Town hail both home and away derby fans

Dec 10 2007 by Dougie Thomson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

TOWN director Roger Armitage hailed the Town fans who travelled to Leeds – and those who came to the Galpharm for the live big-screen beam-back.

There were 32,501 at Elland Road – the largest crowd for a game in this division since 45,156 saw the Sheffield derby at Bramall Lane back in the 1979-80 season.

It was the largest crowd for a league game involving Town since 41,074 watched the 2-0 defeat at Sunderland in 1998-99.

And it was only the fifth time a league match has been seen by more than 30,000 since Town’s top-flight days in the early Seventies.

Town’s allocation at Elland Road was a controversially low 1,710, leading to the beam-back, which drew more than 2,000.

The 30-metre square high-definition screen faced the Antich Stand.

“It was a lousy day weather wise, so full marks to the fans who went to Leeds and those who came to our ground,” said Armitage.

“While we said we needed more than 3,000 to make the project pay, the real idea was to provide a service for the fans who couldn’t get match tickets.”

While it rained throughout the Leeds-Town game, Sheffield Wednesday’s home clash with Coventry later in the day was abandoned after 27 minutes because of a waterlogged pitch.