Popular boss ushered in an era of success

THE Development team overcame a stronger Bradford City opposition than expected at home on Sunday, eventually winning the game 7-4 in a crazy goalfest.

Town were never behind in the game but were pushed all the way by a resilient City side, however, they were 1-0 up after just 50 seconds when Zoe Laughton fired in a low drive from the right-hand edge of the box.

Macy Ellis made it two shortly afterwards after pace and strength saw her go clear of the defence and bury the ball in the far corner.

Duce hit the bar and Boothroyd saw a 25 -yard thunderbolt go inches wide but it was City who pulled one back before half time when a mix-up at the back saw the ball fall to the City striker who fired into an empty net.

City pressed Town in the second half and when Town failed to clear a corner the opposition poked home from close range.

Macy Ellis immediately put Town back in the lead when another top-class run saw her go one on one with the keeper and slot home. Another Town error saw City equalise when Pedersen’s clearance only went as far as a Bradford midfielder who looped the ball over the stranded keeper from 30 yards.

Ella McCamon was introduced off the bench and made an instant impact, picking up the ball 30 yards out, taking on two defenders and smashing the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box.

City weren’t finished as Town again failed to clear a corner and the resulting goalmouth scramble resulted in another tap in for yet another equaliser.

McCamon restored Town’s lead with a mazy run in which she bamboozled four City players and fired home.

With three minutes to go Macy Ellis went through the middle and was brought down clumsily in the box. Duce made no mistake with the penalty which was smashed into the top right corner. McCamon then completed her hat-trick after finishing off Macy Ellis’ short pass from six yards out to give Town all three points. I CAN still picture the scene as if it were yesterday.

The date was Monday, December 22, 1986, and I’d arrived as usual at the old Leeds Road ground to speak to Huddersfield Town’s long-serving and excellent manager Mick Buxton.

Two days beforehand, Town had been beaten 2-1 at home by Crystal Palace and were struggling at the bottom of what is now the Championship.

It was a fourth successive defeat for Buxton’s side and a sixth in seven HE was fast becoming the forgotten man of Town’s Premier League season.

But Collin Quaner was back in David Wagner’s matchday 18 for the match at Watford and will be setting his sights on proper involvement down the line.

The 27-year-old German hasn’t matches – and only 4,181 had turned up to witness Duncan Shearer score.

On the Monday morning, I waited only a short time in the corridor at the top of the tunnel before being summoned by the manager into his office, which was a little further up from the boardroom.

When I sat down, Buxton suddenly got to his feet and looked for his car keys.

“I’ve got a Christmas card for you Mel, but I’ve left it in the car,” he said.

Before he’d found the bunch of keys, I said: “Don’t worry Mick, just give me the card tomorrow.” played a senior game for Town since April, when he was in the starting line-up as they were defeated 2-0 at home by Everton.

In the summer, of course, Wagner added wingmen Ramadan Sobhi, Isaac Mbenza and Adama Diakhaby to a squad which already included Quaner, Elias Kachunga, and Rajiv van La Parra – in addition to new German international wing-back Erik Durm.

And his instant reply, with a canny smile, was: “No, I’ll get it now, I might not get chance tomorrow.” How right he was.

Just 24 hours later, after eight years at the helm of the club, Buxton was sacked and a memorable era in Town history was at an end.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Buxton being officially appointed Town manager.

He had arrived at Town in a coaching capacity and been at the club only a few months when he slipped, almost unnoticed, into the managerial chair previously occupied by Tom Johnston in the opening weeks of the 1978-79 season.

It was his first managerial appointment.

Buxton had been a topflight player with Burnley and moved on to Halifax Town, but he was forced into premature retirement by a twice-broken leg, going into coaching at The Shay, before Watford, Mansfield, Barnsley and Southend United.

Town were already out of the League Cup when Buxton took

There was talk of Quaner going out on loan during the transfer window, most notably across the Pennines to Preston North End, but nothing materialised and the man who signed from Union Berlin for an undisclosed fee in July 2015 got back down to work at PPG Canalside.

Of Quaner’s situation, the head coach explained: “He is okay.

“He was ill last week, for a couple charge of the team at the end of August, but they were improving by the time he officially took the reins on October 31, 1978.

A man who suffered no fools and knew exactly what he wanted from his team, Buxton converted Keith Hanvey from midfield to centreback to partner Dave Sutton – an inspired move.

Dave Cowling was brought in from the reserves to play on the left wing and became a fixture for 10 years. And the manager’s master stroke was to bring in Ian Robins from Bury and convert him into an outand-out striker. Buxton also put a right-back by the name of Malcolm Brown, who had signed the previous season, into the league starting line-up to replace Jim Branagan – perhaps his most inspired move. Brown didn’t miss a match for the thick end of five seasons, playing a club record 259 consecutive matches between September 1978 and May 1983. By that time, Buxton had guided

His title-winning team of 1979-80 capped his first full season as a manager

of days, but he has the whole time been in full training.

“He is one of the victims, if you like, of high competition which we have, especially in our offensive winger positions.

“But he is in training and gives everything that he has so far.

“I am happy with his attitude as well.”

Town completed the full signing of the popular wideman in the January