WHEN Huddersfield Town played Charlton at the Valley on December 21, 1957, history was made.
And sports journalist Norman Giller in his book Football And All That - An Irreverent History, describes it as "one of the most extraordinary matches in the history of the Beautiful Game".
Town, managed by Bill Shankly, were 2-0 up at half time with Charlton reduced to 10 men after their captain and England centre half Derek Ufton had been carried off with a broken collar bone.
"Within seven minutes of the second half, Huddersfield had rocketed 5-1 ahead."
Town were strolling through the game with confidence, says Giller.
"With just 30 minutes to go, it would need one of the comebacks of the century for Charlton to save the game."
But fight back they did and Charlton were incredibly leading 6-5 in the 88th minute.
"Shell-shocked Huddersfield gathered themselves for one more charge and grabbed an equaliser."
But it wasn't enough: in the last minute, the home said scored again to win 7-6.
"No pressman had the courage to tell Shankly that this was the first time in Football League history that a team had scored six goals and finished on the losing side. For once in his life, Shankly was speechless."
Giller's book is a joyful romp through soccer, packed with facts and written with wit and pictures both in colour and black and white.
The Football League was launched in 1888 with little fanfare - Jack the Ripper was taking the headlines that year with his Whitechapel murders.
But football soon expanded and the crowds of ordinary working men it attracted were huge. Scotland's 3-1 victory over England in 1937 was watched by 149,547 in Hampden Park.
And Town made footballing history again in 1938.
"Television made its football debut at Wembley for the FA Cup Final between Preston and Huddersfield."
Mind you, only a few hundred people in the Home Counties were able to watch the flickering black and white pictures as Preston won with a penalty in the last minute.
* Football And All That by Norman Giller, Hodder and Stoughton, £16.99.
