George Best playing for United against City in 1967 // PA Images
In November 1919 it was revealed that Huddersfield were experiencing financial difficulties, with a local newspaper declaring: "The Huddersfield Town Association Football Club, so far as this town is concerned, is to all intents and purposes extinct."The main problem was at the turnstiles. When football resumed after the war Huddersfield struggled to attract fans, while the local rugby club was drawing good crowds and making a profit. Town's benefactor and chairman, J. Hilton Crowther, believed that the football side should emulate the rugby outfit and become self-sufficient. That did not seem likely in Huddersfield, however.Enter Leeds United, who had come into being following Leeds City's dissolution for financial irregularities during the war years. Football had proved immensely popular in the area and little time was wasted in finding a new team. Crowther had kept a watching brief of developments and was suitably impressed, to the extent that he unilaterally suggested that his club should amalgamate with the new Leeds side.At a meeting in Leeds during December 1919, Crowther's plan was supported by United committee member Mark Barker, and the principle resolution to merge the two sides carried unanimously. The team would play at Elland Road, with Huddersfield's players transferred across. All that was left was to receive approval from the Football League, which was considered to be a formality.READ MORE: Explaining the Obscure Origins of English Football's Best Badges
Having remained separate from Leeds, Huddersfield became the greatest force in English football // PA Images
As well as being a "rotund idiot" (The Guardian), Maxwell was also a man with a keen interest in merging football clubs. He became the owner and chairman of Oxford United in 1982, and soon after acquired a 19 per cent share in local rivals Reading. Maxwell was looking to build a new stadium for Oxford, though finding a suitable location proved difficult.READ MORE: Remembering the Golden Age of Socialist Football Managers
Maxwell (r) and Reading chairman Frank Waller toast their doomed merger // PA Images
Of course, the plans went down badly with both sets of fans. Among them was Jimmy Hill, then a significant football media figure and also a veteran of almost 300 games for the Cottagers. Hill was able to raise enough backing to buy back the club from Marler, but not the ground.At a subsequent meeting of the Football League management committee, it was decided that the merger should be opposed. In March 1987, Bulstrode scrapped his plans. He remained committed to re-developing the ground, but died from a heart attack 18 months later ("in the arms of his blonde mistress", according red-top reports). He is remembered more fondly by QPR fans than Fulham supporters, though it is fair to assume that neither side would have forgiven him had the merger plans come to fruition.READ MORE: What the Evolution of Kit Sponsors Tells Us About the Premier League
Ron Noades, who set Wimbledon's move to Milton Keynes in motion with an attempted merger in 1979 // PA Images
