The last time Huddersfield Town were promoted to the top flight of English football, Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit in the Sky was at No 1 in the charts.

Perhaps then, it is down to some form of divine intervention that little Huddersfield are still around, let alone back in the big time.

For all the clubs that have dined at the game’s top table in recent years but find themselves in the Championship - Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest - Huddersfield would not be in the same bracket in terms of riches or fanbase.

Huddersfield briefly topped the Premier League after beating Crystal Palace last week

Indeed, the fare of the football side since Greenbaum topped the hit parade has been more hand to mouth. Even before that the club lived a precarious existence, only financing its first set of floodlights - ‘the Law Lights’ - via the sale of Denis Law to Manchester City in 1960.

‘It’s not been a rollercoaster,’ says Andy Booth, an iconic local centre forward who played over 300 games for Town and now works as a club ambassador. ‘Because there’s been more downs than ups.'

That there certainly has. The Terriers dropped out of the top flight in 1972, came agonisingly close to returning and from there slipped deeper into the mire.

Iconic striker Andy Booth spoke to Sportsmail about his former club's success and history

That is perhaps what made last weekend’s 3-0 thumping at Selhurst Park in the Premier League all the more satisfying.

Crystal Palace were, in part, key to the demise. In 2001, in the final First Division game of the season, Palace were awarded a goal despite there being a handball in the build-up. The strike kept them up, while Huddersfield were relegated.

‘It feels good,’ Booth chuckles. ‘We’ve waited a long time so it was nice to finally get one over them.’

From there the club slid all the way to the bottom rung of the Football League via administration and narrowly evaded liquidation.

Huddersfield fans celebrating after meting out a small amount of revenge on Crystal Palace

‘We were hours from bankruptcy (in 2003),’ Booth explains of a barren spell in League Two. ‘There was close to being no club left. As players we’d not been paid for 10 months and we couldn’t afford to stay in hotels for away games. We had to bring our own packed lunch because the club couldn’t pay for our dinners.

‘Peter Jackson was made manager. For our first pre-season we had just five pros. You’re thinking: “Where the hell do we go from here?” He had no money to spend but managed to get enough bodies in, build a team and get out of League Two.’

While the football club has known hard times, the same too can be said of the town and its community. Castle Hill - the highest point in town, a fort shown in the club’s crest - offers a view across West Yorkshire. It shows rolling green hills which surround what William Blake described as a land of ‘dark satanic mills’ in Jerusalem.

Booth highlighted the work of former manager Peter Jackson (left) in helping to save the club

This was once a proud bastion of the textile production. Fine worsted was exported around the globe, and the tagline ‘Made in Huddersfield’ was a hallmark of quality.

Factory work formed the backbone of the community and the town’s folk would spend their hard-earned money watching the football team. A Northern Powerhouse, if ever there was such a thing.

The mills have now gone, as have the collieries which powered them. In their place a chemical industry has sprung up along with a highly-rated university, with many of factories becoming student housing as a symbol of regeneration.

The successful football club has helped put the town back on the map over the last season

‘It used to be the woollen industry which made us famous,’ Booth says.

‘But now people come for a leading university. That and the football club have put Huddersfield on the map and we’ve got our own identity again. There’s a buzz around and a big sense of community in the town.

‘People will ask where you’re from, and usually you’d have to say: “Near Leeds or near Manchester”. But now they know and say: “Oh Huddersfield Town, Premier League”.’

The town has a history of innovation but so too does the football club. It was here Herbert Chapman introduced the 3-4-3 system and told his players to swap drinking and smoking for fitness drills, before winning three back-to-back First Division titles. The maverick Frank Worthington honed his talents at the old Leeds Road ground too.

David Wagner has overseen a revolution, winning promotion with an unfancied side

But what of the latest shake-up under new boss David Wagner? The fans term it ‘the Wagner Revolution’ - a blend of high-tempo pressing and quick, attacking football. It saw Huddersfield rocket to the top six in the Championship, having finished 19th the season before.

‘He tries to play football the right way,’ Booth says of the German boss. ‘The fans love it. The side are fit and try hard. He’s got that, and has built a side that everybody wants to play for.

‘It’s unbelievable what he’s achieved. We always hoped we’d get into the Premier League some day. We’re here now and looking forward to Newcastle this weekend.’

It’s been a long and arduous road, but to paraphrase Greenbaum, Huddersfield Town have finally got back ‘to the place that’s the best’.