Rightly, there's been a celebratory mood around the town in anticipation of Huddersfield's first home Premier League match this weekend. Buoyed by both the performance and result against Crystal Palace, all of the emotion and momentum of last season hasn't escaped the area, and has only intensified with time. The club has been written about in glowing terms in a manner they haven't for decades far and wide, with features in The Times, The Financial Times and even The New York Times all going out of their way to give their own angle on this season's underdog sporting triumph.
Yet, you needn't read the press to get that impression - walking through the centre of Huddersfield these days, it's impossible to go five paces without a flash of blue and white, red and black or even navy and pink passing you by. There is a unity and collective pride that hasn't been present in some time, and a mood of joy in the air that few can previously remember. Folk don't just want to talk about the football club more, they want to show their affiliation as loudly and overtly as possible, and there is a charm about it that's somewhat infectious.
Collective euphoria isn't a new phenomenon, but it's something both the club and town have been starved of for more than a little while. In years gone by, it wasn't uncommon to see children on their summer holidays wandering about the place with shirts of the biggest clubs in the word on their back, but Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea don't have the added advantage of a stadium that's only ten minutes away, offering a shared experience of incomparable emotion that's right on your doorstep for an affordable price.
Who needs Pogba, Ronaldo, Messi and Hazard to hero-worship when you've got Mooy, Mounie, Kachunga and Schindler to watch in the flesh just down the road?
It may seem trivial, and supporters of other clubs may choose to use it as a stick to beat both the club and the town with, but there's no escaping that the positive atmosphere radiating from the club has bled in to the rest of the area. Huddersfield Town were, in truth, a club in serious danger of missing out on entire generations of fans because what they could offer wasn't as attractive as what was being shown on Sky Sports, Match Of The Day and video games all within five feet of the end of your sofa.
This success hasn't just rescued the immediate financial future of the club and reset the course on which they may have gone over the next ten years, but sparked the imagination of potential fans in a manner they couldn't have previously anticipated. It's no mistake that the club have seen and identified that mood and consequently made it as easy as physically and monetarily possible to take the younger generation along to games, either. Town have never been shy in admitting that fans are, and remain, the lifeblood of the club, and with an owner like Dean Hoyle in charge so determined to do right by those who have supported the club through not only smooth but rough, this is the most healthy the club has been in almost a century.
The atmosphere in the stadium on Sunday will be unreal, and the same pride and excitement that has been shown in the streets will have its first chance to be released at home, welcoming a Premier League side to call our own back in to the town.
In years to come - should all things go to plan - this sort of feeling, and the novelty factor of having a successful club so close by may dissipate slightly, but those of us who are to here to remember it will always know the changes that have taken place, and what it felt like the summer before Huddersfield Town played their first ever Premier League game in the comfort of West Yorkshire.
You can follow Raj Bains on Twitter over on @BainsXIII , and his Huddersfield Town book Underdog is being published in October 2017. It is available to order now, with the opportunity to have the name of your choice printed in a fans list at the back of the book. Please visit www.gnbooks.co.uk or call 01274 735056.
