Christopher Schindler: The Man Who Wrote His Name In Huddersfield Town Legend
Brady Frost, Feature Writer
Twitter: @brady0894
Source for image above: HTAFC
It’s not just the Playoff Final penalty that sums up his time at the club, Schindler has been there for the unimaginable highs and the crushing lows, that’s why he is a legend.
It seemed inevitable but that doesn’t mean it’s any less painful. The news today that after five eventful years at Huddersfield Town, Christopher Schindler will be departing the club this summer to return to Germany and join FC Nurnberg is a sad moment for all Town fans.
The last time we saw The Terriers captain in action was 5th December 2020 when he was stretchered off following an injury in the 2-0 home win against Queens Park Rangers. The updates from Carlos Corberán’s subsequent press conferences where fans heard about the setbacks in the injury and the need for surgery, combined with his contract being up in the summer pointed to one thing, that the QPR match was his last game. We all love romanticism in football and even though the facts of the situation made it clear that was his last game, it’s easy to kid yourself and think there’s a miraculous recovery on the way. He’ll be back, get him on for the last minutes in the final game of the season, surely this isn’t it? This is Christopher Schindler we’re talking about, after all, a man who helped make miracles happen for this club.
Football can serve up moments of joy that stay with you for the rest of your life, it can also rip your heart in two, make you feel like you’ve been winded and crush any lingering hope you may have had relating to your team. Christopher Schindler’s time at the club includes all those contrasting emotions and that’s why he will be a legend at Huddersfield Town.
When Christopher Schindler joined, David Wagner said: “Christopher is an excellent defender. He is good in the aerial challenge and is a very composed player, who is great at reading the game. He will suit our playing style very well, as he is always on the front foot. He is also a fantastic character and another leader in the defensive area for us, which is very important.” Photo source: HTAFC
When joining in 2016 for a then club-record fee from TSV 1860 Munich, it was another unknown quantity arriving in Huddersfield to join Chris Loewe and Michael Hefele as part of the German core in the intoxicating Wagner Revolution. When it’s a record signing, you’re expecting something exciting and boy, did he deliver. The 16/17 season will live long in the memory for Town fans, when the impossible was achieved, Ian Holloway’s relegation pick finished as playoff winners and, well you know how the story goes, you’ll tell it better than us.
Those celebrations in St George’s Square feel like so long ago, little Huddersfield were in the Premier League, that team from Yorkshire who came up with a minus goal difference and didn’t score a goal in the playoffs, just there to make up the numbers in England’s top division.
Some teams get rid of their promotion heroes but the man who scored the winning playoff final winning penalty remained integral to it. Before you know it, Huddersfield are not only in the top flight but beating Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season, beating Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United and drawing against Premier League champions Manchester City and Chelsea back-to-back to stay up. A 16th place finish for the team that were favourites to be relegated.
Christopher Schindler of Huddersfield Town celebrates scoring the winning penalty in the penalty shoot out after the Championship play-off final against Reading at Wembley. Photo source: The National News
David Wagner may have brought the ‘No Limits’ mantra to the club as it achieved two miracles in two seasons, but Christopher Schindler was at the heart of it all. One of the key cogs in the team that made fans believe there were no limits with his performances on the pitch. A good reader of the game, determined, composed, willing to put his body in the way of opposing attackers, never giving up. For a side that was all about getting results as a team, the number of conversations you would have with other fans where they would single Schindler out as the best tells you everything you need to, this player more than held his own in the Premier League.
This is a man who has so often beaten the odds, but eventually, the house will always win. It’s well documented that the last three seasons, relegation from the Premier League and successive relegation battles in the Championship have taken a toll on him. It’s an understatement to say the fans have suffered in this time too but while football players are increasingly seen to not care, it was clear Schindler wasn’t one of them.
For all the iconic pictures of him in a Town shirt, the scenes after the final whistle against West Brom last season is the one who summed it up perfectly, embracing Jonathan Hogg after Town’s Championship status was preserved for another season. The pure relief from those two in avoiding a successive relegation, once again beating the odds by becoming part of the only team to stay up in the second tier after one point in their opening eight games. It’s not an achievement to celebrate but another sign of Schindler giving it his all.
Regardless of what’s happened this season, the scenario around his departure, leaving injured without fans seeing him in the ground for 15 months is cruel. The last time fans saw him in the flesh playing for Huddersfield Town was in the 4-0 win against Charlton on 29th February 2020. Phil Hodgkinson has said that Schindler and his family will be invited back to a game for the send-off he deserves, which is great but it won’t be the same.
This article could be thousands of words longer but let’s leave the final word to the man himself. In the announcement on the club’s website, Schindler himself spoke of the special bond he had with the supporters and what it means to him. He said:
“For me and my family, it’s been a hell of a ride and we will never regret this step or being here for so long. This place is special for us… It’s great we had this unbelievable journey together and most-definitely I consider this my second home.
“When Hoggy has his testimonial in two years, he invited me! I will definitely come back here for the memories sake but also because we have friends here and because this place is very special to us!”
That testimonial can’t come soon enough to see Christopher Schindler in a Town shirt, in front of fans, for one last time. The man who made you proud that he was on the pitch for your team, the man who gave it his all whenever he was asked, the man who everyone fancied, the man who won two back-to-back Player of the Year awards in our Premier League seasons, the man who had the chance to write his name in Huddersfield Town legend, and took it.
Let us know your favourite Schindler memories in the comments.
