF 40 0 2 0 42 0
Joey Williams  England MF 23 6 1 0 24 6
Charlie Wilson  England FW 4 2 0 0 4 2
Tom Wilson  England DF 41 0 2 0 43 0

References

  1. ^ Baines, Raj (2017). Underdogs: the inside story of Huddersfield Town and their 2016-17 promotion campaign. Great Northern Books. p. 15. ISBN 9781912101566.