Huddersfield Town 0 v Birmingham City 1
EFL League 1. Tuesday 28th January 2025
Prequel: The photo memories feature on my antiquated mobile phone messaged me yesterday, as it sometimes does (y’see, I’m not entirely a sad loner, bereft of any contact with the outside world), to remind me that seven years ago I was watching Birmingham City play at Huddersfield Town. Hmm… just maybe, I need to get out and about to a few different places every now and then, instead of following the same old repetitive circuit?
The picture (above) in question (Birmingham in red), shows an FA Cup Fourth Round tie, in January 2018. The visitors had just equalised through Lukas Jutkiewicz in the 54th minute (hence the blue smoke bomb doing it’s stuff on the dead ball line), after the Terriers had taken the lead in the 21st when Steve Mounie opened the scoring. Blues won the replay 4-1 at St. Andrew's.
In 2009, Southampton born Jutkiewicz actually made nine appearances for Huddersfield, while on loan from Everton. And despite clocking up his thirty-sixth birthday next month, he is still an integral part of this season's Birmingham squad and is actually the club captain, no less. I don't think it was a ‘Juke’ who chucked the smoke bomb to celebrate his goal.
And the second image from my archives the photos app algorithm linked to the first, depicts John Ruddy rising to claim a Huddersfield corner, on an afternoon so miserable, Birmingham wore black to mark the passing of the 2023-24 season. Both teams needed a win and were desperate for points, in what became a vainglorious battle to hang on, by their fingertips, to their respective Championship status’. Blues had played out a 0-0 draw at already doomed Rotherham United the previous week, which served as a barometer, warning trouble ahead.
In the event a 1-1 draw at Huddersfield, just about closed the curtains on what had turned out to be a quite hideous campaign for both teams. Leaving the Gas Works car park that afternoon, I spotted my friend from Huddersfield and called out, “See you next season mi’ duck!” She replied: “Oh we’re going down after that rubbish today!” That was exactly the point I had been making in a roundabout way. Caz isn't really a duck by the way. ‘Twas merely me affecting an “Eckithump” accent.
On that subject, did you hear the one about the new craze amongst kids in the Kirklees area? Whereby they are impregnating rave drugs into the gaps between their teeth? It’s called ‘E-by-gum!’. Alright, I’ll stop it now, I was merely trying to lighten up the recollection of two clubs vanishing over the Championship precipice and plunging towards the grim and harsh realities of League One. Though to be fair, even if the prospect of third tier football wasn't originally, massively appealing, it's actually quite therapeutic once you're in.
Warm up: The following weekend, Huddersfield lost at Ipswich Town while Blues fashioned a win against Norwich City. Alas, all of the other teams at the foot of the table also won, meaning that tonight’s game is a League 1 fixture, between two of last seasons relegated sides.
Playing Wrexham and Huddersfield away in the space of four days, was always likely to be a stiff test of Blues promotion credentials, with both opposition sides currently occupying top four places. I guess that works both ways though and taking on a team of Birmingham’s pedigree helps opposition clubs measure what kind of level they’re capable of playing at too.
The last time these two sides met, on a Tuesday night at the beginning of October, a solitary Alfie May goal was enough for Chris Davies’ side to bag all three points in front of a crowd of 24,757 at St. Andrew's. Of course, Alfie had been all set to join Huddersfield from Charlton Athletic in the summer, before Blues hijacked the deal, gazumped the Terriers and snaffled the League 1 player of the season (2023-24) from their clutches. Certain Huddersfield fans of my acquaintance have possibly spoke of this treacherous episode at every available opportunity, tonight was no different.
Hey! Ho! Let's go: Following tonight’s win, Blues opened up an eight point lead over third placed Wrexham, who have played two more games than Chris Davies’ side. Second placed Wycombe Wanderers came from behind to beat Barnsley 2-1, with their winner coming five minutes into stoppage time. To their enormous credit, the Chairboys are still only two points behind Birmingham, although they have played two extra games as well.
Football has a habit of biting your buttocks when it’s least expected, but it would take a monumental blip in form, for the title favourites not to finish in the top two (automatic promotion spots) now, surely… wouldn't it!? I guess we won't have to wait very long to find out now.
The chasing pack just outside the play-off places are all running into some decent form, so Huddersfield will be looking to return to winning ways at lowly Northampton Town on Saturday following back to back 0-1 home defeats, to Bolton Wanderers at the weekend and Blues tonight. But Northampton held Wycombe to a draw at Adams Park on Saturday and are fighting for points to drag them away from the relegation places, just saying.
An ugly flashpoint moment of tonight's chilly encounter, that marred the game considerably, came via Jonathan Hogg’s hideous and pre-meditated challenge/stamp/assault on Tomoki Iwata, that was clearly deserving of a straight red card. He's renowned for being a bit of a mucky bugger and known for putting it about. Maybe the match referee Adam Herczag was too far away and didn't get a clear view of this very blatant case of dangerous play.
Oh! Hang on a second, that's him in the orange shirt, just a few feet away from the incident. Maybe his guide dog is just out of shot. Football has thankfully moved on from the dark ages, when most teams subscribed to the robust leanings of the cult of the midfield enforcer. Alas, Hogg is a throwback to those times, not quite a cult himself, but that's a very similar word to the one I'm thinking of.
But I won't let the actions of one feckless individual, cloud my otherwise favourable impression of most things HTAFC. Collectively, I find their ground, their fans and the generally friendly demeanor of the whole set up at the John Smith's Stadium most agreeable. In actual fact I had a great time in the Terriers ‘Legends Bar’ before the game, in a mixed group of home and away supporters.
Blues (in black again tonight, because they have a range of three different replica shirts to choose from and wouldn't sell many if they didn't wear them all sometimes) were a cut above their Yorkshire hosts tonight. They may well be renowned for the attacking prowess of a forward line that is the envy of most clubs in this league, but it is in defence where they are proving to be exceptional this term, building up a lengthy unbeaten run off the foundations of a solid defence and playing out from the back.
It isn't always pretty to watch, as they move up through the gears, like a well-maintained and efficient machine. But it's effective and in a results based industry, where the remit is to get enough points on board to get out of League One. But what was aesthetically quite beautiful, was the quality of the finish, that produced the only goal of the game.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman cushioned a header sideways to Keshi Anderson on the edge of Town’s area, that he controlled off of his chest before fizzing an unstoppable shot past Jacob Chapman. You don't stop those! Blues got the win they deserved to maintain their grasp of top spot, while Hogg finished on the losing side, which was just desserts too.
I didn't see my mate Caz tonight, but I texted her after the game to say: “I hope Huddersfield are in the same division as Birmingham next season… hopefully without that filthy tw@t Hogg!”. She replied that the player in question was an embarrassment and that the two teams would be ‘leagues apart on merit’. She's probably right unless the Terriers buck their ideas up any time soon. FT: Huddersfield Town 0 v Birmingham City 1
The motorways conspired against me to add approximately ninety minutes onto the drive home: The M62 four lane stretch, down to one lane. And the A1 southbound closed altogether, but there was no prior warning of this until after the M1 junction. Kinnel! It's a good job that I know my way around.
