Huddersfield Town gave their fans nothing much to cheer about in their final home game of the season as they fell to a 4-1 defat to Mansfield Town.

That led club owner Kevin Nagle to offer a warning to his players ahead of the final game against Wimbledon and the beginning of the summer transfer window — and it was hard to blame him.

The We Are Terriers p…

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Defeat? Who cares?

Well, Town do. A bit. Manager Glen Preston was determined to finish the season off with a good result but, as can be understood, his side didn’t really get going after the high of Wednesday night’s win at York.

You could call it mixed emotions after a poor performance but Preston admitted that he’s the ‘happiest man alive’ after Town got their hands on the FA WNL Division One North Trophy and their medals round their necks.

The game itself ultimately doesn’t mean anything apart from that the impressive visitors sealed fourth place in the league - their highest ever finish.

Laura Elford and Louise Biggins linked up once more for Elford to give Town the lead but Wythenshawe came roaring back and levelled through Rachel Dunlop just before half time.

Second half goals from Kirsty Chambers and Divine Obida sealed the win for the visitors but it wouldn’t take the gloss off what’s been a remarkable season for the Terriers.

It’s my first season covering this team and they’re one of the most impressive sides I’ve seen.

In a season that’s thrown everything at them, they’ve fought, battled and played their way through every barrier.

When it’s only a 22 game season, Town could have been forgiven for thinking their chance had gone after the loss to Leeds at the Accu Stadium in October. That result put them in the chasing pack with Leeds and Cheadle in the driving seat.

But, unlike previous years, this team don’t seem to understand the meaning of giving up.

Glen Preston and his support staff have worked wonders in developing a relentless and ruthless mindset in this group of players and it’s paid dividends.

Win followed win. Clean sheet followed clean sheet. Three points followed three points.

Since the turn of the year, there’s only really been one team winning the title and that’s what Town have gone and done.

They’re back where they belong. They’ll not settle for this promotion. They’ll see this as getting back to the foundation they set perviously. The work starts now.

A chance for redemption is next on the horizon with the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Cup Final acting as the curtain call for the season.

Town lost the final last season so will be hoping to regain their crown against Sheffield FC at the Eco Power Stadium on Wednesday night.

Then Town are in for a big summer. With the right level of support, and the right additions Town could be right up there. I doubt they’ll want to go up and just make up the numbers.

1. Huddersfield Town once again have a battle on their hands to win the fans back

We doubt that person made it to the final whistle. Very few people did.

The sight of the Cowshed Loyal standing up en masse and departing for beers after Mansfield’s fourth goal in the 65th minute was a clearer message than any pre-planned protest with banners and chants could possibly have sent.

Like the rest of the crowd, they’d turned up despite the disappointments of the past few weeks and the confirmation on Tuesday night that Town would indeed miss out on the play-offs. Their intention, we presume, had been to stay until the end of the final game of the season to see the players off on their customary lap around the pitch.

Instead, by the time the players and staff started walking around the stadium with their families, there was just a single row or two of the most forgiving die-hards and kids waiting at the front of every stand. Even Jon Stead said afterwards that he couldn’t blame them.

It was as bleak and dispiriting a way to end a campaign as we have ever seen — and there’s still one game left to play.

Town shouldn’t be playing dead rubbers in April and May unless they already have promotion in the bag. Just phone up Wimbledon and see if they fancy putting on a panto or something instead, we say. (Oh no they don’t.)

The point that scene made was pretty serious. With one exception, Huddersfield Town have offered nothing but failure for eight years in a row. Still the fans have continued to buy season tickets in their thousands, take a big following away, and stand by the club when it would have been easy and forgivable to simply give up and wait for the good times to return.

But everyone has a breaking point, and this season might just have been it for many fans. A third season in League One for a club that was in the Premier League seven years ago is quite the decline, and there have been few signs that things are going to get any better. It’s been a series of promises of bread tomorrow only for the club to deliver crumbs.

Since the Kevin Nagle era began less than three years ago, Town have had six permanent managers, plus two reasonably lengthy caretaker spells. What’s more, they’ve fielded 71 different players in league games. Plenty of money has been spent on transfers and player wages, particularly by the standards of the third tier.

The result has been a relegation and two seasons in League One that have ended with mid-table finishes.

After a year, you could say they needed time to reset after drifting through a difficult and uncertain period just before the takeover.

After the second year, you could say Town had too many players they couldn’t move on and just needed to wait it out.

After three seasons, though, there really is no excuse. Martin Drury said as much on Friday afternoon.

“Excuses will land us in the exact same position in 12 months,” the interim head coach said. “Anyone who’s got an excuse needs to leave the club.”

Drury was talking about the players, but the same point applies up and down the hierarchy.

Kevin Nagle doubled down on this position around an hour after the final whistle on Saturday, writing: “No more flashy promises. After this statement, no more flashy words.

“We, starting with myself, David Threlfall-Sykes, and our staff, will work day and night this offseason to get it right.

“In three years, I’ve come to know the football you want to see. And it’s the same football I want to see: big, physical, front footed, aggressive, and able to hold leads late in the match.“

If Town are genuinely willing to face up to their failures, then good. That’s all you can ask for. But they’re going to have to be honest with themselves about what’s gone wrong, and find a way to fix it.

The fans are tired of waiting.

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Jak Alnwick - 5

Unable to do anything about the first goal, and was beaten by the sheer pace of the ball across the face of goal as Mansfield went 2-0 off. Forced off injured at half time.

Joe Low - 5

Made his first start since January and put in an unobjectionable 45 minutes on the right of the back three — not his best role, for us — before going off at the break.

Murray Wallace - 3

Off the pace against the Mansfield forwards. Furious that Roughan hadn’t picked up Lucas Akins just behind him as Mansfield took the lead, but should have stopped the cross himself. Could only put Tyler Roberts’ fiercely-hit ball across the face of goal into his own net just before the break.

Sean Roughan - 4

Had a decent strike saved from just outside the box in the first ten minutes. Allowed Akins to stroll in and put Mansfield ahead. Had let Oliver Irow play himself offside on the way to their fourth but the officials didn’t clock it, leaving him to chase back fruitlessly.

• We’ll have five conclusions on this game no later than first thing tomorrow morning plus our thoughts on the game on our weekly podcast on Monday. If you’re not a paying backer, you can sign up for a 7-day free trial to get our full reaction.

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Lasse Sorensen - 4

Didn’t look at the top of his game at wing-back throughout the first half. Took over as the right-sided centre-back at half time as Low departed.

Ryan Ledson - 4

Off it with his passing and shooting accuracy. Nice ball over the top for Alfie May later in the game that should have come to more, though.

Cameron Humphreys - 4

Worked hard as ever, but just couldn’t get into a rhythm and wasn’t at his best with his set piece deliveries. Headed a great late chance wide of the post off Bali Mumba’s header across goal.

Bali Mumba - 3

Made some useful runs in the first half and should have had a free kick just outside the box for a clear shove in the back from Akins that the referee called as a shoulder to shoulder. His defending was awful, though, and was woefully out of position on Mansfield’s second goal, allowing Roberts to stroll into space inside the Town box to receive Jon Russell’s pass. Moved to the right flank for the second half. Failed to close down Regan Tracey, allowing him to pick his spot with a long shot to put Mansfield 3-0 up. Continued to get forward well but didn’t make the ball work for him enough.

Marcus Harness - 6

The most visible in his efforts to get Town actually playing. Didn’t get back to track Tracey’s run into space to score Mansfield’s third goal, though in fairness, unclear how much opportunity he actually had to do so. Powered in strike that Liam Roberts couldn’t keep out despite getting a hand to it.

David Kasumu - 5

Had a reasonably positive half hour on the pitch but picked up an injury driving inside to take a shot and was forced off injured.

George Sebine - 4

Had a pretty thankless job to do leading the line. Some decent hold-up but could have done with realising what options were around him and releasing the ball a bit sooner. Went off just before the hour.

Substitutes

Alfie May (for Kasumu 30) - Direct replacement in the number 10 role until half time, then moved up front alongside Sebine after the interval, then finally as a lone strike after Antony Evans came on. Should have had an assist from a smart cutback for Antony Evans after a great run into the box. 5

Nik Tzanev (for Alnwick 46) - On for his club debut to become the first New Zealander to appear for the club, to the best of our knowledge. Soundly beaten by Hendry’s long shot. Not sure how Irow’s shot ended up squeezing past him for 4-1. Nearly caught out from the halfway line soon after. 4

Will Alves (for Low 46) - Came on at left wing-back with Mumba going across to the right, though operated more as a left winger much of the time. Looked bright for a few minutes but couldn’t make an impact. 5

Antony Evans (for Sebine 58) - Claimed a near-immediate assist after holding off his man on a bouncing ball and squeezing a pass to Harness. Dragged a very presentable chance well wide off May’s cutback. 5

Marcus McGuane (for Harness 80) - n/a

Unused substitutes: Dion Charles, Bobby Wales.

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Murray Wallace has been voted as Huddersfield Town’s player of the year 2025/26.

The Scot has been the Terriers’ most consistent player since becoming a regular in the starting line-up in December, and has been rewarded for his efforts with the Hargreaves Memorial Trophy.

Just shy of 2,000 votes were cast, with Wallace taking 48.7% of the vote.

Bojan Radulovic came second with 12.3%, with Leo Castledine in third place with 11.5%.

Wallace was presented with the trophy by the Hargreaves family before kick-off against Mansfield on Saturday afternoon.

Thank you to everyone who voted!

Hargreaves Memorial Trophy winners

• 1975: Terry Dolan

• 1976: Terry Gray

• 1977: Kevin Johnson

• 1978: Mick Butler

• 1979: Alan Starling

• 1980: Malcolm Brown

• 1981: Mark Lillis

• 1982: Mick Kennedy

• 1983: David Burke

• 1984: Paul Jones

• 1985: David Burke

• 1986: Joey Jones

• 1987: Duncan Shearer

• 1988: Simon Trevitt

• 1989: Steve Hardwick

• 1990: Lee Martin

• 1991: Graham Mitchell

• 1992: Iwan Roberts

• 1993: Neil Parsley

• 1994: Steve Francis

• 1995: Ronnie Jepson

• 1996: Tom Cowan

• 1997: Tom Cowan

• 1998: Jon Dyson

• 1999: Nico Vaesen

• 2000: Jamie Vincent

• 2001: Craig Armstrong

• 2002: Leon Knight

• 2003: Martin Smith

• 2004: Jon Worthington

• 2005: Nathan Clarke

• 2006: Andy Booth

• 2007: David Mirfin

• 2008: Andy Holdsworth

• 2009: Gary Roberts

• 2010: Peter Clarke

• 2011: Peter Clarke

• 2012: Jordan Rhodes

• 2013: James Vaughan

• 2014: Adam Clayton

• 2015: Jacob Butterfield

• 2016: Nahki Wells

• 2017: Aaron Mooy

• 2018: Christopher Schindler

• 2019: Christopher Schindler

• 2020: Lewis O’Brien

• 2021: Jonathan Hogg

• 2022: Lee Nicholls

• 2023: Michal Helik

• 2024: Michal Helik

• 2025: Callum Marshall

• 2026: Murray Wallace

Martin Drury

Katherine Hannah (BBC Radio Leeds): If you were going to sum up where it hasn’t worked this season, is it possible to come up with, say, two or three bullet points of, ‘well, that didn’t work, that didn’t work, and that’s why we are where we are?’

Yeah, definitely. That’s what’s keeping me up at night every night, looking at every single thing that we could have done better. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, around consistency — change of staff, change of players, big turnovers — very, very, very difficult to get success.

We’ve looked at Cardiff, we looked at Lincoln, we’ve looked at the other teams that are there…the stability that they’ve had, the way they’ve aligned recruitment to that, has been very, very good. We know there’s areas of that we can do better.

But at the same time, you look at the last three games in particular, and I appreciate, and naturally, people say, well, we’ve not managed those games well enough when we’ve been in winning positions because of late goals that have been conceded. And I’ll own that and accept that, and Jon will do the same. But it’s a much bigger piece than that.

If you look over 44 games this season, statistically we’re the worst in the league at conceding goals after 75 minutes, the worst team, [20 goals across] 17 occasions.

So if you’re going to look at the last three, I would say it needs to be a bigger piece than in-game management over three games. Fortunately, we’ve been in winning positions in all three of those games, which is good, but over the course of the season that stat is alarming.

That was shared this week with the players. I loved how they responded to it. I think some were shocked by it, and there are clear reasons as to why that is. I won’t go into too much, but it’s very, very clear, two or three things wrapped around that, why goals are conceded after 75 minutes. And that’s something that has been addressed and will need to be addressed more in the summer to ensure that next season that is not the case.

KH: And some quite difficult conversations are going to start happening pretty soon, if they haven’t already, in terms of where you go from here. Let’s start with the playing squad for starters. At what point do you and Jon and Liam — I don’t know what his input is at the moment — start to look at, right, who’s in the building, who do we want to keep in this building, and who maybe needs to be looking elsewhere?

Yeah, that started. That started before the last sort of five, six games. And that’s a process that takes place across your full season. You’re always looking to improve, whether that’s in January or the end of the season.

What I would say, as I said before, is I feel we’ve got a very, very good core group of players. And I think if you look in the last five games in particular, I’ve been hugely impressed, but not surprised, by the level of performance of individuals that potentially six or seven weeks ago people were looking at and saying, ‘well, maybe he needs to go, maybe he needs to go, he’s not lived up to this expectation’.

I think you’ve seen individual development across those players over the last few games. I think that’s galvanised them as a group, and they look more like a team, and that’s why they’ve been so competitive and played, in my opinion, really well in some of the games, and been the better team in, I’d say, four of the five games that we’ve had.

But of course Huddersfield Town can’t be where they are and accept that this group of staff, this group of players, is doing enough. It’s not. That needs to be addressed, and I’m sure it will be.

There was a massive overhaul of players last summer, so a huge number of new faces around. Is it likely to be the same this summer? Or, from what you’ve said there, if you feel you’ve got a good core, will it be more a question of tweaking it rather than a massive clear-out and start all over again?

Well, if you go back 12 months, that was the process that took place: massive turnover of players, new manager, new staff, all new staff.

So to do that again, I think it’d be a hell of a risk for the club. But also to stick with everybody that’s here would also be a hell of a risk.

So strategic planning, work out exactly who helps this football club move forwards, who doesn’t, who’s on board, who wants to go on that journey. Tough decisions will have to be made, of course.

But I do think heavy turnover year after year — I go back to it again — the clubs that have been successful this season in this league and the league above and the Premier League, consistency, quality and consistency, gives you a hell of a chance to succeed. That’s what this club needs, in my opinion.

KH: I appreciate this might not be an easy one to answer at the moment, but have difficult conversations started to take place about what happens with Liam and whether he comes back, and what the situation is with yourself and Jon? What more can you tell us about what the picture for the coaching staff looks like at Huddersfield Town going forwards into a summer which will arrive before we know it?

Yeah, I wish I could probably tell you more, but no.

Our remit is to take the last two games of the season.

As I said before, I’ve been in touch with Liam on a regular basis in terms of him and his health and how he is. The support we’ve had from above at the club has been outstanding.

We’ve not felt pressure, but we have felt expectation, which is what you want, but also real support from above.

We’ll take the last two games of the season. We’ll continue to work in the exact same vein that we have done over the last four or five weeks, and hopefully we’ll continue tomorrow at home, in front of our fans, where we’ve been strong, where the fans have been strong, where the players have been very, very strong.

Hopefully we finish strong tomorrow, and then we move into the last game of the season.

And as I said before, and I think Sean’s alluded to it, we won’t change. Nothing changes. We continue to work, whether it looks like you’re getting in the play-offs or not. We continue to work as hard as we possibly can. The players have done that themselves, which has been brilliant, and that’ll be the case over the next 10 days.

Steven Chicken (We Are Terriers): You’ve talked about the recruitment and stuff that needs to change, and I appreciate that’s Chris Markham’s area — but have you been involved in discussions with Chris about what direction you think that needs to take?

We’ve had good conversations with Chris. Chris is someone that is open to listening to people’s opinions. So we’ve had good conversations this week around that and in previous weeks before then, so those are ongoing.

But ultimately, decisions should be made by Chris and the owner in terms of what those decisions look like.

SC: Do you feel that this season is kind of a necessary learning experience for these players, getting to know each other and getting to know what they need to do to win games as a team? You look at the continuity that the clubs have had above you, particularly Lincoln, and you can see maybe player by player they don’t have the most talented squad in the division necessarily, but you can’t argue with their league position. They know their jobs and they do them really, really well.

I definitely agree with that. Player for player, on talent and ability, I would say we’ve got one of the best squads in the league, and that doesn’t win football matches. That will give you a chance to win football matches and to compete, but to win football matches there’s much more than talent.

There’s leadership, there’s selflessness, and there’s game intelligence, game understanding, winning mentality, and people who will not just do it, but actually love to do the ugly side of football, the dirty side of football, the dark arts of football.

Player for player, we’ve got a brilliant squad, brilliant squad. But I do feel that, as I touched on before, some of the stats that I’ve just given there give you an indication of what’s missing.

I think if you add that on top of the real quality that we’ve got and a real good core of good men — we’ve got a core of good men, these are good men, honest men — but we’re missing two or three things within that to make that stronger and to complement what we’ve already got.

Big changes I don’t feel are necessary, but certainly specific changes will be key in the summer.

SC: Is it all about getting the players who can knit it together and keep their heads and drag people along with them a little bit? When you talk about game management and things, it seems like that must be top of the list.

Look, from a coach’s perspective, you’d love 11 captains on the pitch every week. It’d be an easy job. That’d be lovely, and you can sit in the dugout and be calm. That’s not the case. So you need as many as possible.

And again, you need that consistency, so they’ve got a platform to feel like they can lead. Because I do think we have got some leaders in the group that maybe have not felt they’ve had the opportunity to lead or not felt they’ve had the platform to do that this season, and with so much change comes uncertainty. So again, people take a step back whenever they should be taking a step forward.

So they need that platform. They need that consistency and continuity across staff as well as players, and I think that will give them the leverage then to come forward and be the leaders that I know there are. There are some more leaders in there that we’ve probably not seen the best of this season.

But again, that’s something that is more of an off-season, pre-season piece. Very difficult when you’ve got seven games left to start going into real big detail around those types of things, very, very difficult, but very easy when you’ve got time.

SC: It sounds like you’re not making excuses for it, though. It sounds like you’re aware that, as you say, Huddersfield, with the ambitions and the budget and the squad that you’ve got, should have done better this season. Is that fair to say?

More than fair to say. More than fair to say. Excuses will land us in the exact same position in 12 months. Anyone that’s got an excuse needs to leave the club.

There needs to be accountability. We need to take responsibility for it — players, staff, everybody in the club. As a club, we’ve failed. The club’s failed this season to be where we are at this stage of the season. We’ve failed.

But within that failure has been a hell of a lot of learning, and you’re a step closer to success when you go through that. That’s how I feel at the minute, this moment in time. I think we’re a step closer to where we need to be, because there’s a lot more clarity on what needs to be done.

What’s been said

You can read our selected highlights and listen along to the entirety of Martin Drury’s press conference — as well as Sean Roughan’s thoughts— right here on We Are Terriers. If you’d prefer to watch along, the club’s live stream is available on YouTube here.

Coming up next

Mansfield Town come to Accu Stadium for a dead rubber of a game with nothing on the line for either side.

Nigel Clough’s side sit 12th in the table as they come towards the end of a rather streaky season, but they have specialised in making themselves hard to beat over the past couple of months with four wins, seven draws and just two losses in their past 13 games — and one of those defeats was in a battling 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup.

In that time Mansfield have kept clean sheets in half of their league games, including shutting out play-off hopefuls Stockport away from home in a 1-0 win on Tuesday night.

Former Town midfielder Jon Russell has made an impact since joining on loan from Barnsley in the January transfer window, scoring five goals in 18 league appearances, including a brace in a 2-2 draw against Luton last weekend

We’ll have five conclusions on the game for our paying subscribers first thing on Sunday morning, followed by further reaction not just on that game but the season as a whole in Monday morning’s podcast. Get signed up if you’re not already.

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Elsewhere at the top end of League One

Ahh, who even cares anymore?

Stevenage’s victory on Tuesday night means that Town can no longer reach the top six this season and are set for another campaign in League One.

Plymouth and Luton both remain in the hunt, at least for now, as they bid to catch Stockport or Stevenage before the end of the season.

Huddersfield Town injuries and absences

Bojan Radulovic is not available to face Mansfield and is also a doubt for the final day against Wimbledon.

Lee Nicholls is also ruled out on Saturday as he hopefully nears the end of the concussion protocol, but could be back in contention for the last game of the season next weekend.

Ryan Hardie and Jack Whatmough were still hoping to be able to play a part for Town before the end of the season, but Cameron Ashia, Josh Feeney and Lynden Gooch are all expected to miss the rest of the campaign.

Predicted line-up to face Mansfield

3-4-1-2: Jak Alnwick; Radinio Balker, Murray Wallace, Sean Roughan; Lasse Sorensen, Cameron Humphreys, Ryan Ledson, Bali Mumba; Marcus Harness, David Kasumu; George Sebine.

Substitutes: Nik Tzanev, Joe Low, Antony Evans, Marcus McGuane, Mickel Miller, Dion Charles, Alfie May.

Celebrate with Huddersfield Town Women

Town Women secured the league title with a game to spare after beating rivals Cheadle 4-0 on Sunday and then pushing over the line with another comprehensive victory, coming away from York City with a 5-0 win.

The Terriers will now get a victory lap as they host Wythenshawe at the Graham Leslie Arena at Storthes Hall in Sunday’s 2pm kick-off before receiving the trophy on home turf.

Get down to that one to see Town lift the trophy and join the promotion celebrations!

Huddersfield Town Women are champions of FAWNL Division One North.

The 5-0 victory over York City sealed the title with one game to go meaning Glen Preston’s side are promoted to the FAWNL Northern Premier Division.

Goals in the first half strikes from Louise Biggins, Beth Ibbotson, Laura Elford and Tamira Livingston gave Town the two points they needed to secure top spot.

Biggins’ second half penalty miss was the only blot on proceedings as Livingston rounded off the scoring with her second of the game with 15 minutes to go.

The result left the hosts still needing one point to guarantee survival.

How the Terriers emerged triumphant

2024/25 saw Huddersfield Town Women come unstuck in the big moments and they were determined that this year was going to be different.

But it was never going to be easy. A two-point deduction, a spate of long term injuries to key players and the winter weather playing havoc with the schedule, Town needed to keep their cool - and keep their cool they did.

Ultimately, though, Town have won this title at a canter - dropping only ten points all season (two defeats and two draws).

Goals, goals, goals

You’re not going to win many games without scoring goals. Last season, Town scored 31 goals. This season they’ve scored 27 - at home, alone. 59 goals overall in the league.

With a game to go, it’s easy to see one half of what sets the Terriers apart from the rest. Louise Biggins has been a revelation since signing in the summer from Barnsley becoming the ever-present leader of the line for Town. Her 14 goals and many more assists have been vital.

It’s a bit of a ‘what could have been’ for Laura Elford too, who returned to the club in the summer. She’s added 10 league goals from 12 appearances, including a hat trick in the 9-1 win at Blackburn.

Rhema Lord-Mears has chipped in with 8 goals and young Hannah Burgess, who superbly deputised in the absence of more experienced attackers in the early season, bagged 5 goals.

Town have only been denied three times. And if teams can’t stop you, you’re on to a winner.

The old adage - Defences win titles

We can talk about Town averaging nearly three goals a game but how’s this for a stat? In their 21 games so far, Town have only conceded 8 goals. That’s just crazy.

Bethan Davies, Rebecca Beresford, Beth Stanfield, Beth Ibbotson and Autumn Housley have stood firm all season. They love keeping the ball out of the net so much they left the field at Blackburn disappointed with the 1 in a 9-1 victory.

The signing of Davies was massive. At big moments this season she’s come up trumps and won Town points - notably a huge save in the 1-0 win at Wythenshawe from close range in the dying moments. Her experience, nous and leadership has been exceptional.

And with injuries in midfield, the introduction of Neve Birtwistle helped add even more steel to the side as clean sheet followed clean sheet.

Town didn’t concede in the league between 7 December and 4 April, ironically, both times against Blackburn who are also the only team to beat Davies more than once. That was seven clean sheets in a row. 14 overall so far.

The Lord-Mears show

When Glen Preston brought Rhema Lord-Mears to the Terriers, it felt a bit of a coup. In reality, it’s been even bigger than that.

What a player. When Town have needed something from their big players, Lord-Mears comes up with the goods. Winners in key games against Leeds and Wythenshawe as well as two stunners in what ultimately became the title decider against Chorley last week, she’s been a real difference maker.

Along with Biggins and Elford, she’s been integral to how Town set up. Her calmness on the ball sets the tempo, whether they need to find another gear or slow it down. The range of passing is like no other at this level and her anticipation to arrive late into the box has single-handedly won games this season.

You’ll be hard pushed to find a better player in any division at this level.

January signings adding the icing on the cake

Over the winter break, Glen Preston knew he needed additions because of the injuries to key players. With Lauren Griffiths and Serena Fletcher out for the season and Laura Elford finding her way back into the team slowly in her return to fitness, Town needed new blood.

In came Neve Birtwistle from title rivals Cheadle, goalkeeper Kacey Bolton-Woollam and loanees Tamira Livingston and Jess Lightfoot - the latter arriving after also spending time at Cheadle this season.

Birtwistle came as a ready-made holding midfielder and slotted in instantly, supporting the defensive efforts whilst allowing players like Ella Duffield and Lord-Mears to flourish in their more natural roles.

Livingston brought pace and quality down the left, giving Town another outlet and opposition defences another issue to worry about. Her assists in the second half of the season have been important.

And Jess Lightfoot brought added depth. Whilst the majority of her appearances have been off the bench, she slotted home for the important opener in a tight game away at Chester-le-Street as well as goals against Blackburn and Cheadle.

Winning the big moments

When you’re winning 7-1 at home to York and beating bottom of the table Blackburn 9-1 away from home, Town could be forgiven for becoming complacent - but that’s not a word Glen Preston and his team know.

When the weather hit and the pitches turned, along with teams making it as difficult as possible, Town needed to dig in, forget the free flowing football and find a way to win.

In doing so, the squad stepped up. Rhema Lord-Mears’ goals away at then top of the league Wythenshawe and promotion rivals Leeds were the epitome of what this team is about - they don’t take no for an answer and always know they’ve got the quality to find a way.

More 1-0 victories away at Doncaster Rovers Belles and at home to a resurgent Durham Cestria were sealed by top scorer Louise Biggins taking the bull by the horns to give Town more vital points in close games.

And arguably one of the most important results came against Blackburn in December. A game which truly showed the mindset shift at the club. At 2-0 up, Town were cruising. But the bottom side fought back to level and looked certain to pick up their first point of the season.

But Fliss Jones kept her cool in added time to make it 3-2 to keep Town top of the table at Christmas.

When you’re destined to win the title, you have to grab the big moments and that’s exactly what Town have done.

Huddersfield Town’s under-21s have defied expectations this season.

Having moved up a level to compete in the 20-team northern section of the Professional Development League, a youthful side largely made up of players below the age limit lost their first five games of the campaign.

But Town soon got to grips with the demands at this level. They finished the season with a ten-game unbeaten run that began with a barmy 8-6 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in February and was capped off by a ten-man 2-1 victory over Coventry City on Tuesday afternoon. This is the longest such sequence any side in the division has put together all season.

Town are now preparing to play in an end-of-season play-off that also includes sides from the division above, starting with an away trip to higher-tier Reading on Monday.

Academy director Jon Worthington has been pleased not just with the under-21s, but with the whole youth structure.

“We’ve got a young under-21s side, so I think it was always going to be interesting to see what the level was like with the Category 2 games,” Worthington told We Are Terriers.

“But the season as a whole has been excellent, really. It couldn’t have gone much better than I anticipated from the start, and that’s from the under-21s all the way down to the pre-academy.

“I think we’ve embedded a lot of processes, and even though it’s a long-term project, we’re already starting to see signs of fruition.”

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You don’t need us to tell you what happened at Bolton Wanderers as Huddersfield Town blew a two-goal lead against ten men, with yet another injury time goal costing them the three points…but hey, we’re going to give it a go anyway.

The midweek games could well confirm that Town are out of chances to sneak into the play-offs after a very costly eight days…

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Pressure? What pressure?

Huddersfield Town Women could have been forgiven for coming into this huge, effectively title-deciding game feeling a big nervy. Cheadle Town Stingers went a point ahead at the top of the table in midweek, and a defeat for Town would have taken the title race out of their hands with just two games left to play.

But victory here would leave Town realistically in need of just one more point from their final pair of fixtures to get the job done, thanks to their vastly superior goal difference — and they went about achieving their objective with incredible clarity of purpose.

But what else did we expect? This is a side that took a dubious two-point deduction in its stride, got into the habit of keeping masses of clean sheets, and had already turned aside their other would-be challengers, local rivals Leeds United, back in February.

Town have had to be almost perfect to stay at the top of the table, but they have been. This victory made it ten wins and a draw from their past 11 league games, with nine shutouts along the way.

Town made a superb start and should have been two goals up inside the first two minutes, but Louise Biggins looped her header over the bar from Tamira Livingston’s cross before Laura Elford sliced off target from point-blank range off Hannah Burgess’ ball.

The fact that this was a must-not-lose for the Terriers and a must-win for Cheadle was hammered home just six minutes in as Town keeper Bethan Davies happily stood with her foot on the ball for a full minute, shrugging her shoulders and waiting for anybody in a red and white shirt to come and close her down, before she finally picked it up.

But Town also underlined the fact that they would not just settle for a draw by immediately going up the other end and taking the lead, with Biggins this time succeeding in finding the net with a deft finish from Burgess’ low cross.

Town conducted their business admirably for the rest of the half, with all 11 players doing their job with huge competence and confidence. There was no doubt who was running the show, though: Rhema Lord-Mears looked a major threat every time she had the ball in the number 10 position.

Cheadle’s manager was sent off five minutes before the break after picking up two bookings in quick succession, and he was quickly followed into the dressing room by Ella Harris, who was shown a straight red card for a cynical last-man foul on Biggins as she streamed clean through towards the Cheadle box.

The Lord-Mears show continued after the restart. The midfielder doubled Town’s lead with a brilliant solo effort that saw her carry the ball past the halfway line and to the edge of the box before cutting onto her favoured left foot and smashing home an unstoppable finish.

Cheadle’s frustration continued to get the better of them, with Isobel Dean sent to the sin bin for dissent during a stoppage in play before Yasmin Ahmed was dismissed moments later, seemingly for protesting the decision.

That left Town to play against eight players for ten minutes — nine women thereafter — and Lord-Mears took full advantage of the extra space by curling a brilliant effort into the top corner.

Jess Lightfoot then made it 4-0 four minutes after coming off the bench by keeping her composure inside the box and finding the bottom corner.

Town’s 24-goal advantage on goal difference and holding a game in hand over Cheadle means one more point would all but secure the league title for the Terriers away to York City on Wednesday night, while a victory would mathematically confirm first place.

Even if Town slip up in North Yorkshire in midweek, they will get another shot as they end their league campaign at home to Wythenshawe next Sunday.

If they get the job done, more silverware could follow in the County Cup final against Sheffield FC in Doncaster three days later.

Town: Bethan Davies; Rebecca Beresford, Autumn Housley, Beth Ibbotson; Hannah Burgess (Lucy Allman 85), Beth Stanfield (Kate Mallin 85), Neve Birtwistle, Tamira Livingston; Rhema Lord-Mears (Ella Duffield 80); Louise Biggins (Brierley Keane 85), Laura Elford (Jess Lightfoot 80).

Unused subs: Kacey Bolton-Woollam, Felicity Jones.

1. History repeats itself: first as tragedy, second as farce, third as really bloody annoying​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

3-1 up against ten men with 13 minutes plus stoppage time to play, and still they found a way to blow it.

The best way to enjoy Huddersfield Town at this point may well be to treat their games like watching an episode of Blackadder.

No matter how cunning their plan might be, you know there is simply no way for our hero to win. After all, the entire premise of their situation — in Town’s case, that they’re not quite good enough to deserve a play-off place — would then be ruined. But you also need our hero to come within touching distance of victory, only to have it snatched away in increasingly unlikely fashion and returned to their status quo, otherwise all the dramatic tension is ruined.

It’s taken some doing, but Town have managed to maintain the ideal conditions for farce. They’ve been destined for weeks to miss out on the play-offs, yet Stevenage have managed to take just four points from their past three games and give Town hope of making up the three-point gap that existed after Easter weekend.

And so, just to make sure they didn’t do that, Town had to find a way to earn just three points in the same time, despite leading in the 100th minute of the first game, the 94th minute of the second, and the 100th minute of the third.

Even so, any comic formula wears thin over time, and by now it’s become too predictable to be funny. Once Bolton got it back to 3-2, you could see the final punchline from a mile away.

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Jak Alnwick - 6

Decent distribution and came off his line at the right moments to stop a couple of Bolton attacks. Couldn’t do anything about the goals.

Radinio Balker - 5

Fortunate that Sam Dalby didn’t capitalise after losing track of his run to the near post just after the half hour. Won the knockdown from Cameron Humphreys’ free kick for David Kasumu to score soon after the break. Gave the ball away needlessly to let Bolton push forward for their second goal. Booked for the most cynical foul in the world in injury time.

Murray Wallace - 5

Couldn’t get to the ball quickly enough to stop Eoin Toal heading in the opener, but shouldn’t have had to intervene in the first place. Stepped out well to cover for the midfield on occasion when they were beaten on the break. Not sure if he could have done more to try and stop Johnny Kenny’s goal, but it was hit with such venom he perhaps just didn’t have time to react.

Sean Roughan - 6

Tried to catch the keeper off his line early in the second half but sliced it wide. Read the game well to make some decent interceptions and drive forward, including on the way to claiming an assist for Kasumu’s second goal. Won a good tackle on Amario Cozier-Duberry inside the box only for Johnny Kenny to power home the loose ball with Roughan powerless to get there in time. Couldn’t stop Cozier-Duberry on the way to Bolton’s third goal though.

• We’ll have five conclusions on this game no later than first thing tomorrow morning plus our thoughts on the game on our weekly podcast on Monday. If you’re not a paying backer, you can sign up for a 7-day free trial to get our full reaction.

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Lasse Sorensen - 7

Slow to get out from the near post as Bolton had all the time in the world to cross from a short corner routine. Put in about half a dozen crosses in the first half but not able to find a teammate, mostly thanks to good defending but one or twice down to poor deliveries. Great ball across goal on the way to Town earning a penalty that also saw Bolton reduced to ten men. Booked deep into stoppage time for grabbing the ball with his hands after being brought down in the Bolton corner, with Harness furious he didn’t take the option to cross it instead.

Cameron Humphreys - 4

Unable to maintain his levels from midweek in the first half. Played some nice crossfield balls but was also caught on the ball or got his press wrong to leave the defence exposed several times. Better after the break, though, and delivered the free kick from which Town made it 1-1. Booked for a high foot on the hour after losing possession on the edge of his own third. Left Ibrahim Cissoko completely free for a cutback on the edge of the box as Bolton scored at the death.

Ryan Ledson - 5

Slid in to clear away a flicked-on free kick before Sam Dalby could finish it early on. Booked for a cynical foul a few moments later. Lucky that Dalby missed a clear-cut chance from a flicked-on corner right before half time after getting away from Ledson. Didn’t have enough impact on the game.

Bali Mumba - 5

Defensively solid enough, particularly when left as the last man on the counter-attack from set pieces, but didn’t offer enough in attack. Taken off in injury time.

Marcus Harness - 6

Let Toal get up to win a header as Town went behind to yet another set piece on 14 minutes. Made up for that by playing a part in the build-up to Town’s penalty, which he then converted. Booked just after the hour for a cynical foul.

David Kasumu - 7

Should have gone over to try and at least try and stop the delivery on Bolton’s early goal. Often the free man in attack but didn’t really do anything with it in the first half. Was in the right place to bundle home Balker’s knockdown to make it 1-1, and would surely have tapped in Sorensen’s ball across the face of goal if he hadn’t been pulled back by the hand by Jordi Osei-Tutu. Got a second goal thanks to a big deflection that left the keeper wrong-footed, then subbed off immediately after.

George Sebine - 5

Made his first senior start in place of the injured Bojan Radulovic. Put himself about well and made some decent near-post runs to meet Sorensen’s crosses that were thwarted by the Bolton defence.

Substitutes

Dion Charles (for Sebine 67) - On against his former club. Hassled well. Isolated, in fairness to him. 5

Marcus McGuane (for Kasumu 67) - On in central midfield with Humphreys taking over from Kasumu. Too easily beaten on the way to Bolton’s second goal and nowhere to be found in the middle of the pitch on the way to their third. 3

Joe Low (for Mumba 90+8) - n/a

Unused substitutes: Nik Tzanev, Antony Evans, Mickel Miller, Alfie May.

We want your ratings too! Head here to cast your votes.

Voting is now open to crown the fan-voted Hargreaves Memorial Trophy Huddersfield Town player of the year for 2025/26.

Fans can select from Town players who have made at least fifteen 15+ minute appearances for the club in all competitions over the course of the season.

That gives us 21 eligible candidates: Cameron Ashia, Radinio Balker, Leo Castledine, Dion Charles, Josh Feeney, Lynden Gooch, Marcus Harness, Cameron Humphreys, David Kasumu, Ryan Ledson, Joe Low, Alfie May, Bali Mumba, Lee Nicholls, Bojan Radulovic, Ruben Roosken, Sean Roughan, Lasse Sorensen, Joe Taylor, Murray Wallace and Ben Wiles.

To cast your vote, head to the voting form here. Voting will close at 6pm UK time on Thursday 23rd April. The result is set to be revealed ahead of facing Mansfield in the final scheduled home game of the season.

You do not need to be a We Are Terriers subscriber to vote, but you will be asked to sign in to a Google account to ensure only one vote per person is cast. No personal details or email addresses will be collected or stored by us — all we will receive is the name of the person you voted for.

Hargreaves Memorial Trophy winners

• 1975: Terry Dolan

• 1976: Terry Gray

• 1977: Kevin Johnson

• 1978: Mick Butler

• 1979: Alan Starling

• 1980: Malcolm Brown

• 1981: Mark Lillis

• 1982: Mick Kennedy

• 1983: David Burke

• 1984: Paul Jones

• 1985: David Burke

• 1986: Joey Jones

• 1987: Duncan Shearer

• 1988: Simon Trevitt

• 1989: Steve Hardwick

• 1990: Lee Martin

• 1991: Graham Mitchell

• 1992: Iwan Roberts

• 1993: Neil Parsley

• 1994: Steve Francis

• 1995: Ronnie Jepson

• 1996: Tom Cowan

• 1997: Tom Cowan

• 1998: Jon Dyson

• 1999: Nico Vaesen

• 2000: Jamie Vincent

• 2001: Craig Armstrong

• 2002: Leon Knight

• 2003: Martin Smith

• 2004: Jon Worthington

• 2005: Nathan Clarke

• 2006: Andy Booth

• 2007: David Mirfin

• 2008: Andy Holdsworth

• 2009: Gary Roberts

• 2010: Peter Clarke

• 2011: Peter Clarke

• 2012: Jordan Rhodes

• 2013: James Vaughan

• 2014: Adam Clayton

• 2015: Jacob Butterfield

• 2016: Nahki Wells

• 2017: Aaron Mooy

• 2018: Christopher Schindler

• 2019: Christopher Schindler

• 2020: Lewis O’Brien

• 2021: Jonathan Hogg

• 2022: Lee Nicholls

• 2023: Michal Helik

• 2024: Michal Helik

• 2025: Callum Marshall

What’s been said

You can read our selected highlights and listen along to the entirety of Martin Drury’s pre-match press conference — as well as Jak Alnwick’s thoughts— right here on We Are Terriers.

Coming up next

Bolton Wanderers are close to being assured of a play-off place after their 5-1 win over Stevenage on Tuesday night, and a win at home to Town on Saturday lunchtime could be enough to see them over the line.

That victory came on the back of taking just three wins from their previous 11 league games — although the only sides they defeat them in that run were Port Vale and Cardiff.

Bolton have lost just one home game all season, falling to a 1-0 defeat to Mansfield in their last game before the turn of the new year.

The Trotters also have one of the meanest defences in the league and have been particularly excellent at defending from dead balls, conceding just nine games from set pieces (excluding penalties). Only Mansfield have a better record on that front.

We’ll have five conclusions on the game for our paying subscribers by no later than first thing on Sunday morning, followed by further reaction in Monday morning’s podcast. Get signed up if you’re not already.

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Elsewhere at the top end of League One

Other games on Saturday afternoon involving the top ten are as follows (3pm unless noted):

• Barnsley vs Bradford (12:30)

• Wimbledon vs Plymouth

• Exeter vs Stockport

• Mansfield vs Luton

• Reading vs Cardiff

• Stevenage vs Lincoln

A lot of those games in hand for other sides will then be made up in midweek, with Town of course sitting it out. Tuesday night includes the following games:

• Bradford vs Plymouth

• Doncaster vs Lincoln

• Rotherham vs Luton

• Stevenage vs Barnsley

• Stockport vs Mansfield

Cardiff also host Port Vale on Wednesday night.

Huddersfield Town injuries and absences

Bojan Radulovic went off in the first half of Tuesday night’s draw with Cardiff, but the injury is not as bad as initially feared and a late call with be made on his availability for Saturday. Martin Drury believes that game may come too soon, however.

Lee Nicholls entered the concussion protocol after being forced off against Wycombe and missed Tuesday night as a result. He is unlikely to be available to face Bolton.

Lynden Gooch was ruled out against Cardiff with the calf injury he picked up against Wycombe and is now likely to miss the rest of the season.

Ryan Hardie (calf) and Jack Whatmough (groin) are both working to try and play a part for Town before the end of the campaign. Hardie is unlikely to be ready to play a part against Bolton.

Cameron Ashia and Josh Feeney are both expected to be out for the rest of the season with groin and quad injuries respectively.

Predicted line-up to face Bolton

3-4-2-1: Jak Alnwick; Radinio Balker, Murray Wallace, Sean Roughan; Lasse Sorensen, Cameron Humphreys, Ryan Ledson, Bali Mumba; Marcus Harness, David Kasumu; George Sebine.

Substitutes: Nik Tzanev, Joe Low, Antony Evans, Marcus McGuane, Mickel Miller, Dion Charles, Alfie May.

Huddersfield Town Women

Town Women host Cheadle Town Stingers in a potential title decider on Sunday afternoon, so get down the Graham Leslie arena at Storthes Hall to lend your support if you possibly can.

It is possible that the Terriers may be able to guarantee top spot with a victory in that game, depending on Cheadle’s result against Chorley on Thursday evening.

The full permutations are as follows.

If Cheadle drop points against Chorley on Thursday night, however:

• A win against Cheadle on Sunday would mean Town were guaranteed to win the title.

• A draw on Sunday would keep Town top of the table with a game in hand, and winning either of their remaining two games would guarantee Town the title.

• A defeat on Sunday would see Cheadle go top by a point or two, but Town would still have a game in hand.

If Cheadle beat Chorley on Thursday:

• A win for Town on Sunday would leave the Terriers needing just one more win from their remaining two league games to guarantee the title — although just a single point more for Town would probably be sufficient, given their goal difference advantage.

• A draw on Sunday would keep Town’s destiny in their own hands: they would remain a point behind Cheadle, but with a game in hand.

• A defeat for Town on Sunday would put Cheadle in the driver’s seat: Cheadle could then guarantee the title for themselves by winning their final game against Durham Cestria.

The following are selected highlights of Martin Drury’s pre-match press conference ahead of facing Bolton. You can hear the full thing, as well as Jak Alwnick’s thoughts, on our podcast feed or by hitting the play button above. You can also check out our weekly digest for full team news.

Jamie Raynor (BBC Radio Leeds): Martin, good to see you again. Now the dust has somewhat settled on Tuesday night, how do you reflect on what was such a strong performance from the team, but ultimately a disappointing result in the end?

Yeah, exactly as you said, a really, really strong performance from the group. I arrived home late Tuesday night, got the laptop out, watched the game back. I was very, very pleased with many aspects within the game, in particular the amount of chances that we created, the threat that we posed to Cardiff.

As I said after the game, I think it’s 15 shot, is it, from within their box? Which is quite a staggering statistic — but again, somewhat disappointing to only take one goal from that.

I thought out of possession the players were excellent. The first thing I look for when we’re watching is whether they’re invested in what they’re doing psychologically. I thought they were immense from start to finish, which you have to be against Cardiff because they’re so good attacking down the sides, really, really good.

So I thought the work the players put in, I thought they looked together, I thought they looked connected, I thought their work ethic and their levels of output physically were outstanding. And as I say, and as you said, it’s somewhat frustrating that we don’t get over the line and take three points.

JR: Does Tuesday not only encourage you, but maybe slightly frustrate you, in the sense that they can put out that level of performance and reach, to an extent, that potential that you see in the group, but then have not done that maybe as consistently over a period of time across the season as a whole?

There’s frustration within it, but at the same time it’s quite comforting, because I feel, as I said after the game, to have complete clarity on exactly where we are, what are the strengths of the group, what good things have we got. I think those things have been really, really clear to see of late.

But I also like the fact that it’s crystal clear what we need to get better at, whether that’s on us, whether that’s on the players, or collectively together. There’s things we need to improve in, and I don’t think they’re big things. I really don’t.

And maybe across the season people have looked in and gone, ‘there needs to be some big, big changes here, we need to do this, we need to do that’…I don’t see that.

We have to be strategic in what changes we make, whether that’s from us as staff or players. But I think the potential of the group, as you said there, is a lot higher than potentially what people were thinking.

I believe in the group, and I think with some very, very small tweaks we can get big gains. And as you’ve said, I think the potential for the future is massive.

JR: How much are you involved in long-term discussions of this football club, as well as the fact that you’ve got a short-term goal to still try and reach?

Of course, it’s within your thinking, naturally thinking about it. But the priority for us as a group of staff right now is the here and now.

The powers that be, I’m sure, will have eyes on what the future looks like. Of course, there’s conversations, but they’re not big conversations at this moment in time because we’ve got a job to do and we’ve got to help these players, and that’s been our focus, to help these players in the last stage of the season.

So we’ll continue to do that, and I’m sure that further down the line those decisions and certain things that will be done will be made by people that you can definitely trust from above.

So for now, we just focus on what we can do. We work with the players the best we can. The players, as I said, have been first class. I’m enjoying the relationship between us and the players, and we’ll continue to do that over these next three games.

JR: We’ve obviously now learned that Jake Edwards has left his role as the club’s chief executive in the last 24 hours by mutual agreement. Does that at all have any impact on your current situation, the conversations that you’re having day to day?

None whatsoever, no. None whatsoever. I wish Jake all the best. Jake was a lovely guy. Everything that I had to do with him when he was here was really good.

The decision has been made between Jake and the club, and as I say, I look ahead for him and I wish him all the best for the future. But for me, solely right now, I’ve got quite a lot on, Jamie, so I’ll focus on the players.

JR: Bojan [Radulovic] obviously came off part way through the first half on Tuesday. Is his situation at all any clearer?

Well, he’s one of the ones that came in this morning saying, “I’m all good to go on Saturday,” with his arm hanging off.

So that’ll be a late call with Bojan. He got a scan yesterday on it, and it’s not as bad as we first feared, which is really positive news because everyone knows how good he is and how big he is for us.

’m not sure Saturday is realistic at this moment in time, but we’ll do everything we possibly can to try and get him on the pitch for Saturday. So yeah, that one’s definitely in the balance.

JR: If Saturday isn’t achievable for him, in terms of replacement, is it game by game in terms of how you approach the opposition from a forward-line standpoint, like for like with Bojan and his physical presence, or more diminutive in the form of Alfie May?

I think you have to respect who you’re playing against first and foremost, and also not just respect their threats but also be excited about the areas you think you can hurt them, and then look at which players you think can do that.

So if you look at the Wycombe game on Saturday, if Alfie May had scored, I think everyone would have said he was outstanding in the game. If you look at his movement, if you look at his link-up play, if you look at the work he did without the ball, he got an assist. He was just missing a goal. And goals can often change the opinions of how people see that people have performed. I thought Alfie was excellent.

Tuesday night was a completely different game from that role and that position. We needed something a little bit different. We needed somebody who could help us defend on the sides, which is not natural for Alfie. He does it, but it’s not natural to him. And we needed someone that would travel with the ball on transitions to get us up the pitch and offer that threat, and then also press with a real intensity, which Alfie did really well against Wycombe.

But if you look at [David] Kasumu’s performance the other night, he was brilliant. He was brilliant for what was needed for that game.

So it’s not us picking players based on who do we like this week and who do we like [the next] week. It’s based on all aspects of the game.

Who’s going to help us hurt the opponent? Who’s going to help us defend when we haven’t got the ball?

When we haven’t got Bojan, that changed the game plan, how we felt we could attack the other day. We felt goal kicks for us would be a really, really big part of how we could attack. You saw that in the first half, the way Bojan held the ball up, the way we were able to get movements underneath him, link in play off him.

Alfie May is a completely different player, completely different profile, so I wouldn’t ask Alfie to do that job. George [Sebine] is a different profile. George is more similar to Bojan. We had no reservations to put George on the pitch.

I thought he did it well at times, and we have to help him, as we’ve done today on the grass, with some work around how we can refine some of those techniques that he has alongside his physical capabilities.

So that’ll be no different. We look at Bolton, we look at where we can hurt Bolton, but then we also look at how do we stop Bolton and pay the respect that they’re due, and then we’ll pick a team based on what we think will win the game of football.

It was another good performance, another bitter ending for Huddersfield Town in their 1-1 draw with Cardiff City.

We were once again left impressed by Martin Drury and Jon Stead for what they delivered on and off the pitch, but yet another late goal meant the Terriers failed to take full advantage of Stevenage’s slip-up.

Plus, we give our reaction to the …

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Huddersfield Town chief executive officer Jake Edwards has departed the club with immediate effect by mutual agreement.

Edwards arrived in the post in summer 2023 as part of Kevin Nagle’s takeover of the club.

Over the past three years, Edwards has been in overall charge of the club and played a crucial role in the club’s acquisition of Accu Stadium, which was completed in September.

Nagle said in a club statement: “I would like to give my personal thanks to Jake as he leaves his role at the club today.

“Jake played a significant part in leading the club operation in many successful enterprises over our past three years. For that, I will always be grateful to him, and I will always consider him a friend.”

Edwards added: “I would like to thank Kevin Nagle for putting his trust in me to lead this historic club over the last three seasons, which has been a tremendous honour.

“I am proud of the significant work we’ve done to acquire and transform Accu Stadium, to redefine club business operations, and to expand our football infrastructure from our new academy to the men’s and women’s first teams.

“The club is well positioned for an exciting future with much more to come. I wish Kevin, our dedicated staff, and our passionate supporters nothing but success moving forward. UTT!”

The day-to-day running of the club will now be led by chief operations officer David Threlfall-Sykes, who has been at Town for 20 years and took his current role in 2024. His job title will remain unchanged.

We Are Terriers reaction

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1. Deja vu, deja vu

A very good performance. An excellent Ryan Ledson goal. Creating the best chances in the game despite having less possession. The heartbreak of an injury time equaliser.

It was all just too familiar, or at least the last part was. For the second time in four days, Huddersfield Town should have won a game that would have put them firmly back in the race for the top six. For the second time in four days, they came away with a point that does little for them.

For our money, this result and the late deprivation of two precious points was far less egregious than against Wycombe on Saturday.

Town had an early goal ruled out for a marginal offside against Bali Mumba. They were denied multiple times by excellent goalkeeping from Cardiff’s Nathan Trott. They struck the woodwork twice. They had a goal-bound effort blocked by their own player. They conceded a 96th minute goal that should, by rights, have been ruled out for offside.

If Town had been playing like this ten games ago, we would have found it encouraging. These two outings against Wycombe and Cardiff are the best performances they’ve produced in 2026, and two of the best they have managed all season.

On top of that, if you’d been offered a point against Cardiff at the time, you’d probably have graciously accepted it; there were plenty more winnable games to be played in the interim, after all.

But ’winnable’ didn’t turn out to be the same as ‘won’. Town have taken just 16 points from their past 13 league games, with three wins, six draws and four defeats.

Plenty of those results featured awful performances. Still, it says something that even when Town have been vastly improved, and playing some of their best football of the season, they haven’t been able to put games to bed.

If they had, they would be sixth now. They’d still be holding out hope that Stockport or Stevenage would stumble in their remaining games, yes, but in the picture either way.

This might well have been Town’s last chance to make the seemingly impossible seem possible again.

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Jak Alnwick - 6

Made his first league start for the club, against the side he left in January.

Radinio Balker - 7

Put in a good, solid performance. Clashied heads with Omari Kellyman early in the second half and was patched up on the sidelines before returning to action.

Murray Wallace - 8

Absolutely massive in the heart of the Town defence for much of the game. Thought he had Yousef Salach covered as Cardiff levelled things up, but was unable to react quickly enough to the cross getting a flick on across the box.

Sean Roughan - 7

Lost an early battle up his flank to that led Cardiff to keep trying it again for a spell, but stood up to it well. Put a header into the side netting shortly before the break that he should perhaps have got on target. Saw out the game at left-back

• We’ll have five conclusions on this game no later than first thing tomorrow morning plus our thoughts on the game on the We Are Terriers podcast on Thursday morning. If you’re not a paying backer, you can sign up for a 7-day free trial to get our full reaction.

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Lasse Sorensen - 7

Restored in place of the injured Lynden Gooch. Fantastic cross for Bojan Radulovic in the early stages. Offered good creativity with balls from deep on the right for Cameron Humphreys and George Sebine in the second half that opened up the Cardiff defence.

Ryan Ledson - 8

Scored for a third game in a row — his fifth in nine games — with a lovely cushioned volley from the edge of the box. Again taken off going into the closing stages having done his part.

Cameron Humphreys - 9

Absolutely superb. Great ball over the Cardiff defence for Bali Mumba to finish inside the first two minutes, only for it to be ruled out for offside. Excellent first half in all departments, winning some important challenges and interceptions in the Town half and playing a big part in some of Town’s better attacking moves, as well as delivering some good dead balls. Won a brilliant tackle as Cardiff threatened to enter the box in added time.

Bali Mumba - 7

Much better and more consistent performance. Won his battles well in the first two thirds and offered a threat in the final third, especially in the first half. Judged marginally afoul of the linesman’s flag when he finished off Humphreys’ pass into the box — looked a very tight one on the replay so inclined to give the officials the benefit of the doubt. Helped make the opener by going over to help out David Kasumu in the corner and put in a cross that Sorensen sent back the other way for Ledson to finish. Looked nervy in the closing stages of an otherwise very good outing and was replaced for the final few minutes.

Marcus Harness - 7

Smashed a cleanly-hit shot into the crossbar from the edge of the box. A little inconsistent on the ball but when he was good he was important to the Town attack, and was unlucky to see a late chance blocked by teammate Sebine. Worked tirelessly to protect the midfield.

David Kasumu - 7

Back in to play at number 10 alongside Harness. Made himself available constantly in the Town attack and worked really well in the press. Excellent at relieving the pressure as the game wore on.

Bojan Radulovic - 6

Had a free header kept out by a sharp reflex save on 11 minutes. Went down with a shoulder or collarbone injury just after the half hour following a rough landing and had to be replaced.

Substitutes

George Sebine (for Radulovic 37) - Busted his nose after coming on already wearing a bandage, and had to spend a few minutes off the pitch getting cleaned up. Took a heavy touch to waste a chance after Humphreys played him in early in the second half, and sliced a half-chance wide from a set piece. Worked hard for the team. 5

Marcus McGuane (for Ledson 76) - Had a shot from just outside the box superbly tipped onto the crossbar in injury time. Unable to hold onto the ball as Cardiff scored their injury time equaliser. 6

Mickel Miller (for Kasumu 77) - Fresh legs for the counter-attack and to help out the left wing-back. Created a couple of decent chances late on. 7

Joe Low (for Mumba 88) - Made his return from injury. Went into the middle of the back three. n/a

Unused substitutes: Nik Tzanev, Antony Evans, Alfie May.

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