What a time to be a Huddersfield Town fan!
In 10 years since Dean Hoyle became a board member at the club – and chairman since June 2009 – supporters have enjoyed two wonderful promotions and now a survival season in the toughest division of them all.
It has never been easy being a Town fan.
While many of our rivals around West Yorkshire have drunk from, at one time or another, the golden chalice which is the Premier League, Town fans have had to look on from below, wondering if their chance would ever come.
Hence the tears of joy which greeted promotion at Wembley almost a year ago, when Christopher Schindler slotted that shoot-out winning penalty to take Town from the Championship to the promised land.
That outpouring of emotion reflected the struggle which had gone before.
Ahead of Hoyle’s first promotion in 2012, Town had lost in the play-off semi-finals (to Millwall) and in a final, to Peterborough at Old Trafford.
Then, after Lee Clark had been replaced by Simon Grayson, Town finally climbed out of League One and into the Championship – but only after becoming the first team in history to win a penalty shoot-out after missing their first three spot-kicks (against Sheffield United).
I did say it’s never been easy being a Town fan.
Mark Robins and Chris Powell came and went (with Mark Lillis taking temporary charge on three occasions) before Town went ‘left field’ to appoint a German from the Bundesliga second-team structure who few had ever heard of.
David Wagner rejigged the playing staff and the club’s style of play but, more than that, created a whole new philosophy which the supporters readily bought into.
He used his first few months at the club wisely, but when Town were beaten 4-0 and 5-1 in their final two matches of 2015-16, there were plenty left pondering a future of continuing struggle.
They need not have worried.
Wagner put his own stamp firmly on the squad in the summer of 2016 and, very quickly, the Wagner Revolution was engagingly in full swing.
New heroes emerged such as Chris Lowe, Christopher Schinder and Michael Hefele from Wagner’s home country, while loan signings sparkled – step forward Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward, Chelsea midfielders Kasey Palmer and Izzy Brown, Ingolstadt attacker Elias Kachunga and, of course, Australia’s finest Aaron Mooy from Manchester City.
Town played some lovely football along the way, and had goals from Nahki Wells, but it still wasn’t until the last half dozen matches that they made the significant moves, booking their place in the play-offs with a 1-0 win at Wolves in the penultimate match of April.
Again Town finished on a low, with defeats to Birmingham and Cardiff giving the doubters plenty of food for thought.
But the Town of David Wagner are nothing if not tenacious, and they came through a penalty shoot-out at Hillsborough (who will ever forget Danny Ward’s winning save and victory sprint down the pitch!) to earn that slot at Wembley.
The match against Reading should have been won in the first 10 minutes but, after another 110, it was still a blank scoreline and penalties were the upshot.
Once again Town were behind and seemingly down and out, but a crucial miss by Reading and another vital Danny Ward save gave Schindler the chance to deliver that inspirational blow.
Wagner had precious little time to work on signings for the inaugural Premier League campaign but, wow, what a fantastic job he did.
Working to sensible financial constraints, he revitalised the squad yet again with 13 new faces, took them off to ‘bond’ on a Swedish island without mobile phones or any other semblance of 21st century comfort and then stunned the hierarchy with a glorious 3-0 win at Crystal Palace on opening day.
For a few magnificent hours, until Manchester United won the following day, Town were top of the table.
A similar thing happened back in 1970-71, Town’s last ‘first season’ in the top flight – but Town will be keen to ensure the similarities end there.
They were relegated in their second season back, 71-72, and had rarely been close to making a top-flight return until Wagner walked through the door at PPG Canalside.
Messrs Lossl, Jorgensen, Ince, Pritchard, Mounie, Depoitre and the rest are resolutely focused on ensuring the blue and white stripes become established at top level, with all the riches that could continue to bring.
Make no mistake, this current Town side deserve to be held in the same esteem as those heroes from the past, the likes of Jimmy Nicholson’s Division Two champions from 1970, Mick Buxton’s double promotion winners from the early 1980s and Neil Warnock’s promotion-winning side from the mid-1990s who went to Wembley twice.
They have proved to be resourceful, resilient and spirited – yes that Terrier Spirit coming out in spades – and if they can add a few more goals into the equation, there is no reason to doubt they can improve on this season’s 16th-placed finish.
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And the fans will be keen to play their part again - including a certain lifelong fan called Hoyle.
The atmosphere and backing from all four stands at the John Smith’s has certainly never been experienced before, and long may it continue.
