ONE of former Huddersfield Town boss Lee Clark’s last comments in the wake of Tuesday night’s 1-0 defeat by promotion rivals Sheffield United was that there would be plenty more twists and turns to come in the race for the Championship.

But with Town fourth in the League I table, few would have expected them to have included the departure of the manager who put the Galpharm club into the history books.

Town’s 43-match unbeaten run is a Football League record, eclipsing the Nottingham Forest European Cup winning side led by the legendary Brian Clough.

It ran from January 1 last year, when Town responded to a 4-1 defeat at Southampton by drawing 2-2 at Carlisle, to November 19, when Notts County were defeated 2-1 at the Galpharm.

Leaders Charlton were the team to end the mammoth league sequence, winning 2-0 at The Valley on November 28, but however amazing the achievement, it couldn’t land the real prize for Town of promotion.

Town, of course, crashed 3-0 to Peterborough in the play-off final at Old Trafford, having gone out in the semi-finals to Millwall the season before.

And Clark’s reign, which began with a 2-0 home win over Hereford in December 2008, when he succeeded Stan Ternent, will be remembered for what might have been.

There was a season-on-season improvement in final positions, from ninth, to sixth to third, and last time around, Town’s points haul of 87, a club-record under three for a win, would almost always have guaranteed a team promotion.

But the talent and consistency of Brighton and Southampton meant that even 25 wins, a club-record 13 of them achieved away from home, couldn’t clinch that much-craved top-two placing.

As well as the acute misery of Old Trafford, there was also the disappointment of missing out on a Wembley trip in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

It was hard to fathom why Town were so out of sorts in the Northern final first leg at chilly Carlisle, where they crashed to a 4-0 defeat.

And even though the Terriers were more like a pack of bloodhounds as they set about the Cumbrians in the second leg in West Yorkshire, they went out 4-3 on aggregate.

Clark, in his first managerial post after working on the coaching team at Newcastle and being assistant to Glenn Roeder at Norwich, certainly put his own stamp on the job.

He demanded passion, commitment, hard work and enthusiasm from his players. They were all qualities he displayed in abundance himself.

There were fall-outs with the press, who he sometimes accused of negativity, and the occasional dig at sections of the support.

But there’s no doubt the man born and bred in the soccer-mad city of Newcastle appreciated the way Town fans back their team.

They were there in their numbers for the memorable Carling and FA Cup ties at Newcastle and Arsenal, and for that play-off final against Peterborough, when two-thirds of the 48,410 crowd were Town fans.

The supporters were treated to some memorable wins, like the 1-0 home defeat of Leeds on Valentine’s Day 2009, the 7-1 demolition of Brighton the following August and that season’s 6-0 drubbings of Wycombe and Stockport. Last season, there were doubles over champions Brighton, Charlton, MK Dons, Notts County and Sheffield Wednesday and a 2-0 home win against Southampton to savour.

The play-off semi-final triumph over Bournemouth, 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw, was a stirring if nail-biting affair.

And this term there have been notable successes against Sheffield United, Brentford, Preston and Wycombe, where Jordan Rhodes maintained his phenomenal scoring run with five in a 6-0 victory.

Striker Rhodes, recruited to the frustration of Ipswich supporters who spotted the scoring potential illustrated by the fact that he is already among Town’s top 10 strikers of all time, has proved a stellar signing.

And Clark spotted the talent in both winger Anthony Pilkington and defender Lee Peltier, who having joined from Stockport and Yeovil respectively, are now plying their trade at Norwich and Leicester.

However other arrivals, like Lionel Ainsworth, Theo Robinson, Robbie Simpson and Joey Gudjonsson, were less successful.

LEE CLARK'S SIGNINGS: 44

The Signings (December 2008 to February 2012):

Anthony Pilkington, Lionel Ainsworth, Dominik Werling, Lucas Jutkiewicz (L), Martin Kelly (L), Lee Peltier, Peter Clarke, Antony Kay, Theo Robinson, Robbie Simpson, Jordan Rhodes, Danny Drinkwater, Kristian Pearce, Neal Trotman (L), Dean Heffernan, Nathan Eccleston (L), Gary Naysmith, Joey Gudjonsson, Joe Garner (L), Scott Arfield, Jamie McCombe, Damien Johnson (L), Lee Novak, Graham Carey (L), Ian Bennett, Alan Lee, Nick Colgan, Benik Afobe (L), Kevin Kilbane (L), Tamas Kadar (L), Danny Cadamarteri, Stephen Jordan (L), Danny Ward, Sean Morrison (L), Oscar Gobern, Liam Cooper (L), Tommy Miller, Donal McDermott, Callum Woods, Anton Robinson, Jon Parkin (L), Alex Bruce (L), Kallum Higginbotham, Murray Wallace.

First signings

Anthony Pilkington (inset) and Lionel Ainsworth (on the same day, January 29, 2009).

Last signings

Kallum Higginbotham and Murray Wallace (January 31, 2012).

Biggest home win

7-1 v Brighton (August 18, 2009).

Biggest away win

6-0 (Stockport, April 24, 2010 and Wycombe, January 6, 2012)

Best Cup win

6-0 v Macclesfield, FA Cup Second Round (November 27, 2010).

Playing record (All matches)

Played 177, Won 86, Drawn 49, Lost 42.

Playing record (League matches)

Played 148, Won 72, Drawn 45, Lost 31.

High point

Beating Bournemouth in play-off semi-finals 2010-11.

Low point

Losing play-off final 3-0 to Peterborough in play-off final at Old Trafford, 2010-11.

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