Huddersfield Town v Wycombe Wanderers: 'Football is bonkers' - why Jon Stead has learnt to expect the unexpected

It sure is, Jon, it sure is.

Jon Stead should know. Last Christmas, he was between jobs, at home with his family, and fully expecting to bide his time until the summer before getting ‘back in’ after leaving his role as assistant head coach at Bristol Rovers in mid-December when Darrell Clarke was sacked.

Just over a month later, Stead returned to his hometown club, Huddersfield Town, joining new head coach Liam Manning’s first-team staff.

Less than two months on, he and fellow coach Martin Drury find themselves leading the Terriers for an interim stint while Manning is on compassionate leave away from the club.

It goes without saying that the duo would have preferred it if Manning was in situ and plotting a way for Town to gatecrash the play-offs. But it is proof that you never know what is around the corner.

Stead’s playing career was a case in point.

From scoring on his Premier League debut at 20 — after moving from the fourth tier and being picked ahead of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole—to inspiring one of the greatest FA Cup shocks of all time 11 years later while playing for League One side Bradford City against a team managed by José Mourinho.

Then there was also playing his part in Wembley glory in front of no spectators for final club Harrogate Town in the Covid era. Funny old game indeed, with the Honley lad now in the dug-out at a place he knows well.

On whether he had a feeling that there would be another chapter in his Town story after two playing stints, Stead, now 43, told The Yorkshire Post: "No. I hoped; but you never know.

"Football, as I think we can all probably agree, is completely bonkers, isn't it? You never really know what's going to happen, but to be back on the staff after being here as a player is pretty special.

"I expected to be kind of seeing the season out, really, and getting to next season and then deciding what comes next.

"I had a lovely Christmas, to be fair. It was nice. It was very stress-free, which is unusual for myself and my family and children, so it was pretty special, but it was very short-lived.

"I think it was four and a half weeks and then a couple of discussions and then bang, straight back into it. There was never a minute in a lifetime that I wouldn't have come back here and done this job.

"To wear the badge again and be involved with this football club is special in any capacity and to come back and get straight involved with the first team was like a dream come true with some really, really good staff around me as well. Liam is a top, top coach."

One of Manning’s predecessors, Michael Duff makes his first return to the Accu Stadium today following his sacking last spring.

Duff’s bank of managerial experience is considerable. But Stead and Drury are no novices either.

The former has spent time at the coalface at Rovers and Barnsley after first earning his stripes in the US.

After becoming assistant to Hartford Athletic chief Harry Watling, now number two at Wolves, he later linked up with Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Stead added: "We've both had different journeys and paths, but I think we're very united in the fact that we've been in and around the first team level for a lot now.

"I think over 200, maybe 250 games or so for myself and Martin will be similar. We've also both worked abroad in different areas and seen a lot and there's a really good blend of experience, knowledge, and a bit of nous and understanding dressing rooms.

"We've got the pieces there between us to continue the good work that Liam's done and then we get to the end of the season and everything's reassessed and hopefully Liam's back and we can crack on."

Stead and Drury's mission does not revolve around just holding the fort. Town still have an outside chance of the play-offs and a victory today would increase the chatter.

In his playing career which encompassed 12 clubs, including four Yorkshire sides, Stead's moment to savour came in 2020 when he helped Harrogate make 106-year history by reaching the Football League via the end-of-season lottery.

Town wise, he was in attendance when they won the fourth-tier play-offs in Cardiff in 2003-04.

Stead, who fired 18 goals in the first half of the season before moving to Blackburn, celebrated with his ex-team mates on the pitch. He was honoured for his key contribution with a winners’ medal.

On the present, he added: "Damn right, we're fighting for something.

"It's all to play for and the excitement of what this season can hold is still there. It has to be because it's in the fingertips, isn't it?"