Reading make their second visit of the season to Huddersfield and 24th in total on Tuesday - 40 years since the first.

The Berkshire club were founded in 1871 and Town in 1908, but they didn’t play each other until the 1975-76 campaign.

Town had spectacularly sunk to the basement division after playing top-flight football just four seasons previously.

Reading were playing their fifth consecutive campaign of Fourth Division (now League II) football after being relegated in 1971, when Town finished 15th in the top flight.

Terry Gray - HTAFC Legends

The first meeting took place at Elm Park, Reading’s home before their move the to Madejski Stadium, on October 25, 1975.

The home side, managed by former Sunderland defender Charlie Hurley, won 2-0 with goals by Gordon Cumming and Bruce Stuckey.

By the return, on February 28, 1976, Bobby Collins had resigned as Town manager with Tom Johnston taking over, while both sides had emerged as promotion candidates.

After a 3-0 Leeds Road win sealed by Bob Newton and Terry Gray (2) and seen by 6,546, Town were seventh and Reading fourth.

Johnston’s side gave it a good go, but hampered by the loss of leading scorer Gray to a broken leg, they finished fifth, with the top four going up.

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Reading were third, behind Graham Taylor’s Lincoln City and Northampton Town and ahead of Tranmere Rovers, who blasted the division’s top scorer in 34-goal Ronnie Moore.

Other members of the Town squad included keeper Terry Poole, Geoff Hutt, Steve Smith, Jimmy Lawson and Terry Dolan, all of whom had played for the club in Division I.

There were other seasoned operators in midfielder Brian O’Neil and striker Rod Belfitt and promising youngsters like Alan Sweeney, Paul Garner, Franny Firth and Peter Hart.