IT'S more than 12 years since Huddersfield Town occupied such a lofty position in the Football League.
What is now the npower Championship was called the Nationwide First Division, the John Smith's Stadium was the McAlpine, Steve Bruce was the manager and Stockport and Grimsby, currently plying their trade in non-league football, were among Town's opponents in the second tier.
Bruce's men, having drubbed Crystal Palace 7-1 early on, had been top of the table during December of the 1999-2000 campaign after a run of three successive wins, 1-0 at Manchester City and at home to QPR and 3-1 against Grimsby at the McAlpine.
Dutchman Clyde Wijnhard (2) and Marcus Stewart sank the Mariners, when the side also included Belgian keeper Nico Vaesen, Wijnhard's compatriot Dean Gorre, Kevin Gray, Kenny Irons, Steve Jenkins, Jon Dyson, Craig Armstrong, Ben Thornley and Scott Sellars (Rob Edwards and Barry Horne came off the bench).
Skipper Chris Lucketti (broken leg) and another Dutchman, former Chelsea and Southampton defender Ken Monkou (knee ligaments) had already been hit by injury and Bruce was dealt another setback when Welsh international full-back Jenkins was sidelined by a rib problem.
Click below to see our gallery of familiar faces from the 1999/2000 season in action in Town colours
But the biggest setback came when Stewart was sold to promotion rivals Ipswich, who ended up going up through the play-offs (Charlton and Manchester City took the automatic berths).
Town were in the final play-off berth of sixth place going into the final game of the season at Fulham, but a 3-0 defeat at Craven Cottage ended their hopes and left Bruce's men in a final position of eighth.
