KEN Davy knows all about goals. The owner of Huddersfield Town FC is never happier than when his players are scoring them in droves.

Yet goals of a different kind are just as important in the boardroom - if not as interesting to talk about down the pub.

So when the self-made millionaire who helped save Town last summer starts talking about his four-year targets for the club, you sit up and take note.

It was the seven-figure rescue package from businessman Davy, boss of Bradley-based SimplyBiz, that saved ailing Huddersfield Town a year ago.

And it was he who shed tears of joy when the team won play-off promotion in Cardiff in May.

Thanks to his cash, tens of thousands of delirious fans celebrated one of the most dramatic wins in the club's history when Town eventually won the penalty shoot-out against Mansfield.

Not apparently someone who easily betrays his emotions, Davy's craggy face holds a firm, steady gaze. Tall and wiry, he presents a no-frills image.

Now 63 he is married to Jennifer. The couple live in Birkby and have four grown-up daughters and eight grandchildren.

When speaking, he chooses his words with the utmost care.

He describes why he wept with joy as Town went up: "I am emotional and I don't think that anyone who knows me would term me as a hard-hearted businessman!"

The tears were the culmination of 10 months' heartache and joy.

"I thought how far we had come from the previous August when the club was so near to disappearing completely."

He was also relishing the fans' reaction during that undreamed-of moment.

"And I was thinking of the season to come and knowing the kind of matches we are going to be able to have at the [McAlpine] stadium."

As the owner of Huddersfield Town (his "Saturday job") and chairman of Huddersfield Giants (his "Sunday job"), Davy knows results count.

The important thing is to keep learning.

"In sport you have winners and losers.

That's the way it should be. You want to enjoy your success and learn from your failures."

When he was 17, Davy bought a self-help book on goal setting. That small volume has had a huge impact on how he governs his life.

His next goal for Town is to see the club in England's top 30 by 2008 - the club's centenary year.

"These things do take time. If I have learned anything from rugby league it's the enormous amount of time that it can take to achieve sporting success."

The Huddersfield Giants enjoyed their best year in the 2003 season after four decades of struggle.

This year they are doing even better, more than matching those achievements of 12 months ago. "We have not been out of the top six all season. The sad thing is that because rugby league in Huddersfield has had very little success over the last 40 years you have probably lost a generation-and-a-half of supporters and it's proving incredibly difficult to attract people back."

The same cannot be said for the Town faithful who massed to the closing games of the season culminating in the victory at the Millennium Stadium.

KEN Davy grew up in Filey and left school at 15 to begin work as a darkroom technician. At 17 he became a photographer on cruise liners. That gave him the chance to travel the world and broaden his horizons.

His family moved to Huddersfield during the four years he was away at sea and he eventually came to the town to set up his own photographic studio before beginning a new career as an independent financial adviser.

He founded DBS Management in the 1980s and the firm floated on the stock exchange in 1997, eventually being bought by a computer software group in 2001 for £75m.

Figures about how much Davy personally profited were wildly exaggerated, he says. "There have been lots of nonsensical stories. I have enjoyed reasonable success but in no sense am I `mega-rich'."

Thus, when he stepped in to save Town last spring, he was probably taking the biggest risk of his career.

"The risks involved in rescuing the club last year were absolutely enormous and the more we turned over the stones the more difficult it became and the more challenges there were.

"There are many people around with more assets than I have who preferred not to get involved in the situation at the club.

"But it seemed to me that it would have been an absolute tragedy for the football club to disappear - which very nearly happened."

Final salvation came just 23 hours before Town's opener against Cambridge on August 8 which ended in a two-all draw.

Those last few days were the most harrowing and the ultimate decision immensely difficult.

"Quite simply it was an act of faith," reveals Davy.

"Common sense should have decreed it was better to walk away from it because it just looked like a financial black hole.

"Not only was there the cost of actually saving the club in the first instance, there was the burden of debt which was over £1.4m and the ongoing costs of trying to support a club that was making huge losses.

"The enormity of the task of putting that right is difficult for someone not directly involved to appreciate."

He took the plunge in the firm belief the club would at least survive.

"When you take a decision to do something, there's no looking back. You make the best decision you can with the best information and if you decide to do it you go for it 105%.

Failure is not an option."

Ultimately, Davy could not bear the chilling prospect of Huddersfield without a soccer team.

"Fundamentally I believe that professional sport, and in particular football and rugby league, adds a tremendous amount to the community. Success for the sporting club has a tremendous knock-on effect for the whole area."

The image of the McAlpine Stadium deathly silent on a Saturday also galvanised the rescue bid.

Tomorrow sees the stadium celebrate its 10th birthday when the sweeping structure will be renamed at the Blue Concert.

"There's a tremendous atmosphere now at the stadium.

There's just a very special buzz."

The original vision of two vibrant teams sharing the same home and encouraging one another on to yet greater success is starting to be realised. "Through the previous nine years it hadn't happened. There have been attempts from time to time but it has never really capitalised on that synergy."

An over-arching vision is coming into play.

"Now for the first time the football club, rugby club and stadium are essentially in the same hands."

Davy explains: "Each builds on the success of the other. Each can encourage the other when the other isn't doing quite so well."

And he hopes there won't be too many roller-coaster years like 2003 to come:

"I am absolutely determined that Huddersfield Town is never again put in that situation."

He promises: "The future of the football club is secure and it will stay secure because it's going to be soundly managed and properly run."