SATURDAY 10TH FEBRUARY 1951
F.A. CUP FIFTH ROUND AT MOLINEUX, WOLVERHAMPTON
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 2 (Dunn 2) HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 0
Williams; Short, Pritchard; Chatham, Shorthouse, Wright (capt);
Hancocks, Walker, Swinbourne, Dunn, Mullen;
Wheeler; Hepplewhite, Kelly; Batty, McEvoy, Senior;
Glazzard, Hassall, Taylor (J), Nightingale, Metcalfe;
A rare chance to catch up with Huddersfield Town who made a good game of it
despite a few positional changes which saw regular centre half George Hepplewhite at right back against the speedy Mullen. It was my first sighting of Don McEvoy who was to become such a stalwart for Town at centre half.
The game was decided by two goals from Scottish inside forward Jimmy Dunn and the powerful Wolves defence was able to hold the Town forward line in check for most of the game.
THURSDAY 15TH FEBRUARY, 1951
LEAGUE DIVISION THREE SOUTH AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL 1 (Winter) BRISTOL ROVERS 2 (Bradford, Morgan)
Lewis; Jones, Skidmore; Walters, Russon, Devlin;
Bowen, Dearson, Winter, O'Neill, Allison;
Hoyle; Bamford, Fox; Edwards, Warren, Sampson;
Bush, Bradford, Lambden, Morgan, Watling;
Referee:- B.M. Griffiths, Newport, Monmouthshire.
Walsall, fresh from a 3-1 home win over Aldershot faced the team of the moment. Rovers having reached the sixth round of the FA cup for the first time and also pressing for promotion in third place. Three of their players were involved in a car accident on Monday and Rovers applied for a postponement, but it was not granted.
Walsall were obviously keen to play, having won three and drawn one since the signing of Winter and O'Neill.
However, Rovers with three reserve players in the side took two more valuable points to take them to second in the league behind Notts Forest. Brian Bush, one of the reserves on the right wing, had the beating of left back Skidmore and sent over the corner which brought the first goal for Bradford. Bush also laid on the second goal in the 25th minute his centre being headed home by Jim Morgan.
Walsall did get what proved to be a consolation goal from Winter in the 65th minute, but Rovers always looked dangerous on the break. Winter, the former Sheffield United player, headed the goal from a short cross by Dearson and the only othe Walsall player to impress was Henry Walters with his usual untiring display in defence.
Bristol defended well in the last 25 minutes and goalkeeper Bert Hoyle made one glorious save as Bowen picked his spot from only eight yards out. Rovers now face the daunting task of travelling to Newcastle United in the sixth round of the cup.
(Bristol Rovers did in fact hold Newcastle, the eventual cup winners, to a goal less draw at St James's Park, only to lose the replay at Eastville by three goals to one)
SATURDAY 17TH FEBRUARY, 1951
LEAGUE DIVISION THREE SOUTH AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL 4 (Skidmore 2 (1 pen), Devlin, Dearson) MILLWALL 0
Lewis; Jones, Skidmore; Walters, Russon, Devlin;
Bowen, Dearson, Winter, O'Neill, Allison;
Finlayson; Quinn, Jardine; Short, Bowler, Reeves;
Johnson, Constantine, Neary, Morgan, Jones (J);
Despite having been in action only two days earlier Walsall fielded an unchanged side.
The bounced back in style from the defeat on Thursday and had a runaway win over a Milwall side which included several big name players.
Star of the show was powerful left back Bill Skidmore with two tremendous goals from his trusty left foot. The first from a penalty and the second from a free kick. Further goals from former striker Devlin and Dearson helped the home side to one of their biggest wins for some time.
SATURDAY 24TH FEBRUARY 1951
LEAGUE DIVISION ONE AT THE HAWTHORNS, WEST BROMWICH
WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1 (Dudley) DERBY COUNTY 2 (Stamps, Harrison)
Sanders; Rickaby, Millard; Kennedy, Vernon (capt), Barlow;
Allen, Dudley, Richardson, McCall, Lee;
Webster; Parr, Mozley; Ward, Oliver, Musson;
Harrison, Stamps, Lee, Morris, McLaren;
The home attack did not seem able to get going at all during the first half and it came as no surprise when Derby took the lead after thirty four minutes. Jack Stamps scored a typical goal with a grand shot on the turn which gave Sanders no chance at all.
Neither side looked dangerous in front of goal, Derby's centre forward Jack Lee being blotted out by Jack Vernon and the tall fair haired Oliver giving little scope to Albion's Richardson. Derby's best fowards were Stamps and clever little Johnny Morris always scheming for an opening. Half-time 0-1.
Ten minutes after the restart Jimmy Dudley scored a well taken goal for Albion following a good combined forward move. Albion now piled on the pressure and almost overwhelmed the hard pressed Derby defernce. Richardson and Lee both hit the bar and Terry Webster made many good saves in the Derby goal. However Albion just could not get the ball in the net.
With only seconds left to play Derby snatched the winning goal. A free kick taken by England international wing half, Tim Ward, caused a mix up in the penalty area and outside right Harrison dashed in to push the ball home.
SATURDAY 3RD MARCH 1951
LEAGUE DIVISON ONE AT MOLINEUX, WOLVERHAMPTON
WOLVES 4 (Swinbourne 2, Hancocks 2) SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 0
Williams; Short, Pritchard; Russell, McLean, Wright (capt);
Hancocks, Walker, Swinbourne, Dunn, Mullen;
Morton; Jackson, Curtis; Gannon, Packard, Witcomb;
Marriott, Froggatt, Ricketts, Thomas, Woodhead;
Referee:- A.C. Denham, Preston
Wolves, cup semi-finalists against Newcastle next week and seventh in the league, faced a desperate Sheffield side who are facing relegation after being promoted only last season. Wolves had burly Angus McLean deputising for Bill Shorthouse at centre half and Wednesday experimented with tiny winger Wally Ricketts at centre forward.
It was soon evident that Wolves would stroll away with the game as after twelve minutes Roy Swinbourne headed a grand goal when Dunn back-headed the ball to him. Nine minutes later Hancocks, in great form, cut inside his full back then advanced into the penalty area to score with a fierce left foot shot.
Four minutes later Wolves were three up after another Hancocks centre and there was Swinbourne to head it into the net again. Half time 3-0.
Wolves eased up somewhat during the second half and added only one more goal when Hancocks scored with a long range effort almost from the touchline. The key to Wolves domination of the game was the success of their two wingers. Hancocks did as he liked against Curtis, although the left back did clear three scoring efforts off the line. The right back Jackson, playing only his third first division game, was also unable to control Mullen on the Wolves left wing.
Wednesday did contribute some attractive approach play but the only forward with any ideas of finishing was Redfern Froggatt who sent in one effort which struck Williams' body then hit the upright and bounced out again. Little Ricketts had a hopeless task trying to get the better of his huge opponent, McLean, and it seems very unlikely that this experiment will be continued.
SATURDAY 10TH MARCH, 1951
LEAGUE DIVISION THREE SOUTH AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL O NOTTS FOREST 2 (Collindridge, Leverton)
Lewis; Jones, Skidmore; Walters, Russon, Devlin;
Bowen, Dearson, Winter, O'Neill, Allison;
Walker; Hutchinson, Thomas; Morley, Gager, Burkitt;
Scott, Johnson, Leverton, Capel, Collindridge;
Referee:- R.A. Mortimore, Huddersfield
Forest, top of the league now by only one point after recent defeats were stiff opposition for Walsall despite the home side's recent revival. Forest's manager, Billy Walker, had built up a fine side. His most recent acquisition being former Sheffield United winger Colin Collindridge.
Notts Forest 1950-51
Walsall's recent good form saw 2,000 fans travel to Port Vale's new ground last week, where the Saddlers obtained a hard earned point, thanks to a spectacular first goal for the club by Henry Walters. The stalwart defender is in his fifth season with the club and his first goal looked like gaining a victory until the equaliser went in with ten minutes remaining.
The following two press reports make interesting reading
concentrating on the two Yorkshiremen in Walsall's ranks
left back Bill Skidmore and centre forward Jack Winter.
(Forest did eventually win the Third Division South title at
the end of the season with a six point margin over Norwich
City. They scored a total of 110 goals and conceeded only
40 in their 46 matches)
LEAGUE DIVISION ONE AT MOLINEUX, WOLVERHAMPTON
WOLVES 2 (Walker, Swinbourne) PORTSMOUTH 3 (Munday 2, Reid)
Williams; Short, Pritchard; Russell, Shorthouse, Wright (capt);
Hancocks, Broadbent, Swinbourne, Walker, Mullen;
Butler; Stephen, Ferrier; Scoular, Froggatt, Dickinson;
Harris, Reid, Munday, Philips, Gaillard;
The visitors, Portsmouth, had won the first division league title for the previous two seasons, but were now struggling below half way in the table five places below Wolves. There were a few changes in personnel for the champions, the most notable of which was the switching of England international outside left Jack Froggatt to centre half, which seemed a most unusual move. However he took to his new position like a duck to water and proved an excellent replacement for former captain Reg Flewin.
Two newcomers were in the Portsmouth team, a smallish centre forward Albert Munday who scored two goals in this match and a Belgian outside left Marcel Gaillard. The rest of the side with two international wing halves, Jimmy Scoular of Scotland and Jimmy Dickinson of England, remained unchanged and they certainly taught Wolves a lesson today, winning a close match by 3-2.
Wolves gave a debut to a young inside forward Peter Broadbent recently signed from Brentford who was to become an England international and stayed at Wolves for fourteen seasons.
Portsmouth goalkeeper Ted Butler
outjumps Wolves Roy Swinbourne.
(The programme notes which follow make interesting reading on several counts. The most notable item being the first one which mentions stretchers being used to deal with victims of a surging crowd in one of the closely packed corners of the ground at Hillsborough. Remember this was in 1951, many years before the dreadful disaster of 1989.)
(On a lighter note the final item which refers to the Wolves 'D' team of the time, reminds me that within a couple of years I was playing for another youth club team in the very same Walsall Minor League and on the receiving end of a real thrashing by a double figure margin from the Wolves juniors).
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