After being discharged from the RAF after my two years National Service had been completed I returned to the Midlands to find that nothing much had changed on the football front. Wolves and neighbours West Bromwich were fighting it out at the top of the First Division. Aston Villa were struggling near the bottom just a few places below Birmingham City. Poor old Walsall were still in next to last place in the final season of the Third Division South. So it was back to business.
SATURDAY 23RD NOVEMBER 1957
LEAGUE DIVISION ONE AT THE HAWTHORNS, WEST BROMWICH
WEST BROMWICH ALBION 3 (Kevan, Robson, Setters) SUNDERLAND 0
Sanders; Howe, Williams (S.G.); Setters, Kennedy, Barlow;
Griffin, Robson, Allen, Kevan, Horobin;
Fraser; Hedley, Elliott; Anderson, Hurley, Aitken;
Bingham, Revie, O'Neill, Fogarty, Grainger;
Referee:- R. Ryalls, Sheffield
The match programme noted that Howe, Robson and Setters were selected in the latest England squad, although there was no place for star man Ronnie Allen who had already scored fourteen goals in only seventeen matches. Kevan had been left out this time along with perpetual England reserve Ray Barlow.
The new look Albion side were very impressive with Howe and Robson obviously making a big impact and although Allen didn't score he contributed a lot to this easy victory against another poor Sunderland side.
My poor old Grandad, a Sunderland supporter all his life, would not have enjoyed this. They have spent a lot of money but still can't find the right combination.
SATURDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 1957
LEAGUE DIVISION ONE AT MOLINEUX, WOLVERHAMPTON
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 2 (Murray, Broadbent) BURNLEY 1 (McIlroy)
Finlayson; Stuart, Harris; Flowers, Wright (capt), Clamp;
Deeley, Broadbent, Murray, Mason, Mullen;
Thompson; Smith, Winton; Adamson, Cummings, Shannon;
Newlands, McIlroy, Pointer, Cheesborough, Pilkington;
SATURDAY 7TH DECEMBER, 1957
FRIENDLY MATCH AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL 3 (Stewart, Brownlee, Richards pen.) ROCHDALE 1 (Vizard)
Chilvers; Haddington, Guttridge; Jarman, Jones, Rawlings;
Stewart, Hodgkisson, Brownlee, Richards, Taylor (B);
Jones; Ferguson, Rudman; Grant (capt), McCulloch, McGuigan;
Lockhart, Wainwright, Dailey, Mulroy, Vizard;
This friendly match between a Third Division South side and a Third Division North side gave both teams an opportunity of sizing up likely opponents of next seasons Third and Fourth Divisions. it was also the first occasion on which the new Walsall floodlights were used. They were switched on at the start of the second half.
Play was very even during the first half, with the experienced campaigners in the Rochdale side, such as former Burnley full back Harold Rudman and former Everton stars Jackie Grant and Eddie Wainwright showing good form. Little was seen of the prolific goalscorer Jim Dailey , recently signed from Workington, as Walsall's young centre half Stan Jones kept a very close watch on him. Half time 0-0.
Ten minutes after the restart Walsall were awarded a penalty. It was rather a doubtful decision as the ball appeared to strike Rudman's hand accidentally. In the absence of the regular penalty taker, McPherson, Richards took the kick and scored with a fierce shot . After sixty three minutes Walsall went further ahead. A perfect through pass from Rawlings split the defence and Stewart cutting in from the right, was able to push the ball into the corner of the net.
Rochdale hit back after seventy minutes when left winger Vizard, another former Everton player, headed a fine goal from a free kick taken by McGuigan out on the left. Six minutes later however Walsall settled the issue when Richards chased the ball as it appeared to be going over the line for a goal kick, stopped it, beat his man cleverly and crossed it to Brownlee who slammed it into the roof of the net from close range.
SATURDAY 14TH DECEMBER 1957
LEAGUE DIVISION ONE AT VILLA PARK, BIRMINGHAM
ASTON VILLA 1 (McParland) MANCHESTER CITY 2 (Aldis og, Hayes)
Sims; Lynn, Aldis; Crowe, Dugdale (capt), Saward;
Smith, Crowther, Pace, Hazelden, McParland;
Trautmann; Leivers, Sear; Barnes, Ewing (capt), Warhurst;
Barlow, Hayes, Johnstone, McAdams, Fagan;
The Villa, hovering dangerously near the foot of the First Division, retained their experimental side which beat Sheffield Wednesday 5-2 last week. The experiments being the inclusion of England under 23 international right half Stan Crowther at inside right and of sixteen year old Walter Hazelden at inside left. Both players scored twice in the win at Sheffield
Manchester City, on the other hand, seem to have got over their period of experiment which introduced the M for Marsden plan, with inside left Keith Marsden playing as a second centre half. This plan was abandoned after a crushing 9-2 defeat at West Bromwich. City have now climbed to the top half dozen in the league. New faces in their side this season are Sear, a young fair haired left back from Oswestry, Roy Warhurst the former Birmingham City left half and captain and a small tricky outside right Colin Barlow who has figured prominently in the scoring lists this season.
City still retain their deep-lying centre forward plan with the Scottish international Bobby Johnston in the title role in place of Don Revie who has now moved to Sunderland. Inside left Bill McAdams has emerged as a prominent figure in the Northern Ireland international side. Villa started the game with some lively attacks and Pace pushed the ball inches past the post soon after the start. Young Hazelden was soon prominent, his passing being particularly accurate, he was running into position well although all to often not getting a return pass when well place. Crowther took a knock on the knee and could only play at half pace for the rest of the game.
Pace was again unlucky when following a good pass from Hazelden the centre forwards shot was blocked by Trautmann's foot. Barlow got in a good shot for City with Sims out of position but Lynn got back to kick off the line. Although dominating the game at this stage Villa just couldn't score against a rather shaky defence. Time after time openings were missed because of hesitancy, the chief culprits being the two wingmen Smith and McParland.
Saward, who had a very poor first half got in the first shot of the second half from twenty five yard and Trautmann saved at the second attempt. Then in the sixty first minute City went ahead in a very lucky manner, Villa left back Peter Aldis heading a centre from Joe Hayes into his own net when trying to divert the ball for a corner. Manchester really got on top now and played some very good football, well prompted by Barnes and Johnstone in midfield.
Two successive corners on the left wing, both taken by Johnstone, caused considerable panic in the Villa penalty are, Sims almost tying himself in knots to push away one effort. In the seventy seventh minute Villa equalised when McParland headed home a right wing centre from Pace. Manchester then went all out for the winner and a header from McAdams skimmed the crossbar, then finally a shot from Fagan was pushed out by Sims only for Hayes to tap it into the net for a last minute winner.
SATURDAY 18TH JANUARY 1958
LEAGUE DIVISION THREE SOUTH
WALSALL 0 TORQUAY UNITED 0
Savage; Haddington (capt), Guttridge; Jarman, McPherson, Rawlings;
Moore, Murray, Richards, Hodgkisson, Taylor;
Wakeham; Bettany, Smith; Lewis, Northcott (G), Norman;
Shaw,Cox, Northcott (T), Collins, Pym;
Walsall, having signed two new players, Savage, a giant goalkeeper from Manchester City and Murray, an inside forward from Crystal Palace, took on Torquay, the only team below in the Third Division. Anxiety about reaching the top half of the league, thus saving them from the entering the new Fourth Division next season has been replaced by anxiety about seeking re-election yet again.
A new spirit is said to prevail at Fellows Park, a lively new chairman - Mr Thomas, an experienced new manager in Bill Moore, formerly Aston Villa's trainer and a new trainer in Vic Potts. However, there is little evidence of a anew spirit being shown by the team on the field. They could only hold Torquay to a goal less draw, with the visitors' best forward Collins hobbling on the wing for much of the game.
It was the old, old story, with Walsall dominating the play but unable to get the ball in the net. Savage, tall and clumsy in appearance,created a favourable impression, drawing gasps from the crowd by his ability to pluck high balls out of the air. The other newcomer, Murray, a red headed inside right, had a very poor game, missing three reasonable chances to score early on and was hardly seen thereafter.
McPherson, after a succession of injuries, has lost his former dominance at centre half and as a result the whole of the defence seemed to suffer. Hodgkisson was at his cleverest at inside forward, but found little response from either centre forward Richards or outside left Taylor, both of whom had bad games. Torquay were well served by centre half Northcott and right half Norman, in a game which resolved into a purely defensive one for them following Collins' injury.
SATURDAY 25TH JANUARY, 1958 Attendance 58,000
F.A. CUP FOURTH ROUND AT THE HAWTHORNS, WEST BROMWICH
WEST BROMWICH ALBION 3 (Robson, Kevan, Allen)
Sanders; Howe, Williams (S.G.); Setters, Kennedy, Barlow (capt);
Griffin, Robson, Allen, Kevan, Horobin;
NOTTINGHAM FOREST 3 (Imlach, Wilson 2,1 pen)
Thompson; Whare, Thomas: Morley, McKinley, Burkitt (capt);
Gray, Quigley, Wilson, Bailey, Imlach;
Referee:- A.E. Ellis, Halifax
This game promised to be the tie of the round with Albion second in the league and Forest newly promoted from the Second Division threatening to regain their splendid form of early season. Indeed the game attracted 58,000 spectators, the largest crowd of the day, although this would probably have been beaten had not the Everton v Blackburn tie been postponed.
After a quick thaw the ground ws very wet and greasy. The players of both sides had difficulty in keeping their feet. The first half did not produce a goal and play was fairly even although Albion were handicapped by an injury to Allen, who spent most of the half limping on the left wing. Forest's chief threat was their left flank with skipper Jack Burkitt and former Spurs and England inside forward Eddie Bailey pushing the ball through to speedy winger Stewart Imlach who had England's right back Don Howe in trouble on occasions.
It was Imlach who opened the scoring ten minutes or so after the interval when he slid the ball past Sanders while the Albion defence stood still waiting for an off side decision. This goal provided the stimulus to sting Albion into action and playing some really brilliant football they proceeded to crash home three goals in four minutes!
First of all Barlow plough his way through the midfield mud to the edge of the penalty area, pushed the ball throughThomas' legs and there was Robson running in to crash the ball into the net. Two minutes later the powerful Kevan pucked up the ball just inside the Forest half and was off for goal, brushing aside three attempted tackles on the way, he then let fly from the left hand corner of the penalty area and there was the ball nestling in the far corner of the net.
Immediately Albion were away again, their forwards interchanging with bewildering speed, and there was Horobin in the inside right position pushing the ball inside for Allen to score the third. The huge crowd were ecstatic after this remarkable turn of events and roared their appreciation for this marvellous effort by Albion.
The goal rush continued and this time it was Forest who scored. Wilson it was with a first time shot following an Imlach cross. This goal put heart back into #forest who cold have been quite easily demoralised by such an onslaught. Another shot from Imlach appeared to be going wide of the post when Barlow suddenly stuck out a hand stopped the ball. A penalty and Wilson scored again to make it 3-3. What excitement and a replay to come at Nottingham on Wednesday.
In that replay Albion amazingly won 5-1 - details of the next round with Sheffield United to follow.
SATURDAY 1ST FEBRUARY 1958
LEAGUE DIVISION ONE AT VILLA PARK, BIRMINGHAM
ASTON VILLA 1 (McParland) BLACKPOOL 1 (Taylor) Attendance 47,499
Sims; Lynn, Jones;; Crowe, Crowther Saward;
Smith, Sewell, Hitchens, Hazelden, McParland;
Farm; Armfield, Wright; Fenton, Gratrix, Kelly;
Matthews, Taylor, Charnley, Durie, Perry;
Stanley Matthews celebrated his forty third birthday today and as he came onto the field the crowd joined in a chorus of 'Happy Birthday to you' played over the loudspeakers. In direct opposition to Matthews was Villa's new signing from Luton Town, Leslie Jones.
Villa did most of the attacking during the first half and took the lead when Sewell swung the ball across from the right touchline. Hitchens missed the ball in front of goal, but McParland was following up and crashed it home from close range. The Blackpool side were however playing the best football, although little was seen of Matthews. The left wing pair of Durie and Perry, both strong and fast, were especially prominent. They were able to beat men with absolute ease and confidence, but their shooting was very poor.
Indeed the best shot of the half came from Blackpool's left half and captain Hugh Kelly. He shot from the edge of the area towards the corner of the net but Sims flung himself full length to catch the ball brilliantly. The only other near miss was a splendid header by Charnley from a Matthews cross which went just past the post. Half time 1-0.
During the second half Matthews, and consequently Blackpool, came more into the game and Villa were handicapped by an injury to their captain, Stan Lynn, which sent him out to the left wing, Crowe to right back and McParland to left half. Blackpool equalised with a picture goal, a long precision pass from Matthews to Taylor, Taylor to Charnley, then back inside to Taylor who had only to side foot the ball into the net.
Saward the deputy centre half, had a splendid first half, but his grip on Charnley seemed to be relaxing. Villa were very lucky when the referee penalised Saward for a tackle on Charnely, from which the centre forward had recovered and looked likely to score. McParland then had a great chance, but hit the crossbar from an incredibly short range.
Matthews was now playing to the gallery, jinking past Villa's defenders with incredible ease, but Jones distinguished himself by kicking one of Durie's few accurate shots off the goal line, so honours even.
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