1965–66 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town's 1965–66 campaign was a fairly successful season for the Town. For a large amount of the season, Town were on the verge on promotion to Division 1. Town also managed to reach the 5th round of the FA Cup, before losing to Sheffield Wednesday. Town finished in 4th place, but a win in the final game against Coventry City, might have given the team promotion, but a 2–0 defeat left the door open for Southampton.

Huddersfield Town
1965–66 season
ChairmanEngland Roger B. Kaye
ManagerScotland Tom Johnston
Football League Second Division4th
FA CupFifth round
(knocked out by Sheffield Wednesday)
Football League CupThird round
(knocked out by Preston North End)
Top goalscorerLeague: Allan Gilliver (18)
All: Allan Gilliver (18)
Highest home attendance49,514 vs Sheffield Wednesday (5 March 1966)
Lowest home attendance9,774 vs Preston North End (13 October 1965)
Biggest win6–0 vs Middlesbrough (28 August 1965)
Biggest defeat1–4 vs Derby County (16 April 1966)

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 Peter Goy
-- GK   IRL John Oldfield
-- DF   ENG Denis Atkins
-- DF   ENG Chris Cattlin
-- DF   ENG John Coddington
-- DF   ENG David Joy
-- DF   ENG Billy Legg
-- DF   ENG Bob McNab
-- DF   IRL Mick Meagan
-- MF   ENG Peter Dinsdale
-- MF   ENG Billy Lynn
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF   ENG Kevin McHale
-- MF   NIR Jimmy Nicholson
-- MF   ENG Michael O'Grady
-- MF   SCO Johnny Quigley
-- MF   ENG Steve Smith
-- MF   ENG Ray Veall
-- FW   ENG Allan Gilliver
-- FW   ENG Tony Leighton
-- FW   SCO Les Massie
-- FW   ENG John Rudge
-- FW   ENG Derek Stokes

Review

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Tom Johnston began his first full season in charge of Huddersfield Town in glorious mood. They won their first 3 games, which included a 6–0 win over Middlesbrough, where both Allan Gilliver and Les Massie scored hat-tricks. Gilliver actually scored 7 goals in his first 4 league games, which would lead him to a transfer to Blackburn Rovers at the end of the season. By Christmas, Town were at the summit of the 2nd Division, but a little drop in form saw them slowly go down the table.

A nice run in the FA Cup saw Town reach the 5th round, before they narrowly lost to Sheffield Wednesday. Town only won 2 of their last 10 matches, which saw them miss out on promotion by just 3 points from Southampton. This would be the closest that Town would get to Division 1 until their promotion in the 1969–70 season.

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 Peter Goy
-- GK   IRL John Oldfield
-- DF   ENG Denis Atkins
-- DF   ENG Chris Cattlin
-- DF   ENG John Coddington
-- DF   ENG David Joy
-- DF   ENG Billy Legg
-- DF   ENG Bob McNab
-- DF   IRL Mick Meagan
-- MF   ENG Peter Dinsdale
-- MF   ENG Billy Lynn
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF   ENG Kevin McHale
-- MF   NIR Jimmy Nicholson
-- MF   SCO Johnny Quigley
-- MF   ENG Steve Smith
-- MF   ENG Ray Veall
-- FW   ENG Allan Gilliver
-- FW   ENG Tony Leighton
-- FW   SCO Les Massie
-- FW   ENG John Rudge
-- FW   ENG Don Weston

Results

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Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance Position
21 August 1965 Leyton Orient A 2–0 Gilliver, Nicholson 7,381 1st
24 August 1965 Ipswich Town H 1–0 Gilliver 11,448 1st
28 August 1965 Middlesbrough H 6–0 Gilliver (3), Massie (3) 14,772 1st
31 August 1965 Ipswich Town A 2–2 Gilliver (2) 14,283 1st
4 September 1965 Bristol City A 1–2 Nicholson 15,708 2nd
7 September 1965 Bolton Wanderers H 1–0 McHale 24,532 1st
11 September 1965 Crystal Palace A 1–2 O'Grady 16,684 4th
15 September 1965 Bolton Wanderers A 1–1 Leighton 16,614 3rd
18 September 1965 Preston North End H 2–1 Leighton (2) 18,114 2nd
25 September 1965 Charlton Athletic A 2–0 Massie, O'Grady 14,661 1st
2 October 1965 Plymouth Argyle H 2–1 McHale, Leighton 16,707 1st
9 October 1965 Manchester City H 0–0 31,876 1st
16 October 1965 Rotherham United A 0–0 16,939 1st
23 October 1965 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1–1 Leighton 19,122 1st
30 October 1965 Norwich City A 1–1 Leighton 16,442 3rd
6 November 1965 Bury H 2–0 Quigley, Weston 17,212 1st
13 November 1965 Southampton A 1–0 Nicholson 21,660 1st
20 November 1965 Derby County H 1–3 Weston 14,336 2nd
27 November 1965 Cardiff City A 1–0 Smith 10,898 1st
4 December 1965 Carlisle United H 2–0 Leighton (2 pens) 15,517 1st
11 December 1965 Coventry City A 3–0 Nicholson, Gilliver, McHale 27,735 1st
18 December 1965 Rotherham United H 4–0 McHale, Gilliver (2), Leighton (pen) 17,855 1st
28 December 1965 Birmingham City A 1–2 Leighton 19,750 1st
1 January 1966 Manchester City A 0–2 47,171 1st
8 January 1966 Southampton H 2–0 Gilliver (2) 17,989 1st
15 January 1966 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–2 Weston 28,698 2nd
29 January 1966 Leyton Orient H 1–1 Leighton 16,011 3rd
5 February 1966 Middlesbrough A 3–1 Massie (3) 13,485 2nd
19 February 1966 Bristol City H 3–0 Coddington (pen), Weston (2) 18,544 2nd
26 February 1966 Crystal Palace H 1–1 Sewell (og) 17,350 2nd
12 March 1966 Preston North End A 1–1 Gilliver 17,724 2nd
15 March 1966 Birmingham City H 2–0 Gilliver (2) 19,156 1st
19 March 1966 Charlton Athletic H 1–1 Gilliver 17,669 2nd
25 March 1966 Plymouth Argyle A 0–0 13,902 1st
6 April 1966 Portsmouth A 1–2 McHale 13,932 2nd
9 April 1966 Norwich City H 0–0 13,942 2nd
11 April 1966 Portsmouth H 2–0 Gilliver, Veall 18,479 1st
16 April 1966 Derby County A 1–4 Massie 15,793 2nd
19 April 1966 Bury A 4–0 McHale (2), Gilliver, Weston 12,783 1st
23 April 1966 Cardiff City H 1–1 Carver (og) 19,138 1st
30 April 1966 Carlisle United A 0–2 13,688 2nd
7 May 1966 Coventry City H 0–2 24,997 4th
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
24 January 1966 Round 3 Hartlepools United H 3–1 Quigley (2), Leighton 24,505
12 February 1966 Round 4 Plymouth Argyle A 2–0 Smith, Massie 26,335
5 March 1966 Round 5 Sheffield Wednesday H 1–2 Smith 49,514
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
21 September 1965 Round 2 Bury A 2–0 McHale, O'Grady 5,629
13 October 1965 Round 3 Preston North End H 0–1 9,774

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 42 0 3 0 2 0 47 0
Chris Cattlin   England DF 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0
John Coddington   England DF 40 1 3 0 0 0 43 1
Peter Dinsdale   England DF 14 (1) 0 2 0 2 0 18 (1) 0
Allan Gilliver   England FW 27 18 1 0 0 0 28 18
David Joy   England DF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Billy Legg   England DF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Tony Leighton   England FW 27 11 2 1 2 0 31 12
Billy Lynn   England MF 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Les Massie   Scotland FW 22 8 2 1 1 0 25 9
Kevin McHale   England MF 40 7 3 0 2 1 45 8
Bob McNab   England DF 42 0 3 0 2 0 47 0
Mick Meagan   Republic of Ireland DF 31 (1) 0 2 0 2 0 35 (1) 0
Jimmy Nicholson   Northern Ireland MF 41 4 3 0 2 0 46 4
Michael O'Grady   England MF 12 2 0 0 1 1 13 3
John Oldfield   Republic of Ireland GK 42 0 3 0 2 0 47 0
Johnny Quigley   Scotland MF 41 1 2 2 1 0 44 3
Steve Smith   England MF 14 (3) 1 2 2 1 0 17 (3) 3
Derek Stokes   England FW 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0
Ray Veall   England MF 11 1 1 0 0 0 12 1
Don Weston   England FW 11 (2) 6 1 0 0 0 12 (2) 6