THE first of Town’s two centenary books ‘99 Years and Counting: Stats and Stories’ does exactly what it says on the cover – and then some.

At the heart of the A4 volume are the details, including line-ups, of every match, season by season, since the club’s formation in 1908.

But that’s only half the story – and just over half of the 386 pages.

For the four-strong production team, club historian Ian Thomas, his wife Gwen and statisticians John Ward and Alan Hodgson, have left few stones unturned in their quest to supply supporters with as much information as possible about their favourite club.

Obviously Town fans are a touch biased, but it’s hard to dispute that the club have one of the richest and most varied histories of any in the country.

A famed hat trick of successive league titles, two near-death experiences, a quintet of FA Cup final appearances and a five-year plummet from the leadership of the top flight (after two matches of the 1970-71 season) all the way down to the basement section are all richly reflected.

But there’s far, far more to Huddersfield Town, and the years of work put in by the foursome behind this book have paid dividends.

As well as the season-by-season journey, with the match listings backed up by bullet-point summaries of each campaign as well as pictures and programme covers, there is every club statistic you could think of in terms of various records, results sequences and consolidated details of games against other teams.

Town’s Reserve side gets comprehensive treatment, with results and, uniquely, the final Central League table from every season, and there’s a list of every Youth Cup tie ever played.

Back with the firsts, there’s coverage of every transfer in which the club has been involved as well as the career record of every player to have pulled on the shirt, which, incidentally, wasn’t always blue and white striped.

Another chapter records 25 memorable matches, while there are also lists of Huddersfield-born players to have turned out for the club (surprisingly few), those to have won international caps while at Town, abandoned games, penalties scored and missed both for Town and against them and hat tricks both for the club and against.

One of the most intriguing sections is that detailing matches in minor cup competitions (like the West Riding Senior, Texaco and Anglo-Italian) and friendlies, from the very first warm-up match, a 2-1 home win against Bradford Park Avenue on September 2, 1908 (three days before the first competitive game, a 2-0 defeat at South Shields Adelaide in the North Eastern League) through to Andy Booth’s testimonial against Real Sociedad the summer before last.

It’s fascinating just how many foreign teams Town have faced, with the first then-French champions Red Star Olympique, beaten 2-0 in Paris in May 1921.

Legendary manager Herbert Chapman kicked off the era of continental tours, with Denmark and Sweden popular pre-War destinations.

Town turned down the chance to visit both the USA and South America in the Twenties, but finally went to North America in 1955, when they played nine games, four of them exhibition matches against Sunderland, in the States and Canada.

Statistical tomes can often become slabs of grey type, but the colour coding used throughout this volume to help with navigation throughout the various divisions and cup competitions combine with the many illustrations for a product which is pleasing to the eye.

One of the striking aspects of the many matches Town have played is the amount of travelling undertaken by players and fans.

What kind of journey must it have been to Workington back in 1908, when, incidentally, Town’s first-season opponents included current League I rivals Carlisle and Hartlepool.

The many trips to London and other Southern clubs which followed election to the Football League in 1910 must have involved stays of several nights.

And congratulations to the hardy fans who followed Town to Plymouth for an FA Cup fourth-round tie in February 1966, when the special train put on by British Rail left Huddersfield at 11.00 on the Friday night (calling at Slaithwaite and Marsden en route) and arrived back at 7.30 on the Sunday morning.

Two seasons earlier, Town had visited Home Park three times (the clubs met in the league, FA Cup and League Cup) and no doubt there were some supporters who were there for each of the games.

If they’re still around, they’ll love this book!

l ‘99 years and Counting’ is published today and available, priced £27.99, from the club’s stores at the Stadium and in the town centre.

The second centenary book, to be published this time next year, will be a more traditional club history but will include a statistical update to cover the current season.