Huddersfield Town's 1975–76 campaign was the first season in the 67 years existence of the club, that the team had been in the fourth tier of the Football League. Under Bobby Collins and then Tom Johnston, Town managed a 4th round appearance in the season's FA Cup competition and a 5th-place finish in Division 4. Town managed to finish just one place and two points behind 4th-placed Tranmere Rovers.

Squad at the start of the season

Review Following their third relegation in four seasons, Town started the 1975–76 season in the Fourth Division, a level never seen by the Terriers, or by any team who had won the First Division. The Board had decided to return Town to the all-blue kit. The early part of the season under Bobby Collins and general manager Tom Johnston saw Town make a steady early start to the campaign, which only seemed to have a minor falter between late October and just before Christmas saw Town lose 6 out of 10 games, although the other 4 in that run were wins. The strain of general manager Johnston took its toll on manager Collins, who resigned two days before Christmas, with Johnston taking over, making him the first man in the club's history to have the job twice (Although, that is strictly speaking untrue as Ian Greaves was caretaker manager in 1964, before taking the job on a full-time basis in 1968 .).

Under Johnston, Town went on a pulsating run in the FA Cup fourth round, which led to a match-up with Bolton Wanderers, now managed by Ian Greaves, which Town narrowly lost 1–0. But, near the end of the season, Town without top scorer Terry Gray and his strike partner Bobby Campbell were both out with broken legs. Town's form plummeted as they only won 1 of their last 12 league games, whereas if any 3 of those winless games had resulted in wins, Town would have got promoted back into Division 3 at the first attempt, but instead they found themselves languishing in the division for another 4 seasons.

Squad at the end of the season

Results Division Four DateOpponentsHome/AwayResultF–AScorersAttendancePosition16 August 1975Northampton TownH1–1Gray3,59510th23 August 1975WatfordA2–0O'Neil (pen), Gray4,5006th30 August 1975RochdaleH0–04,1855th6 September 1975Scunthorpe UnitedA1–0Campbell2,2321st13 September 1975Lincoln CityH0–15,2095th20 September 1975Cambridge UnitedA0–03,1506th24 September 1975Bradford CityA2–2Gray (2)4,4769th27 September 1975BrentfordH2–1Gray, Garwood4,1605th4 October 1975WorkingtonA2–0Maitland, Garwood1,1585th11 October 1975Swansea CityA1–1Garwood3,3326th18 October 1975Newport CountyH2–1Garwood, Gray5,4774th21 October 1975Torquay UnitedH2–3Belfitt, Garwood5,7775th25 October 1975ReadingA0–26,6799th1 November 1975HartlepoolH2–0Garwood (pen), Smith4,1837th4 November 1975Doncaster RoversA1–4Gray10,6509th8 November 1975Stockport CountyA1–0Gray2,7897th15 November 1975DarlingtonH1–0Smith4,1336th29 November 1975BarnsleyA3–2Lawson (2), Smith5,0075th6 December 1975Exeter CityH0–14,9876th20 December 1975BournemouthA0–14,0128th26 December 1975Tranmere RoversH1–0Belfitt6,6727th27 December 1975SouthportA2–1Belfitt, Smith2,5466th17 January 1976Cambridge UnitedH2–0Smith, Hart5,1956th27 January 1976Crewe AlexandraH1–0Newton4,4596th7 February 1976Doncaster RoversH1–2Gray6,3057th14 February 1976Stockport CountyH2–2Newton (2)5,3078th17 February 1976Torquay UnitedA3–1Gray (2), Baines2,0196th21 February 1976DarlingtonA3–0Firth, Gray, Lawson2,0526th28 February 1976ReadingH3–0Newton, Gray (2)6,5467th1 March 1976RochdaleA0–03,7915th6 March 1976HartlepoolA1–1Gray2,0446th9 March 1976WorkingtonH2–0Hughes (og), Lawson5,0105th13 March 1976Swansea CityH2–0Butler, Firth6,3935th17 March 1976Newport CountyA2–1Sidebottom, Butler1,3744th20 March 1976BarnsleyH1–2Goldthorpe10,0495th23 March 1976Lincoln CityA0–011,2905th27 March 1976Exeter CityA1–4Sidebottom3,9255th30 March 1976BournemouthH0–05,8345th3 April 1976Northampton TownA1–1Belfitt7,2185th5 April 1976BrentfordA0–04,4135th10 April 1976Scunthorpe UnitedH1–1Dolan6,5025th14 April 1976Crewe AlexandraA2–0Belfitt, Newton2,7505th17 April 1976Tranmere RoversA0–38,3085th19 April 1976SouthportH1–2Belfitt6,3245th24 April 1976WatfordH1–0Goldthorpe3,7875th29 April 1976Bradford CityH0–04,7795th

FA Cup DateRoundOpponentsHome/AwayResultF–AScorersAttendance22 November 1975Round 1WalsallA1–0Belfitt5,50613 December 1975Round 2Port ValeH2–1Belfitt, Baines6,2183 January 1976Round 3FulhamA3–2Gray (2), Lawson10,29924 January 1976Round 4Bolton WanderersH0–127,894

Football League Cup DateRoundOpponentsHome/AwayResultF–AScorersAttendance19 August 1975Round 1 1st LegBarnsleyH2–1Gray, Dolan4,20027 August 1975Round 1 2nd LegBarnsleyA1–1Campbell6,043 Huddersfield won 3–2 on aggregate.10 September 1975Round 2Derby CountyA1–2Gray20,602

Appearances and goals NameNationalityPositionLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSteve BainesDF4114130482Rod BelfittFW2864230358Mick ButlerMF9 (1)200009 (1)2Bobby CampbellFW1110031142Willie CoulsonMF20000020Terry DolanMF29 (1)1303135 (1)2Barry EndeanMF2 (2)000002 (2)0Franny FirthFW1620000162Martin FowlerMF6 (2)000006 (2)0Paul GarnerDF1600030190Colin GarwoodFW1262000146Wayne GoldthorpeFW6 (2)200006 (2)2Terry GrayFW291542323619Peter HartMF17 (2)1000017 (2)1Geoff HuttDF2004030270Jimmy LawsonMF22 (3)4310025 (3)5Lloyd MaitlandMF9 (6)1100010 (6)1Grahame McGiffordDF30000030Bob NewtonFW16 (2)5000016 (2)5Brian O'NeilMF3813030441Terry PooleGK40000040John SaundersDF1700030200Arnie SidebottomDF92000092Chris SimpkinDF2504000290Steve SmithMF4154030485Alan SweeneyDF3604000400Dick TaylorGK4204030490

References