Shield is first rung on ladder of success for Giants

Having finished top for the first time since 1932, Huddersfield hope to go on and win a maiden Grand Final and finally lift a title after more than half-a-century.

For Davy, who has poured vast amounts of his own wealth into the West Yorkshire club with little reward since taking ownership in 1996, their current lofty position is all the more thrilling.

“Finishing top like this has been a long time coming – 81 years,” he said, after seeing Huddersfield vanquish Wakefield Trinity 40-0 to seal pole position on Sunday.

“I’ve been involved as chairman for 17 years and I have to say at times it has felt like 81. The darkest day was when we got relegated from Super League (in 2001) – but it proved to be our salvation.

“We were able to rebuild the club, have a very successful season the following year, get back into winning ways learning how to win again and we’ve grown and grown gradually in Super League ever since then.

“The reality is this is a great result for the club and the town and, when you bear in mind Huddersfield is the birthplace of rugby league, it is right and proper that we should be in the top echelon of the game and expecting to winning trophies.

“This is our first major one but I see this as being the beginning of what I hope will be some golden years for Huddersfield Giants.

“It’s been a hard journey and a long one but I’ve always said that success is a journey, not a destination, and this is a stop along the way.”

Huddersfield fans – who will see their side tackle either Leeds Rhinos or Wigan Warriors in the play-offs next week – showed their support for Davy’s unstinted long-term backing with a standing ovation towards the end of the Wakefield victory while waving specially-produced posters declaring “Thank You Ken”.

The 71-year-old admitted being touched by the gesture on a champagne-soaked night at John Smith’s Stadium.

“It was quite remarkable,” added Davy. “I don’t know who had those printed up, but fans greeted me with them on Sunday and I had to remind them we’d not won anything at that point.

“But they were certainly flashing them about at the end and to see them all holding them up was very moving actually.

“They’ve been so very kind. It’s nice to be able to repay them in the way we did. Obviously our next target is Old Trafford but it’s too soon to be thinking about whether or not we’ll take the spoils there. We’ve some really important matches to play between now and then. Everyone’s done a wonderful job and we’ll give it our best shot.”