Huddersfield Town are used to playing on Boxing Day, which has become one of the most loved set of fixtures on the calendar.
This year, of course, Chris Powell’s side are in action at Rotherham United in the Championship before, two days later, entertaining Bolton Wanderers at the John Smith’s Stadium.
But it’s not too long ago that the club played matches on Christmas Day itself!
The last time was in 1958, when Town beat Charlton Athletic 1-0 at Leeds Road in the old Second Division (now Championship).
Stan Howard got the only goal in front of a crowd of 14,295 – there was no public transport of course, so getting to the ground would not have been easy for many.
Town’s first League game on a Christmas Day was in 1911 when they beat Glossop North End 3-1, while Town notched their biggest Christmas Day win in 1919, thrashing Rotherham County 7-1 on a day when Jack Swann and Frank Mann each got hat tricks.
In all, Town have played 36 League games on Christmas Day, winning 14, drawing 11 and losing 11. They scored a total of 64 goals in those matches and conceded 45.
These, and many more interesting facts, stats and trivia about the club are featured in Huddersfield Town Miscellany by Tony Matthews, which is available for £9.99 from Pitch Publishing (Brighton) Ltd.
