The first of Ipswich Town’s 21 previous visits to Huddersfield Town pitted two managers who were to become legends of English football.
Bill Shankly was in charge of the home side and Alf Ramsey the visitors for the Division Two (now Championship) match of October 12, 1957.
England’s 1966 World Cup-winning boss Sir Alf had taken his first managerial post at Portman Road in 1955.
The former Tottenham Hotspur player guided the Suffolk side to promotion from the Third Division South in 1956/57.
Ipswich were to win a place in the top flight for the first time in their history in 1960/61.
Amazingly, they became league champions 12 months later.
But when he brought his charges to Leeds Road for that first meeting with Town in 1957, they were still a work in progress.
So were the home side, managed by Shankly since November 1956, six months after relegation from the top flight under Andy Beattie.
The Scot who was to achieve such success with Liverpool, who recruited him in November 1959, had previously managed Carlisle United, Grimsby Town and Workington.
He initially joined Town in December 1955 as Beattie’s assistant.
As manager in his own right, he gave youth its fling.
One of the scorers in the 3-0 win in that first clash with Ipswich was then 17-year-old winger Kevin McHale.
He notched in the 39th minutes after an own goal by David Deacon put Town ahead on seven.
Scottish forward Alex Bain, a Shankly signing from Motherwell, bagged the third after 69 minutes.
Playing left back for Town in front of a 15,276 crowd that day was Ray Wilson, who was to become an England regular, and hero of ‘66, under Ramsey, who took charge of the national team in 1963.
