In 1920 Huddersfield were in dire straits. The club was the poor relation to the town’s rugby league side, and had even contemplated relocating lock, stock and barrel to Leeds. Things improved after the club acquired several of the players auctioned off by Leeds City Huddersfield then made the most important signing of all: Herbert Chapman himself In 1920 Huddersfield won promotion to the top flight for the first time and also made it to the FA Cup final, in which they went down 1 -0 to Aston Villa. This was no flash in the plan; the best was yet to come. Chapman set to work using his uncanny knack for buying the right player at the right time and moulding individuals into a formidable unit. Probably the key acquisition was Villa’s inside-forward Clem Stephenson, who arrived in March 1921 in a ?4000 deal. Many thought 30-year-old Stephenson’s best years were behind him, but Chapman made him captain and in the autumn of his career he enjoyed a golden period as he led Huddersfield on an extraordinary run of success. The first silverware came in 1922, when the Yorkshire club hfted the FA Cup. It was a dour affair, with Preston providing the opposition. The only goal came from the penalty spot after Huddersfield winger Billy Smith was brought down. Preston seemed to have a legitimate case that the foul had been committed outside the box, but the referee waved this away and Smith himself stepped up to score. This game marked the last of three postwar finals to be contested at Stamford Bridge. By the following April the new Wembley Stadium would be ready.
Mathematicians needed to determine championship
In the next six seasons Huddersfield finished no lower than third in the league, and the club’s remarkable run included a famous hat-trick of championships startmg in 1923-24.This first league tide was also the most dramatic.
Herbert Chapman (back row, left) pictured with Huddersfield Town in 1921. Chapman is one of a select group of managers who have won the league championship with different clubs: Huddersfield Town in 1924, 1925 and 1926 and Arsenal in 1931.
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