‘It goes beyond sport’: Huddersfield ready for weekend unlike any other

It is the birthplace of Patrick Stewart and the location where the Sex Pistols played their final British gig in 1977 but this weekend the West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield will be at the centre of the sporting world like never before. Huddersfield has its place in British sporting folklore already secure: it is where rugby league was founded in 1895 and Huddersfield Town were once the driving force of English football, the first club to win the league three times in a row, from 1924-26.

But the town nestled on the edge of the Pennines and in the shadow of Leeds and Manchester – geographically and metaphorically – has never known a time like this. On Saturday, Huddersfield Giants will aim to win rugby league’s Challenge Cup for the first time since 1953 when they face Wigan in the final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

That alone would have heightened the mood in an area that was once at the heart of Britain’s textile boom, but 24 hours later Huddersfield Town seek a return to the Premier League in the Championship playoff final at Wembley, with Nottingham Forest their opponents.

Sport plays a huge role in the mood of folk in this part of the world and never has that been more apparent than now. “I get emails from constituents all the time and in the last few weeks, they’ve been all about Giants and Town,” says Jason McCartney, the Conservative MP for Colne Valley.

His constituency covers most of the major suburbs in and around Huddersfield and as an ardent supporter of both clubs who will be present at both games, he understands the magnitude of this weekend for his home town: on and off the pitch.

“I was in London last weekend and saw Sunderland supporters taking over Trafalgar Square and it hit home just how