8 ex-Huddersfield Town players we had no idea are still playing

Over the years, there have been plenty of individuals to have pulled on the famous blue and white shirts of Huddersfield Town.

During their time with the Terriers, many of those players will, of course, have found themselves on the end of varying degrees of success, with some making more significant impacts and contributions than others while playing for the Yorkshire club.

Of course, that is something that will have extended to after their departures from the John Smith’s Stadium, where players will have gone on with careers that will have continued for differing lengths of time, and in a wide range of intriguing, and perhaps in some cases surprising, locations around the footballing world.

So here, we’ve taken a look at some of those players who are now in a somewhat more eye-catching stage of their time as a footballer, either due to the age they are now playing at, or the club they are playing for.

We’ve given you a selection of eight players who represented Huddersfield Town – with some doing so on many more occasions than others – who are still playing the game, in a way that has left us somewhat surprised.

So why not take a look at who we’ve picked out here, and see if you were aware of that these ex-Terriers were still playing football on a regular basis, and if you knew exactly where they are now doing so.

Peter Clarke

A name that should certainly be familiar to the vast majority of Huddersfield Town fans of this era to start this list, is Peter Clarke.

The centre-back joined Huddersfield Town back in the summer of 2009 from Southend United, and spent the next five years with the club, making well over 200 appearances for the Terriers, and helping them win promotion to the Championship in 2012.

Despite turning 41 in January, Clarke is still playing on beyond the point when many have retired, having joined Warrington Town, who are currently 17th in the National League North, back in the summer.

Joe Murphy

In contrast to Clarke, Joe Murphy is not a player who was ever a regular feature during his time on the pitch for Huddersfield.

During a three-year spell with the club between 2014 and 2017, the goalkeeper made a total of 14 appearances for the Terriers, while also spending time out on loan with the likes of Chesterfield and Bury, joining the latter on a permanent deal from Huddersfield.

Murphy then re-joined his first club, Tranmere Rovers, in 2020, and even now, at the age of 42, is still playing for the League Two side, even starting against Leicester City for them in the second round of this season’s League Cup, having done the same in the final of that tournament for the same team against the same opponents, all the way back in 2000.

Antony Kay

It is now more than ten years since Kay departed Huddersfield in the summer of 2012, to complete a move to MK Dons.

During a three-year spell with the Terriers, the versatile midfielder made a total of 119 appearances for the club, scoring 12 goals.

Though he is set to turn 41 next month, Kay has not stepped away from his playing career just yet, having joined Northern Premier League Division One West side Runcon Linnets in the eighth-tier of English football, earlier this summer.

Robbie Williams

It is even longer since Robbie Williams was last on the books as a Huddersfield Town player, having departed the club all the way back in 2010.

The defender made 77 league appearances and scored four goals for the Terriers during a three-year spell with the club, and has now taken on a somewhat intriguing role elsewhere in the football world.

Now 38-years-old, Williams is currently working as a player/coach for Pike Rovers, who currently compete in the Limerick and District League, in the seventh-tier of football in the Republic of Ireland.

Lionel Ainsworth

Another one to depart Huddersfield back in 2010, Ainsworth actually only spent a year-and-a-half on the books with the Terriers, and he was loaned to Brentford for part of that.

Having made 31 appearances in all competitions for Huddersfield, the winger has had a nomadic existence since departing the Yorkshire club, which has seen him represent no fewer than 13 different sides.

Currently, the now 35-year-old is playing for Aveley FC in the National League South, which, after promotion last season, puts them in the sixth-tier of English football.

Kallum Higginbotham

Joining Huddersfield in the 2012 January transfer window, Higginbotham never managed to establish himself with the Terriers.

The winger managed just seven appearances during his first season with the club, and spent the rest of his time on Huddersfield’s books out on loan with Barnsley, Carlisle United and Motherwell.

Leaving the Terriers permanently in 2013, Higginbotham has – with the exception of a year in India with Real Kashmir – spent the rest of his career in Scotland, where this summer, the 34-year-old joined Lowland League side Tranent Juniors.

Joe Skarz

Having come through Huddersfield’s academy, Skarz was, for a period, able to establish himself as a regular presence around the Terriers’ matchday squad.

The left-back made 81 appearances in all competitions for them between 2006 and 2010, after which he went on to play for a wide range of other clubs throughout the Football League.

Now 34, Skarz has dropped down the pyramid somewhat, but is still competing regardless, currently occupying the role of player coach at Golcar United in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, the eighth-tier of the football pyramid.

Diego Arismendi

Arismendi spent a brief time with Huddersfield on loan from Stoke City at the end of the 2011/12 season, as the club won promotion to the Championship.

But with the midfielder making just nine appearances and little impact during his time with the Terriers, that deal was not made permanent, with Arismendi instead returning to his native Uruguay.

That is where the now 35-year-old is currently still playing, representing top-flight side CA Fenix, following a move from Sud America Montevideo earlier this summer.