Here are some of the most important – and rare! – items that I have. In many instances, you will be seeing these for the very first time! These items relate to the very first year of the club’s existence!
(Some of the items shown here have been reduced in size)
HUDDERSFIELD T. vs CLAYTON WEST MATCH REPORT, 20th March 1909
An original but, sadly, incomplete newspaper item chronicling Town’s 6-1 West Riding Cup 2nd Round tie against Clayton West on 20th March, 1909 at a time when Town was still only a Midland League team and in their inaugural season.
Of interest here is the mention in the third paragraph of “The Redskins” which MUST refer to Town because Howard – who kicks clear – is a Town player; so this is conclusive evidence that Town played in red at this time.
For the record, Town eventually ran out 6-1 winners: further to the two goals attributed to Howard in the report, he later added the sixth goal to go with those scored by Hartley (2 pens) and Wallace. Town went on to draw 1-1 with Bradford City (at Elland Road) in the Semi-Final only to then lose the replay 2-3 (played at Park Avenue).
Of perhaps added interest is the fact that in the previous round of this competition Town had played in an all-white strip as they defeated Ingleton 10-0 at Leeds Road. Not so unusual you might think except that the game was played in a heavy snow storm and the referee had the devil’s own job trying to keep an eye on matters!
HUDDERSFIELD & DISTRICT F.A. CUP 1908/09 WINNERS MEDAL 
In season 1908/09, the club’s first ever season, whilst the First XI were busy competing in the North Eastern League against the likes of South Shields Adelaide, Hebburn Argyle and Seaham White Star, the “Stiffs“ competed in the Huddersfield & District Football League and successfully negotiated their way to the Final of the Huddersfield & District Football Association Cup thus:
- R1 – 21st November 1908: Hepworth Utd (a) 1-1
- R1 replay – 28th November 1908: Hepworth Utd (h) 3-2 (played at Primrose Hill)
- R2 – 19th December 1908: Scissett (a) 1-0 (J. Morris)
- R3 – 16th January 1909: Linthwaite Cres. (a) 0-0 (abandoned at half-time)
- R3 – 23rd January 1909: Linthwaite Cres. (a) 5-0
- R4 – 20th February 1909: Berry Brow (h) 3-0 (Adamson, Cookson, Nelson)
- Semi-Final – 20th March 1909: Cawthorne (neutral venue – played at Scissett) 2-0 (Stanger, Houldsworth)
- Final – 17th April 1909: Lindley Temperance 5-0 (Cookson 2, Wallace, Lockwood, J. Morris)
Town’s team in that final was…
Crinson, Jones, Royston, Lockwood, Larkin, J. Morris, Adamson, Stanger, Cookson, Wallace, and Houldsworth.
The medal went to auction at Sheffield Auction Gallery on 17th September 2020 where I bought it for £230.00 (rising to £313.11 after fees, VAT and p&p). It is 9ct gold, bears the Birmingham Assay mark and was hallmarked in 1909; the maker’s mark is J.J.H. whom I cannot identify. The nice thing with this is that I know that there can be only eleven or twelve of these around (assuming that the manager received one) so this really is rare. If only it had been engraved with the winning player’s name…
The victory in this Final represented the very first time that ANY Town team at ANY level had won ANY trophy.
The Huddersfield Town Collection 