Huddersfield Town's 1948–49 campaign is referred to in Town folklore as the original "Great Escape" season (the second being the 1997–98 season), when

Arnold Rodgers Arnold William Rodgers (5 December 1923 – 1993) was an English professional footballer who made over 230 Football League appearances in the years after the Second World War in a career for Huddersfield Town, Bristol City and Shrewsbury Town ...

scored the goal that saw Town maintain their 1st Division status. His goal against

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, with 10 minutes of the last match of the season remaining saw Town keep their status and relegate

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and Sheffield United in the process.

Squad at the start of the season

Review

Town's fortunes during the season didn't seem to improve on the previous season. Even the 14 goals from veteran Peter Doherty didn't seem to pull Town away from almost certain relegation. Relegation seemed to be certain for 2 out of Town,

and Sheffield United. With 10 minutes of Town's last match at

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

against

seemed to be heading down the trapdoor to Division 2. But, an uncharacteristic error by legendary

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Frank Swift Frank Victor Swift (26 December 1913 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City and England. After starting his career with local clubs near his home town of Blackpool, in 1932 he was signed b ...

gave

the chance to score, which he did. Town won 1–0 which relegated Preston & Sheffield United and meant Town would live to fight another day.

Squad at the end of the season

Results

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Appearances and goals

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Season 1948-49 1948-49 English football clubs 1948–49 season