Town forward regrets leaving the Club
- Phil Starbuck reflects on his time at Huddersfield
- Town forward admits he was “foolish” to leave
- Interview first seen in Town’s match day programme, The Terrier
Former Huddersfield Town forward Phil Starbuck reflects on his time as a Terrier, admitting that leaving the Club was the worst thing he ever did.
Starbuck began his career at Nottingham Forest as a youngster under the famous management of Brian Clough. Despite making his debut at 18, Starbuck only went on to make 36 appearances in five years with the Reds.
At the age of 23 he handed in a transfer request to the dismay and frustration of Brian Clough, who told him to take it away. Just a few days later he signed for Huddersfield Town after one conversation with then-Manager Eoin Hand.
“The first three months at Huddersfield Town were unbelievable, I never expected that,” gleamed Starbuck.
“I became an instant hit with the fans; the Club was such a family club and it was amazing!
“I couldn’t have had a better start.”
Although the ex-Town man had a few favourite memories at the Club, something that always stuck in his head was the feeling of scoring a goal.
“We all spoke about scoring the last goal at Leeds Road in training and for me to score it was just incredible. It was a really sad moment as well though because it was an end of an era.
“I feel like I had a special relationship with the supporters, it was the best club I’ve ever played for. I just loved scoring goals for the fans.”
Starbuck shed some light on his decision to leave Huddersfield Town, he explained that at the time his relationship with then-Manager Neil Warnock wasn’t a healthy one, but still regrets his decision to leave the Club.
“I was Captain at the time, Neil Warnock was the Manager and I’d just signed another three-year deal,” explained Starbuck.
“About three months into my new deal, I got home from training and saw on the back page of the Examiner was a picture of Paul Reed and the headline said, ‘Warnock makes Reed Captain’.
“He never told me that I was being replaced, he just did it, I think he should’ve spoken to me about that first, if he had done, I wouldn’t have minded.
“We had an argument about it the next day and it made it very difficult for us to work together.
“I heard that Dave Bassett wanted to sign me at Sheffield United, so I met with him and joined the Blades at the end of that week.
“I didn’t want to play for Neil, but now I feel foolish; forcing the deal myself was the wrong thing to do from both a personal and professional point of view.”
This exclusive interview was first seen in Town’s match day programme ‘The Terrier’.
