1960-61 - Part six (Walsall v Shrewsbury)

Posted by Tony Hutton

WEDNESDAY 26TH APRIL, 1961

LEAGUE DIVISION THREE AT GAY MEADOW, SHREWSBURY

SHREWSBURY TOWN 1 (Rowley) WALSALL 2 (Taylor, Askey)     Attendance 18,917 

Gibson; Walters, Skeech; Wallace, Pountney, Harley;
Jones, Starkey, Baker, Rowley, McLoughlin;

Christie; Palin, Sharples; Hill, McPherson, Dudley;
Askey, Hodgkisson, Wilson, Richards, Taylor;

Referee:-  H. Callaghan, Stockport

This memorable game took place on the Wednesday night after the game with Grimsby. Walsall in sight of an unbelievable second promotion in two seasons brought with them a huge army of fans. Their main promotion rivals Queens Park Rangers were also in action away at Reading. If Walsall won and QPR lost the Saddlers would be promoted to the Second Division together with Bury who were already up. So a night of high drama and a record crowd inside the ground meant that many were locked out and found vantage points on the nearby railway embankment.

       

       

                                                       

After all the euphoria Walsall drew their last match the following Saturday 2-2 away at Barnsley. Their record for the season, in which they were unbeaten at home was as follows:-

Played 46 Won 28 Drawn 6 Lost 12 Goals for 98 against 60 Points 62
Top Scorer was Tony Richards with 36 goals, closely followed by Colin Taylor with 32.

Manager Bill Moore had put together a team made up largely from players not considered good enough by local first division sides, or were perhaps considered to be past their best. Probably the shrewdest signing was that of centre forward Tommy Wilson from Notts Forest where he had won an F.A. Cup winners medal. He linked up so well with record goal scorer Tony Richards, who moved to inside left and Colin Taylor, providing both with a lot of their goals. They same could be said of ball playing inside forward Ken Hodgkisson, from West Bromwich Albion who worked tirelessly in midfield. Colin Askey, on the right wing, had success with Port Vale before moving to Walsall and will always be remembered for that winning goal at Shrewsbury.

The defence has it's moments but overall the calmness of veteran goalkeeper John Christie from Southampton, Granville Palin from Wolves at right back and John Sharples from Villa provided an excellent rearguard, marshalled so well by centre half Albert McPherson. He was a no nonsense defender but could play football and used the ball well at all times, The two wing halves Kenny Hill, a local boy who would sometimes come to games on his bike, and Jimmy Dudley Scottish international when with Albion, provided a mixture of youth and experience which blended perfectly.

There was of course much speculation as to whether the Saddlers could hold their own in the higher division, whether they could hold on to star wingman Colin Taylor who had been watched by a lot of first division clubs and whether their basically three sided ground was good enough.

To find out what happened next read the next thrilling instalment when lowly Walsall take on the might of Sunderland at Fellows Park in their first match on 1961-62!


One other game at the end of 1960-61 is worth a mention. As shown below England beat Scotland by a margin of 9-3 at Wembley.