Big freeze posed lengthy lay-off...

WITH the EFL suspending matches because of the coronavirus pandemic, no-one knows when Town will take the field again.

They were due to play Wigan Athletic, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City this week in a crucial run of fixtures in the Championship survival race.

Danny Cowley’s side are three points above the drop zone as the suspension in the League season takes hold.

It is hoped Town and the rest of the Championship will get back in action on April 4, but that is by no means certain.

It could be the EFL decide that date is too early and make a further suspension.

Perhaps much will depend on what UEFA decide to do with this summer’s European Championships. If those Championships don’t take place, then maybe the English League can be extended.

With Town facing a spell on the sidelines, it’s perhaps worth reminding fans that there once was a season when the club didn’t play at home for three months!

And they didn’t play a league match at all in January or February.

That was during the big freeze of 1962-63.

Cold weather kicked in during November and the Leeds Road pitch became unplayable for a long time.

Town played Sunderland in front of 21,000 fans on December 8, but then those supporters didn’t see another ball kicked until Luton visited on March 9.

The hold-up hurt Town more than any other team in the old Division Two - what is now the Championship.

They had started the campaign with a 13-match unbeaten run and looked handily placed for promotion.

After 18 matches up to December, Town were in the top four and, with a game in hand on all the clubs above them, seemed destined to return to the top flight.

Confidence was high and, for the first time since relegation in 1956, the blue and white stripes looked genuine promotion prospects. In that three-month spell without a home game, Town did manage to play three away games, at Derby County, Grimsby and Chelsea, and their promotion hopes were still alive when they won at in-form Leeds United on May 11, with two more games to play.

But they lost against Portsmouth at home and Cardiff City away and finally finished sixth. Despite the long lay-off, the season actually finished on May 18 - but nine games in the final 29 days of the season eventually took their toll.

Peter Dinsdale was Town’s only ever-present and the lay-off didn’t stop Mike O’Grady and Derek Stokes being capped by England at Under 23 level.

There was once a season when Town didn’t play at home for

three months!