Huddersfield Town v Reading: Terriers plan amazing grand finale at Wembley

HEAD COACH David Wagner believes Huddersfield Town clinching promotion to the Premier League would represent a bigger footballing achievement than even last year's title win for Leicester City.
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The Terriers today meet Reading at Wembley in world football’s richest game with a cash bounty of £200m riding on the result along with a place among the elite.

Few expected the climax of the Football League season to feature either of this afternoon’s combatants, not least because of the big transfer spending done by so many of their Championship peers both last summer and in January.

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But more than 80,000 supporters are set to descend on the capital from Yorkshire and Berkshire dreaming of promotion to the top flight.

“After what happened with Leicester last season, this is now a second fairytale in a row in English football and we are part of it,” said the 45-year-old ahead of what is surely Huddersfield’s biggest game since the 1938 FA Cup final.

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Head coach David Wagner speeks to the media at Huddersfield Town's pre-Wembley press conference at the club's training centre.  Picture: Tony Johnson.Head coach David Wagner speeks to the media at Huddersfield Town's pre-Wembley press conference at the club's training centre.  Picture: Tony Johnson.
Head coach David Wagner speeks to the media at Huddersfield Town's pre-Wembley press conference at the club's training centre. Picture: Tony Johnson.

“I think we are 18th or 19th in the Championship budget table. I think the gap between us and, let’s say Newcastle, is bigger than the gap between Leicester and Chelsea (champions in 2015 and 2017), if you like to compare these two fairytales.

“We are a small dog, a terrier, in a division of big dogs. This hasn’t changed over the season, but we are ambitious. Just because you are a small dog, it doesn’t mean you are not able to be quick, to have endurance, to be mobile and to create other weapons.

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“I think we have found our weapons over the season, and now we have a job to do. It is great to be involved. But if you are in a final, you like to win it.”

Huddersfield, champions three times in a row during the 1920s, will become the 49th team to play in the Premier League if Jaap Stam’s side can be beaten under the world famous Arch.

Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA.Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA.
Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA.

Victory would also bring unprecedented riches to the Yorkshire club, with even relegation in 2018 after just a year among the elite meaning Huddersfield’s coffers would be swollen by that £200m sum.

To put into context this life-changing windfall, FA Cup winners Arsenal received £1.8m for getting the better of Chelsea in Saturday’s final while either Real Madrid or Juventus will receive around £13.5m for triumphing in next weekend’s Champions League final at the Millennium Stadium. UEFA also estimate that the winners will have pocketed around £87m during the 2016-17 season in prize money and the central pool, which includes TV payments.

Head coach David Wagner speeks to the media at Huddersfield Town's pre-Wembley press conference at the club's training centre.  Picture: Tony Johnson.Head coach David Wagner speeks to the media at Huddersfield Town's pre-Wembley press conference at the club's training centre.  Picture: Tony Johnson.
Head coach David Wagner speeks to the media at Huddersfield Town's pre-Wembley press conference at the club's training centre. Picture: Tony Johnson.
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Wagner is well aware of the huge cash prize at stake today, but he is equally adamant that his only focus is on the Wembley final and nothing else.

“I don’t think about it,” he said.

“I am focused on Reading and how to beat them. We don’t have this money, because we are not in the Premier League at the minute. We will try everything to get this money and to get into the Premier League. But, from my point of view, it makes no sense to think about it.”

Huddersfield, tipped for relegation by the bookmakers before a ball had been kicked in anger last August, have not competed in the top flight for 45 years. Wagner admitted last week it could be another four or five decades before the club has another chance like today’s, hence his insistence that Town give everything under the world-famous Arch.

“I didn’t think this was possible last summer,” added the Terriers’ head coach.

Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA.Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA.
Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA.
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“We said at the beginning of the season that we would play without a target, there were no limits. I was totally sure we wouldn’t be in relegation trouble, as some pundits said we would.

“But after that, I did not know. We had a good start, then after the first half of the season when we had played each team once, I started to believe this was possible. I thought, ‘Okay, we have a chance of making the play-offs’.

“This is what excites me so much about this group of players. I wanted to see what this group was able to deliver, and now we are in the final. We are still the small dog.

“This hasn’t changed, because we haven’t changed our budget since the start of the season. We have had to work with what we have, and this is why I am so proud.

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“We have a feeling that, apart from the Reading supporters, nearly everyone backs us to get this fairytale to a happy end. Everyone in England, even Europe, backs Huddersfield Town to follow the fairytale of Leicester, and to have a happy ending.”

Big-match preview: Pages 2 & 3