The Dean Hoyle decision that Huddersfield Town fans will never forget | OneFootball

Huddersfield Town's rise to Premier League glory was kick-started by the decision to hire David Wagner

Huddersfield Town's two seasons in the Premier League are among the best memories in the club's recent history, and they were overseen in the dugout by David Wagner.

The former USA international striker was a relative unknown when the Terriers moved for him in November 2015, and with four years as Borussia Dortmund's reserves manager as his only experience as number one, some were sceptical.

Wagner became the first person born outside the United Kingdom to take charge of the West Yorkshire club. Then-chairman Dean Hoyle was taking a bit of a risk in bringing him in, as it resembled a change in direction for the club.

Their previous managers before the former Dortmund II boss came in hadn't inspired, but many felt, after over a decade languishing in the third and fourth tiers, consistent, but unremarkable, lower-end Championship finishes were the Terriers' ceiling.

But Hoyle, a lifelong Huddersfield fan, disagreed and stated that the hiring of Wagner brought "a new approach and new ideas," labelling him "a head coach that sets teams up on the front foot to win football matches, [and] is up for the challenge of making Huddersfield Town a success on the pitch in the Championship."

Well, the risk paid off. Huddersfield were more than a success, and less than two years after his appointment, were playing in the Premier League.

Huddersfield were only 18th when they sacked Chris Powell in November 2015, and after three seasons finishing between 16th and 19th in the Championship, some felt that it was a harsh decision.

However, chairman Dean Hoyle wanted to roll the dice and take a risk, instead of continuing with mediocrity, as that can often result in falling through the trap door sooner rather than later. He took a chance with Wagner, and it paid off almost instantly.

Although early on, it didn't look that way at all. In fact, the Terriers actually finished one spot lower under Wagner than they were when he came to the club. It was in the second season, though, that the club began to reach heights that hadn't been seen in decades.

The Terriers built a solid foundation immediately to kick off the 2016/17 campaign, winning eight of their first 11 games to be top of the tree come October.

Despite wobbles here and there, Huddersfield remained in the top six for the entirety of 2017, with the likes of Christopher Schindler, Tommy Smith and Chris Lowe impressing at the back, and Aaron Mooy, Elias Kachunga and Nakhi Wells providing creativity and goals going forward.

The Terriers would never blow teams away under Wagner, but did enough to end up on the right side of victory, finishing 5th with a remarkable -2 goal difference, a whopping 30 fewer than Fulham, who finished 6th.

But, because of that grit and determination, you couldn't rule out Huddersfield from having that edge in the play-offs, and indeed, the Terriers progressed through to the play-off final on penalties, and then won again on spot kicks against Reading at Wembley to earn an incredible promotion to the Premier League.

David Wagner's side didn't score off their own accord throughout the entirety of the play-offs, but did enough to remain in games and pick up big wins, which would ultimately be the tale of their time in the Premier League, too.

Huddersfield Town repaid faith in David Wagner throughout Premier League journey

Realistically, no one gave Huddersfield a chance in their first Premier League campaign in the 2017/18 season, but, like the year before, David Wagner's side thrived off being the underdog and proved a lot of people wrong.

With two wins and a draw to open their top-flight account, the German boss was handed Manager of the Month for August in the Premier League, and while Huddersfield didn't maintain a push for Europe, it gave them the platform for survival.

A famous win against Manchester United followed in October, and the club picked up points here and there to stay afloat. Huddersfield earned two points from two games that saw them head to Manchester City and Chelsea towards the end of the season, which mathematically saw them survive ahead of a joyous final-day home game against Arsenal.

Those days, along with the play-off final the year before, are permanently etched into the minds of Huddersfield fans, and if it were up to Dean Hoyle, the job would have been his for life, as he'd helped the Terriers towards achieving those memories.

As it happened, Wagner himself stepped down midway through the club's second season in the Premier League, the year that saw Huddersfield return to the Championship, with Hoyle saying, "I had no intention of sacking David this season. Subsequently, David — being the great man that he is — came to us and made it clear that he needed a break."

Ultimately, David Wagner's three-year tenure at the Accu Stadium ended on a sour note, results-wise, but no one could knock the impact he had at Huddersfield during his time there, and he led fans to memories that they'll never forget.