CITY 10 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 1
League Division 2
7th November 1987
attendance 19,583
Scorers
City McNab(12), Stewart(28, 66, 81), Adcock(34, 53, 68), White(40, 85, 89)
Huddersfield May(88 pen)
Ref Robbie Hart
City Nixon, Gidman, Hinchcliffe, Clements, Lake, Redmond, White, Stewart, Adcock, McNab, Simpson – subs Brightwell(unused), Scott(unused)
Huddersfield Cox, Brown, Bray, Banks, Webster, Walford, Barham, May, Shearer, Winter, Cork
ALL THREE GOALS SCORED BY TONY ADCOCK
FROM THE PRESS BOX
A lot of the 19,583 people at Maine Road will be telling their grandchildren about this one.
Manchester City supporters will talk of the day we saw their team’s biggest winning margin in history, beating the 11-3 victory over Lincoln on March 23, 1895.
The hapless Huddersfield supporters will reminisce about the day they saw their team’s worst debacle since entering the League in 1910, worse even than their 8-0 defeat by Marlborough on September 30, 1950.
Both sets of supporters will remember the day when three players on the same team scored hat-tricks, perhaps for the first time in the history of the Football League.
But football reporters will remember something different. We will remember the quiet, old-fashioned, quizzical modesty of Jimmy Frizzell and the white, shocked face of Malcolm McDonald, who answered only a handful of questions before trudging like a man in a nightmare out of the ground.
‘It was ridiculous,’ said MacDonald. ‘We had as many chances as they had, three of their goals looked offside to me, and after their first goal our defence was a shambles.’
I asked Jimmy Frizzell whether he had spoken to Macdonald about the match. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I’ve nae got many teeth and I wouldnae like tae lose those I have.’
The three hat-tricks were scored by Adcock, Stewart and White. Frizzell is giving the match ball to Adcock, whose hat-trick came first.
Last week Huddersfield, a long way adrift at the bottom of the Second Division, had their 1st win.
Macdonald had been in charge of the club for a month, after Steve Smith quit, and a modest revival seemed in prospect. The landscape looks a lot bleaker now.
Not the least surprising aspect of the score was that it was achieved in the absence of their leading scorer, Varadi, out with a thigh strain. Adcock was his late replacement. .
MALCOLM WINTON WRITING IN THE SUNDAY TIMES 8TH NOVEMBER 1987
… The 20,000 or so supporters who headed for Maine Road on Saturday 7th November probably wouldn’t have been bursting with excitement. We certainly hadn’t been setting the world alight and Malcolm MacDonald’s men were down in the doldrums, so a mass feeling of apathy amongst our fans would have been more than understandable.
The match started off as a tight, tense and evenly matched affair until Neil McNab broke the deadlock in the 12th minute with a scorching left foot strike. The players embraced our number ten while the home fans celebrated in the stands, none of us possibly knowing that we were on the verge of one of City’s most celebrated scorelines. Neily’s net buster had effectively opened the floodgates, and by the interval we were 4-0 up, courtesy of further goals from Paul Stewart, Tony Adcock and David White. The fans enjoying their half-time bovril must have been delighted with proceedings. However, I wouldn’t have blamed any of them having a flutter on a score draw at one of the nearby betting stands, such was our inconsistency at that time.
As it happened, anyone waging a tenner on a 10-1 thrashing would have collected a tidy little windfall.
The second half was the most one sided 45 minutes that I’ve ever played in, a masterclass of neat passing, sublime touches, blisterring pace and superb finishing. Huddersfield simply crumbled under the pressure, unable to withstand the onslaught from a City team on fire. Eric Nixon in goal was rarely troubled but remained steadfast. Ahead of him, Reddo and Gibby kept us rock solid in defence. Further upfield Paul Simpson was our chief linchpin, controlling the midfield brilliantly and acting as provider extraordinaire. And spearheading the attack was our top notch trio of White (great pace), Stewart (great power) and Adcock (great touch), whose well deserved hat-tricks helped us coast our way to doule figures. As the match neared it’s conclusion, a chant of “We want 11” rang out from the Kippax Stand.
PAUL STEWART SCORES THE FIRST OF HIS THREE GOALS
DAVID WHITE SCORES HIS THIRD AND CITY’S TENTH GOAL
from DAVID WHITE, SHADES OF BLUE by David White with Joanne Lake
…Managed by Malcolm MacDonald and sporting a revolting black and yellow check kit, the visitors started promisingly that afternoon, with Scottish striker Duncan Shearer causing us a few problems. The calming presence of Neil McNab soon steadied our nerves however, especially when he cut in from the right to open our account with a crisp left footed shot.
Paul Stewart and Tony Adcock then scored one apiece, Adcock’s first league goal for the club, and Andy Hinchcliffe and Paul Simpson began to terrorize the Huddersfield defence.
With four minutes to go until half time, Simmo more or less walked the ball to my feet , gifting me a goal from a yard out, and giving us a 4-0 lead.
The second half became a rout, so much so that we were 8-0 ahead with ten minutes to go, Stewart and Adcock having each completed their hat-tricks. On 85 minutes, following a move on the right, the ball broke to me outside the six yard box. I leathered it as hard as I could, straight into the back of the net .
“We want 10, we want 10” chanted the Kippax faithful as play resumed.
It was Huddersfield who scored next in fact, our former team-mate Andy May converting a consolation penalty. However deep into injury time, a rampant Simmo picked up the ball, prompting the Huddersfield defence to flee en masse as they attempted to play offside. I ran past them in the other direction, crossing the halfway line and sprinting towards my teammates brilliantly timed pass as keeper Brian Cox came out to block, I skipped to his right, took a deft touch, and smashed the ball goalwards to get my third and to nail a memorable scoreline.
