Huddersfield Town fans can still play a role in Terriers’ survival bid

Whereas a tide of emotional support and goodwill from the stands provided the fuel for their historic promotion in 2016-17 and the retaining of their cherished Premier League status in the season after, the reality is somewhat different in 2019-20 amid their current grim relegation battle.

With football being played out in front of empty stadiums, players are having to summon fight from within – and the ‘two-way street’ dynamic with fans is less straightforward.

Instead of getting backing from supporters to help them over the line in games, the modern world is such that under-achieving teams are more likely to receive opprobrium on social media if things go awry.

That was manifested during Town’s poor 2-0 home defeat at Luton and while Tuesday’s stalemate at Hillsborough was by no means the perfect response, it at least showed that their players had taken criticism squarely on the chin and responded.

Plenty of work remains in definitive games against West Brom and Millwall, with Danny Cowley urging supporters to come together for one last push.

The Town chief said: “I feel really sorry for supporters as it is so hard to be a supporter at the moment, particularly the Huddersfield Town fans.

“They would desperately love to be in the stadium now and affecting games like we know they can. All they can do is shout on television screens and vent on social media.

“That is where we are at the moment and I am a football person and football is for the people and my heart is with them. But we need them to come together and get behind the boys.

“We have two really important games now and know what it means to them and we will do all we can to come on the right side.

“We have confidence and believe in ourselves, first and foremost and the players. We are together and committed and fighting really hard.

“We took a lot of criticism in the 48 hours after Luton and a lot of it was fair and we had to be big enough to shoulder and accept that.

“For us who are a little older, it is easier. For younger players, it is tougher as they read and hang on it all and this is the world we live in.

“But what we need now is everyone coming together as we are all fighting for the same cause.”

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor