1961–62 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town's 1961–62 campaign was an impressive season for the Town, following the previous season's near miss with relegation to Division 3. In Eddie Boot's first full season in charge, Town finished in 7th place in Division 2 with 44 points, 10 off 2nd placed Leyton Orient and a further 8 behind league champions Liverpool.

Huddersfield Town
1961–62 season
ChairmanEngland Stephen Lister
ManagerEngland Eddie Boot
Football League Second Division7th
FA CupFourth round
(knocked out by Aston Villa)
Football League CupSecond round
(knocked out by Leeds United)
Top goalscorerLeague: Derek Stokes (14)
All: Derek Stokes (14)
Highest home attendance28,071 vs Rotherham United (9 January 1962)
Lowest home attendance5,256 vs Preston North End (2 April 1962)
Biggest win5–1 vs Plymouth Argyle (23 August 1961)
4–0 vs Derby County (9 April 1962)
Biggest defeat0–3 vs Leyton Orient (20 September 1961)
0–3 vs Stoke City (28 October 1961)
0–3 vs Rotherham United (28 April 1962)

Squad at the start of the season

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK   ENG Harry Fearnley
-- GK   ENG Ray Wood
-- DF   ENG Denis Atkins
-- DF   ENG John Coddington
-- DF   ENG Brian Gibson
-- DF   ENG Stewart Holden
-- DF   ENG Ray Holt
-- DF   ENG Bob Ledger
-- DF   ENG Bob Parker
-- DF   IRL Pat Saward
-- DF   ENG Ken Taylor
-- DF   ENG Ken Turner
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- DF   ENG Ray Wilson
-- MF   ENG John Bettany
-- MF   IRL Ollie Conmy
-- MF   ENG Peter Dinsdale
-- MF   SCO Jim Kerray
-- MF   SCO John McCann
-- MF   ENG Kevin McHale
-- MF   ENG John Milner
-- MF   ENG Michael O'Grady
-- FW   ENG Chris Balderstone
-- FW   SCO Les Massie
-- FW   ENG Derek Stokes

Review

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After just missing out on relegation to Division 3, Eddie Boot took his first full season in charge to try to raise Town up to the top half of the Division 2. Town made a promising start with 4 wins from their first 6 games, including a 5–1 win against Plymouth Argyle and a 4–3 win at Luton Town. Derek Stokes had a great start to the season with 8 goals from the first 9 league games including a hat-trick in the 4–2 win against Walsall. An indifferent spell in October and November saw Town lose ground, but a player exchange in February would see Town surge up the table.

Jim Kerray moved to Newcastle United with experienced striker Len White returning to his native Yorkshire. His 8 goals in 16 matches propelled Town to the upper reaches of the Division 2. They would finish the season in 7th place with 44 points.

Squad at the end of the season

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK   ENG Harry Fearnley
-- GK   ENG Ray Wood
-- DF   ENG Denis Atkins
-- DF   ENG John Coddington
-- DF   ENG Brian Gibson
-- DF   ENG Stewart Holden
-- DF   ENG Ray Holt
-- DF   ENG Bob Ledger
-- DF   ENG Bob Parker
-- DF   IRL Pat Saward
-- DF   ENG Ken Taylor
-- DF   ENG Ken Turner
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- DF   ENG Ray Wilson
-- MF   ENG John Bettany
-- MF   IRL Ollie Conmy
-- MF   ENG Peter Dinsdale
-- MF   SCO John McCann
-- MF   ENG Kevin McHale
-- MF   ENG John Milner
-- MF   ENG Michael O'Grady
-- FW   ENG Chris Balderstone
-- FW   SCO Les Massie
-- FW   ENG Derek Stokes
-- FW   ENG Len White

Results

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Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F – A
Scorers Attendance Position
19 August 1961 Swansea Town A 1–1 Stokes 18,208 11th
23 August 1961 Plymouth Argyle H 5–1 Stokes (2), Kerray, O'Grady, Massie 13,730 5th
26 August 1961 Southampton H 1–0 Patrick (og) 13,998 3rd
30 August 1961 Plymouth Argyle A 2–4 Kerray, Stokes (pen) 14,065 6th
2 September 1961 Luton Town A 4–3 Dinsdale, Stokes (2), Saward 14,436 4th
9 September 1961 Newcastle United H 2–1 Kerray, Massie 18,087 3rd
16 September 1961 Middlesbrough A 0–1 14,003 6th
20 September 1961 Leyton Orient A 0–3 8,957 10th
23 September 1961 Walsall H 4–2 Stokes (3), Sharples (og) 15,100 5th
27 September 1961 Leyton Orient H 1–1 Bettany 16,917 6th
30 September 1961 Derby County A 0–1 13,455 6th
7 October 1961 Norwich City H 1–1 McHale 14,910 8th
14 October 1961 Leeds United A 0–1 19,162 11th
21 October 1961 Bristol Rovers H 4–1 Kerray, Stokes (2), Frowen (og) 11,845 8th
28 October 1961 Stoke City A 0–3 35,974 9th
4 November 1961 Sunderland H 0–0 19,017 9th
11 November 1961 Brighton & Hove Albion A 2–2 Kerray (2) 10,742 10th
18 November 1961 Liverpool H 1–2 McHale 23,086 13th
25 November 1961 Charlton Athletic A 2–0 Massie, O'Grady 12,187 10th
2 December 1961 Bury H 2–0 Kerray, Coddington (pen) 11,914 9th
8 December 1961 Rotherham United A 3–3 Massie, Kerray, McHale 10,241 9th
23 December 1961 Southampton A 1–3 McHale 11,262 12th
26 December 1961 Preston North End A 0–1 15,524 13th
13 January 1962 Luton Town H 1–2 Coddington (pen) 11,140 14th
20 January 1962 Newcastle United A 1–1 O'Grady 31,950 14th
3 February 1962 Middlesbrough H 0–0 11,619 14th
10 February 1962 Walsall A 2–2 McHale, Balderstone 10,864 16th
24 February 1962 Norwich City A 2–1 White (2) 16,112 13th
3 March 1962 Leeds United H 2–1 White, Massie 16,799 12th
10 March 1962 Bristol Rovers A 1–1 White 10,712 12th
17 March 1962 Stoke City H 3–0 White (2), Stokes 20,261 10th
24 March 1962 Sunderland A 1–3 Balderstone 26,412 12th
26 March 1962 Swansea Town H 3–1 Coddington (2 pens), Massie 7,813 9th
31 March 1962 Brighton & Hove Albion H 2–0 Baxter (og), McHale 8,187 9th
2 April 1962 Preston North End H 2–2 McHale, Balderstone 5,256 8th
7 April 1962 Liverpool A 1–1 Balderstone 38,022 8th
9 April 1962 Derby County H 4–0 Stokes, White, Coddington (2 pens) 8,323 6th
14 April 1962 Charlton Athletic H 0–2 9,127 7th
21 April 1962 Bury A 2–1 McHale (2) 7,630 6th
23 April 1962 Scunthorpe United H 1–2 Stokes 12,397 7th
24 April 1962 Scunthorpe United A 3–1 White, O'Grady, Massie 10,812 6th
28 April 1962 Rotherham United H 0–3 8,679 7th
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F – A
Scorers Attendance
9 January 1962 Round 3 Rotherham United H 4–3 Massie, McHale (2), Kerray 28,071
27 January 1962 Round 4 Aston Villa A 1–2 McHale 38,013
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F – A
Scorers Attendance
12 September 1961 Round 1 Carlisle United A 1–1 Massie 7,360
25 September 1961 Round 1 Replay Carlisle United H 3–0 McCann, Holt (2) 8,880
4 October 1961 Round 2 Leeds United A 2–3 McHale, Dinsdale 10,023

Appearances and goals

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Name Nation Position League Apps League Goals FA Cup Apps FA Cup Goals League Cup Apps League Cup Goals Total Apps Total Goals
Denis Atkins   England DF 28 0 1 0 2 0 31 0
Chris Balderstone   England MF 9 4 0 0 1 0 10 4
John Bettany   England MF 8 1 0 0 1 0 9 1
John Coddington   England DF 38 6 2 0 1 0 41 6
Peter Dinsdale   England DF 40 1 2 0 3 1 45 2
Harry Fearnley   England GK 25 0 1 0 3 0 29 0
Brian Gibson   England DF 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Ray Holt   England DF 3 0 0 0 2 2 5 2
Jim Kerray   Scotland MF 26 8 2 1 3 0 31 9
Bob Ledger   England MF 2 0 0 0 2 0 4 0
Les Massie   Scotland FW 31 7 2 1 1 0 34 8
John McCann   Scotland MF 8 0 0 0 1 1 9 1
Kevin McHale   England MF 40 9 2 3 2 1 44 13
John Milner   England MF 8 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
Michael O'Grady   England MF 38 4 2 0 2 0 42 4
Bob Parker   England DF 10 0 0 0 2 0 12 0
Pat Saward   Republic of Ireland MF 32 1 1 0 3 0 36 1
Derek Stokes   England FW 37 14 2 0 2 0 41 14
Ken Taylor   England DF 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
Ken Turner   England DF 5 0 0 0 1 0 6 0
Len White   England FW 16 8 0 0 0 0 16 8
Ray Wilson   England DF 39 0 2 0 1 0 42 0
Ray Wood   England GK 17 0 1 0 0 0 18 0