On the threshold of Greatness

This is a photo of Huddersfield Town taken in 1922 after their FA cup final win over Preston North End 1-0, When they posed for this photo the team stood on the threshold of greatness.
Herbert Chapman was their manager, the mecurial Clem Stephenson ( a cup winner in 1913 and 1920) had joined them from Aston Villa, and Sam Wadsworth of England, an impecable left back was the cornerstone of a resolute defence. The cup win was the clubs first major success and they went on to win the League Championship three seasons in a row (1924, 1925 and 1926) came runners-up in 1927, 1928 and contested the FA cup finals of 1928 and 1930.
When Herbert Chapman took over as manager in 1920 he found a club in financial trouble and close to folding, they had few resources with indifferent crowds in a town deeply devoted to Rugby League, but Chapman had inherited a brilliant youth team (undefeated from 1916 to 1919), with this base he bought wisely and welded together one of the most successful Football league teams of all time! It was a stubborn team, disciplined with the will and fight to win every game they played, at the helm of the team was Clem Stephenson who became Chapman's general on the field, Stephenson was a stocky tactican at the heart of everything, although he lacked pace he made up for this with passes that were as sweet as stolen kisses.
In terms of greatness the Huddersfield team of the 1920's is up there with the best: Aston Villa of the 1890's, Arsenal of the 1930's, Liverpool of the 1980's and Man United of the 1990's are the only other clubs to have celebrated a hat trick of League Championship wins. From 1920 Huddersfield went on to enjoy over three decades in the top flight of English football.
The team above is Back row (left to right): H. Chapman (Manager) J. Wood, C. Mc Kay, C. Slade, A. Mutch, T. Wilson (Captain) W.Watson, S. Wadsworth, J. Chaplin. Seated: G. Richardson, F. Mann G. Brown, E. Islip, W. Johnstone, C. Stephenson, W. Smith.

Photo source: headline publishing.