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Huddersfield Town

2003–04 season
Chairman	Ken Davy
Manager	Peter Jackson
Division Three	4th (promoted via Play-offs)
Play-offs	Winners
FA Cup	First round (knocked out by Accrington Stanley)
League Cup	Third round (knocked out by Reading)
League Trophy	First round (knocked out by Carlisle United)
Top goalscorer	League: Jon Stead (16) All: Jon Stead (18)
Highest home attendance	19,467 vs Lincoln City (19 May 2004)
Lowest home attendance	6,673 vs Derby County (12 August 2003)
Biggest win	4–0 vs Macclesfield Town (13 March 2004)
Biggest defeat	2–6 vs Scunthorpe United (1 November 2003) 0–4 vs Macclesfield Town (13 December 2003)
Home colours Away colours
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Huddersfield Town's 2003–04 campaign was their first competitive campaign in the bottom division since the 1979–80 season. Huddersfield secured a return to the third tier (to be then called Football League One), at the first attempt, by beating Mansfield Town, on penalties, in the Playoff Final on 31 May 2004 at the Millennium Stadium.

Squad at the start of the season

The squad at the start of the season was mainly depleted. When Peter Jackson took over in late June 2003, there were only 8 players on the official list of registered players, because of the mass clear-out caused by Town going into administration the previous season.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Ian Gray 2 DF  ENG Martyn Booty 3 DF  ENG Rob Edwards (Club captain) 4 MF  WAL Lee Fowler 5 DF  ENG Steve Yates 6 DF  WAL Ian Hughes 7 MF  ENG Tyrone Thompson 8 MF  ENG Tony Carss 9 FW  ENG Jon Stead 10 FW  ENG Jon Newby 11 MF  ENG Danny Schofield 12 MF  ENG Chris Holland 13 GK  ENG Phil Senior 14 MF  USA John Thorrington

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  ENG Nathan Clarke 16 DF  NGA Efe Sodje (Team captain) 17 DF  ENG Paul Scott 18 MF  ENG Jon Worthington 19 MF  IRL Dwayne Mattis 20 DF  ENG Nat Brown 21 DF  ENG Andy Holdsworth 22 FW  ENG Steven Kenworthy 23 FW  ENG Andy Booth 24 DF  ENG Anthony Lloyd 25 DF  ENG Joe Washington 26 MF  ENG Adnan Ahmed 27 DF  ENG David Mirfin 28 DF  ENG John McCombe

Review

Peter Jackson began his second spell as Huddersfield manager in the summer of 2003 as the Terriers came out of administration under the new ownership of Ken Davy. He again wasted no time in installing Yorath as his assistant. With only eight players turning up to his first training session, and star player Martin Smith defecting to Northampton Town, many supporters would have been happy to see the side consolidate and not slip any further down the league. But some shrewd signings (including Rob Edwards, Tony Carss, Efe Sodje, Steve Yates and goalkeeper Ian Gray), the emergence of a talented group of youngsters, and the prolific form of the previously ineffective Jon Stead made Town among the early pace-setters for the Division. As winter approached, Jackson's young side became more inconsistent and seemed to be fading but a change of formation tightened up the defence. Goalkeeper Paul Rachubka was brought in as the side found a new resilience and the ability to grind out narrow victories. Stead's form saw an offer from Sunderland, that was rejected, but he was snapped up by Premiership Blackburn Rovers for around £1.2 million in January and was replaced by Polish U21 striker Pawel Abbott who had been unable to establish himself at Preston North End.

It took Huddersfield until the end of August to register their first league win of the season in Division 3 (a 2–1 win against Bristol Rovers at the McAlpine Stadium), but they managed to knock out Division 1 side Derby County in the first round of the League Cup and then amazingly beat Sunderland 4–2 in the second round at the Stadium of Light. They then went on a 4-game winning streak, before hitting a bad patch, when they won only one game in 7, including losing in all three cup competitions (1–0 to Reading in the League Cup, 2–0 to Carlisle United in the Football League Trophy & 1–0 to Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup live on BBC One). Then after beating leaders Hull City 3–1, they went on a good run which came to a dramatic halt when they lost 4–0 to Macclesfield Town at Moss Rose. They then went on another good run throughout January 2004, but then they lost their talisman Jon Stead, who was sold to Premier League side Blackburn Rovers for £1.3 million.

With only Andy Booth as a proper striker, Town loaned Preston North End striker Pawel Abbott, who scored 4 goals in his 6 games, they then signed him on a permanent deal for £125,000 and Huddersfield continued their climb up the table and with only 2 games to go, Huddersfield only needed to win one of their last team games to virtually guarantee automatic promotion to Division 2. But on 1 May, they lost their final home game to Mansfield Town 3–1, meaning they had to beat Cheltenham Town at Whaddon Road to ensure automatic promotion ahead of Torquay United. At half-time, all was going well, Huddersfield were 1–0 up thanks to Andy Booth's 100th goal for the club. But then disaster struck when Abbott received the ball just inside his own half and, inexplicably, ran back towards Town's goal and horrendously under hit a backpass that allowed the Robins to equalise with just 15 minutes of the game left. This, together with Torquay's win at Southend United, condemned the Terriers to a Play-Off spot, by virtue of an inferior goal difference.

The Play-off semi-final saw Town escape two bruising encounters with Lincoln City with goals from Danny Schofield and Rob Edwards staving off a spirited Lincoln fightback in the second leg, so Town went through 4–3 on aggregate. In the final at the Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Town rode their luck against a Mansfield Town side who had hit three in each league meeting of the sides. Just before the end of normal time the Stags netted but the linesman controversially ruled that the initiating cross had gone out over the by-line. A penalty shoot-out then followed, which Town won 4–1, saw Town home and out of Division Three at the first attempt, securing their place in the newly named Football League One.

Squad at the end of the season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Ian Gray 2 DF  ENG Martyn Booty 3 DF  ENG Rob Edwards (Club captain) 4 MF  WAL Lee Fowler 5 DF  ENG Steve Yates 6 DF  WAL Ian Hughes 8 MF  ENG Tony Carss 9 FW  POL Pawel Abbott 10 FW  ENG Jon Newby 11 MF  ENG Danny Schofield 13 GK  ENG Phil Senior 14 FW  SCO Iffy Onuora 15 DF  ENG Nathan Clarke 16 DF  NGA Efe Sodje (Team captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 DF  ENG Paul Scott 18 MF  ENG Jon Worthington 20 DF  ENG Nat Brown 21 DF  ENG Andy Holdsworth 22 GK  ENG Lee Martin 23 FW  ENG Andy Booth 24 DF  ENG Anthony Lloyd 26 MF  PAK Adnan Ahmed 27 DF  ENG David Mirfin 28 DF  ENG John McCombe 29 GK  ENG Paul Rachubka (on loan from Charlton Athletic) 30 GK  ENG Jacob Giles 31 FW  IRL John McAliskey 32 MF  ENG Matty Young

Results

Pre-season matches