Huddersfield Town

1995-96 season
Chairman	Geoffrey Headey
Manager	Brian Horton
Division One	8th
FA Cup	Fifth round (knocked out by Wimbledon)
League Cup	Second round (knocked out by Barnsley)
Top goalscorer	League: Andy Booth (16) All: Andy Booth (21)
Highest home attendance	17,878 vs Derby County (26 December 1995)
Lowest home attendance	5,094 vs Port Vale (15 August 1995)
Average home league attendance	13,151
Biggest win	3–0 vs Barnsley (12 September 1995) 4–1 vs West Bromwich Albion (16 December 1995) 3–0 vs Crystal Palace (24 February 1996)
Biggest defeat	0–4 vs Barnsley (3 October 1995)

Huddersfield Town's 1995–96 campaign was Town's first season in the second tier since the 1987-88 season. They finished in 8th place, just 8 points and 2 places below the play-offs.

The closed season saw the departure of the hugely successful strike partnership of Andy Booth and Ronnie Jepson, whose goals had been vital to Huddersfield's success in the previous two seasons. Booth left for Premier League club Sheffield Wednesday in a club record £2.7 million deal while Jepson left to 2nd Division Bury on a free transfer. Horton invested the money in the prolific Bristol Rovers striker Marcus Stewart (for a club record £1.2 million), Barnsley's Andy Payton (£350,000) and Blackpool defender Andy Morrison (£500,000).

Squad at the start 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 -- GK  ENG Steve Francis -- GK  WAL Tony Norman -- DF  SCO Tom Cowan -- DF  ENG Jon Dyson -- DF  ENG Kevin Gray -- DF  WAL Steve Jenkins -- DF  IRL Robbie Ryan -- DF  IRL Pat Scully -- DF  ENG Lee Sinnott -- DF  ENG Simon Trevitt -- MF  ENG Simon Baldry

No. Pos. Nation Player -- MF  ENG Darren Bullock -- MF  ENG Simon Collins -- MF  ENG Gary Crosby -- MF  ENG Paul Dalton -- MF  ENG Lee Duxbury -- MF  ENG Richard Logan -- MF  ENG Paul Reid -- FW  ENG Andy Booth -- FW  ENG Iain Dunn -- FW  ENG Ronnie Jepson

Review

Following Town's promotion the previous season, many were surprised that manager Neil Warnock resigned to become manager of Plymouth Argyle. A few days later, the ex-Manchester City and Oxford United manager Brian Horton was hired as his replacement. They had a bad start to the season, losing 3–0 to local rivals Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park, but they managed to recover with convincing wins against Watford, Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town soon set Town players and fans alight.

Town did have a good middle part of the season, going on a run of only 2 losses in 19 league games losing only to Port Vale and eventual champions Derby County. They also put on a good run in the FA Cup, which saw them reach the last 16 for the first time since the 1971-72 season. They eventually lost in a replay to Premier League side Wimbledon, having been seconds away from knocking them out in the original tie, only for Efan Ekoku to score a 93rd minute equaliser for the Dons.

Town seemed to be on course for a play-off spot, but the end of the season saw Town lose 8 of their last 13 games, winning only 3 of them. They finished in 8th place, but a better end to the season might have seen Town get nearer to the play-offs for the Premier League.

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 -- GK  ENG Steve Francis -- GK  WAL Tony Norman -- DF  SCO Tom Cowan -- DF  ENG Jon Dyson -- DF  ENG Kevin Gray -- DF  WAL Steve Jenkins -- DF  IRL Robbie Ryan -- DF  IRL Pat Scully -- DF  ENG Lee Sinnott -- MF  ENG Simon Baldry -- MF  ENG Darren Bullock -- MF  ENG Simon Collins

No. Pos. Nation Player -- MF  ENG Gary Crosby -- MF  ENG Paul Dalton -- MF  ENG Rob Edwards -- MF  ENG Lee Makel -- MF  ENG Paul Reid -- MF  ENG Ben Thornley (on loan from Manchester United) -- MF  ENG Mark Ward -- FW  ENG Andy Booth -- FW  ENG Iain Dunn -- FW  ENG Ronnie Jepson -- FW  ENG Rodney Rowe

Results

Appearances and goals

Name	Nation	Position	League Apps	League Goals	FA Cup Apps	FA Cup Goals	League Cup Apps	League Cup Goals	Total Apps	Total Goals
Simon Baldry	England	MF	3 (11)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	3 (12)	0
Andy Booth	England	FW	43	16	4	2	4	3	51	21
Kenny Brown	England	DF	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Darren Bullock	England	MF	42	6	4	1	4	1	50	8
Simon Collins	England	DF	18 (12)	3	1 (2)	0	4	1	23 (14)	4
Tom Cowan	Scotland	DF	43	2	4	1	4	0	51	3
Gary Crosby	England	MF	0 (1)	0	0	0	1	0	1 (1)	0
Paul Dalton	England	MF	29	5	3 (1)	0	4	1	36 (1)	6
Iain Dunn	England	FW	3 (11)	0	1 (1)	0	1 (2)	0	5 (14)	0
Lee Duxbury	England	MF	3	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
Jon Dyson	England	DF	15 (2)	0	0	0	2	0	17 (2)	0
Rob Edwards	England	MF	13	7	0	0	0	0	13	7
Steve Francis	England	GK	43	0	4	0	3	0	50	0
Kevin Gray	England	DF	38	0	4	0	1	0	43	0
Steve Jenkins	Wales	DF	31	1	4	0	0	0	35	1
Ronnie Jepson	England	FW	40 (3)	12	2	2	3	0	45 (3)	14
Richard Logan	England	MF	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Lee Makel	England	MF	33	2	4	0	0	0	37	2
Tony Norman	Wales	GK	3	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
Paul Reid	England	MF	8 (5)	0	2	0	2	0	12 (5)	0
Rodney Rowe	England	FW	6 (8)	1	3 (1)	1	0 (1)	0	9 (10)	2
Pat Scully	Republic of Ireland	DF	25	1	0	0	3	0	28	1
Lee Sinnott	England	DF	32	0	4	0	4	0	40	0
Ben Thornley	England	MF	12	2	0	0	0	0	12	2
Simon Trevitt	England	DF	4	0	0	0	2	0	6	0
Andy Turner	England	MF	2 (3)	1	0	0	0	0	2 (3)	1
Mark Ward	England	FW	7 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	7 (1)	0
Jon Whitney	England	DF	3 (1)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	3 (2)	0