May 31 – It may not be quite as remarkable a fairytale as Leicester City’s Premier League title a year ago but Huddersfield Town are the latest club to defy the odds – and all financial logic – by grabbing a spot in English football’s top flight.
Just 18 months after taking over as coach of a struggling Championship team, German coach David Wagner has achieved the unlikely feat of leading the Yorkshire club into the promised land – the first time they have reached the top division in the English football pyramid for 45 years.
Victory against Reading in the playoff final at Wembley Stadium, dubbed the £170 million game because of its huge financial pay-off, secured Huddersfield’s Premier League berth despite only just avoiding relegation this time last year.
“We tried a lot of things, a lot of small details to bring this club forward. You usually need three or four years to do what we’ve done,” said the charismatic Wagner who was part of Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp’s coaching staff at Borussia Dortmund before making the switch to Huddersfield.
Wagner took over in November 2015 as the first manager of the club to be born outside the British Isles. Huddersfield chairman Dean Hoyle admitted he took a gamble but it turned out to be an inspired one.
With a smaller budget than most Championship teams but plenty of tactical nous, Huddersfield finished fifth in the regular season to take their place in the playoffs, then kept their nerve in the semi-finals and final.
“I said to the players before the playoffs that they are heroes – because of finishing fifth in the league and playing an unbelievable season,” Wagner said.
“But from being hero to zero in football is sometimes only a week. So I told them here they had an opportunity to become legends – and they have done it. They are now legends for sure.”
Promoted along with Newcastle and Brighton who went up automatically, Huddersfield join the likes of Bournemouth and Burnley as unlikely Premier League members after their nail biting penalty shootout victory over Reading.
“This is not a fluke,” said Wagner. “I am happy for everyone who has helped us make this big, big achievement, and especially for the chairman who has backed nearly all of my ideas – even when they seemed ridiculous.”
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