Over the last 102 years, Sunderland have played Huddersfield Town on 88 different occasions securing 38 wins, 26 draws and 24 defeats. Here's how we've fared...
SUNDERLAND 7-1 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN - DIVISION 1 - 1952
On the 11th April 1952, Bill Murray’s Sunderland battered managerless Huddersfield 7-1 at Roker Park. Trevor Ford scored the opener in the 25th minute and Johnny McSeveney scored the 2nd 10 minutes later. Huddersfield did have a glimmer of hope when Jim Glazzard pulled one back in the 41st minute, however their hope was short lived because Dickie Davis made it 3-1 three minutes later. The lads went in at half time 3-1 up and their goal scoring form continued into the second half. Dickie Davis scored his second in the 74th minute, Len Shackleton scored a brace and a Charlie Galloghy own goal topped off a horrendous day at the office for Huddersfield.
SUNDERLAND 3-2 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN - DIVISION 1 - 1996
This was definitely one of the most competitive and entertaining games we’ve had with Huddersfield, not to mention ex Sunderland keeper Tony Norman was in goal for The Terriers. Sunderland went 1-0 down in the 21st minute due to a Rob Edwards goal, however the lead only lasted two minutes because Kevin Ball equalised for the Black Cats. The game stayed 1-1 for a while but there was conflict before half time between Paul Stewart and Ben Thorniley, with Huddersfield’s Thorniley receiving two yellow cards in one minute. Huddersfield went into the second half with 10 men but that didn’t stop them from scoring. Andy Booth put Huddersfield 2-1 up in the 58th, and things were starting to look bad for us. But late drama was still to come, Michael Bridges scored a brace in the last eight minutes to secure all three points for Peter Reid’s men.
SUNDERLAND 3-1 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN - DIVISION 1 - 1997
The 18th October 1997 brought the first clash with The Terriers at the Stadium of Light and what a win it was for Peter Reid’s men. Huddersfield were managed by Peter Jackson and had now signed ex Sunderland forward Marcus Stewart. Martin Smith put The Lads ahead in the 41st minute, but a Paul Dalton equaliser denied SAFC the lead going into half time. The second half was all Sunderland, with Michael Bridges putting Reidy’s men back ahead in the 68th minute. That was then followed by a Lee Clark goal six minutes later which secured the victory for Sunderland.
HUDDERSFIELD 2-3 SUNDERLAND - DIVISION 1 - 1998
This was the second league clash between Peter Reid’s Black Cats and Peter Jackson’s Terriers, and the game did not disappoint. Sunderland travelled down to the then-called Alfred McAlpine Stadium and absolutely battered Huddersfield in the first half. Allan Johnston opened up the score in the 17th minute and it all spiralled on from there. Johnston scored his second goal in the 24th minute, then converted a penalty in the 39th to complete his hattrick. Sunderland went into half-time 3-0 up away from home. However things changed in the second half when Wayne Allison pulled one back for the Terriers. six minutes later Huddersfield pulled another one back through David Phillips, and all of a sudden it was game on. Thankfully The Lads stayed resilient and came away with all three points, but I’m sure Peter Reid would have had his concerns since his men almost blew a three goal lead.
SUNDERLAND 2-0 HUDDERSFIELD - NATIONWIDE DIVISION 1 - 1999
The 10th April 1999 brought Sunderland’s most recent league outing against The Terriers and it was another clash between Peter Reid and Peter Jackson. Sunderland legend Niall Quinn opened up the score sheet in the 28th minute to put Peter Reid’s men in the lead. Allan Johnston also found himself back on the score sheet against Huddersfield, after he scored a hattrick against them a year earlier. He scored in the 41st minute to make it 2-0 to The Lads. Sunderland went into halftime 2-0 up and Peter Reid would have been chuffed by The Lads fantastic first half display. Unlike last year, it was a very steady second half performance, and Sunderland were able to see out a 2-0 victory. Less drama than the last few outings, which showed the progress Peter Reid’s men had made over the last few years.
SUNDERLAND 2-4 HUDDERSFIELD - LEAGUE CUP SECOND ROUND - 23.09.2003
The last time we faced Huddersfield things didn’t go to plan, but we had bigger things on our mind at the time like gaining promotion to the Premier League under Mick McCarthy. We were two behind within 20 minutes as Tony Carss and future Sunderland player Jon Stead put them ahead. Kevin Kyle powerfully headed one back for us to half the deficit but it wasn't enough. Huddersfield’s third pretty much ended the game, they went through on goal and we saved the first attempt but the rebound came and was again blocked, but with the hand of Ben Clark and Andy Holdsworth tapped in the rebound from that to put them ahead. To make things worse Clark was then sent off for handball and we were one man down and one goal down. Andy Booth scored a fourth for the Terriers with three minutes to go and then Kevin Kyle got a consolation goal at the death of the game. In the other cup competition we were far better, as we reached the Semi Final of the FA Cup but were knocked out by Millwall at Old Trafford.
HUDDERSFIELD 0-2 SUNDERLAND - CHAMPIONSHIP - 02.11.2022
Earlier this season, Sunderland went to the John Smiths Stadium in appalling weather conditions and earned a 2-0 win. Amad Diallo's 96th-minute goal sealed the win after Alex Pritchard silenced the home fans early in the second half. Pritch had been booed by his former fans all game, and when he scored his first goal of the season, the diminutive playmaker celebrated by 'shushing' the crows and putting his fingers in his ears! It was a great win for Tony Mowbray's men and at the time, was just our second victory in our last eight games. It pulled us up to 14th in the league. Mowbray described it as "probably the worst performance since I've been here, I didn't think we could play as poorly as that". That being said, from a fan's perspective it was a hard-fought victory in horrible conditions, which showed that we were up for the fight in the Championship and not afraid to mix it up when needed.
