SATURDAY 3RD MARCH 1962
LEAGUE DIVISION TWO AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL 1 (Hodgkisson) LIVERPOOL 1 (A'Court) Attendance 13,660
Boswell; Palin, Sharples; Hill, McPherson (capt), Dudley;
Meek, Hodgkisson, Foster, Richards, Taylor;
Furnell; Byrne, Moran; Milne, Yeats, Leishman;
Callaghan, Hunt, St. John, Melia, A'Court;
Referee:- R.H. Windle, Chesterfield
The Liverpool team at Walsall 1962
Liverpool who were well on their way back to the First Division introduced their new £20,000 signing from Burnley Jim Furnell in goal. Walsall may have had worries about the visitor's star studded forward line but the put up a splendid display and very nearly beat the league leaders. It was in fact Liverpool's first visit to play Walsall since 1893 - things have changed a bit since then!
Furnell was soon in action in the Liverpool goal but was lucky when a goal kick struck Foster and rebounded towards goal, fortunately for him Ron Yeats got back in time to clear. Then the Liverpool keeper saved the day by diving at the feet of Richards before he got a shot away. Walsall's Colin Taylor brought the crowd alight with one of his left foot 'specials' which crashed into the side netting.
Liverpool's quick passing in midfield looked good but they failed to carve out many real opportunities and the Walsall defence looked quite comfortable although Boswell did well to save a header from Roger Hunt following a corner. Furnell made several more good saves before the interval when Walsall had really been the better side. Half time 0-0.
Walsall were again on top for the first ten minutes of the second half with Furnell again called into
action on a regular basis. However in 55 minutes a hotly disputed goal brought a great roar of protest from the crowd. After a corner on the right Boswell was pushed by Melia during a hectic goalmouth
scramble. Walsall appealed strongly for a foul, but A'Court calmly hit the ball into the net through a crowd of players and the referee awarded a goal despite Walsall's protests.
The angry crowd got right behind Walsall as they pressed hard for an equaliser, Richards and Taylor both going close. Ken Hill was having another great game in midfield for the Saddlers as he had all season and the strength of the half back line has been a major plus point. All this pressure eventually
paid off in the 76th minute when Foster passed to Richards who sent over a high cross for Meek who headed it inside to Hodgkisson who scored with a left foot shot from 15 yards. The crowd went wild and Walsall seemed to scent victory over the league leaders.
Despite constant pressure Liverpool held on for the draw with Ron Yeats making an important clearance just before the end when Foster's fine pass put Colin Taylor through again. A great performance by the home side against such quality opposition.
SATURDAY 17TH MARCH, 1962
LEAGUE DIVISION TWO AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL 3 (Taylor, Richards 2) BURY 0 Attendance 10,184
Boswell; Palin, Sharples; Hill, McPherson, Dudley;
Meek, Hodgkisson, Foster, Richards, Taylor;
Harker; Gallagher, Eastham; Turner, Stokoe, May;
Calder, Beaumont, Hickson, Jackson, Hubbard;
Jimmy Dudley, Walsall's left half had a superb game showing all the experience gained while with West Bromwich Albion he dominated the game with his precision passing and often out jumped taller opponents to win the ball in the air. Walsall's defence were rarely troubled and it was full back Sharples, whose constructive clearances have become his trademark, who put Taylor away down the left to score after eleven minutes with a typical left foot hammer blow. Another Taylor effort was pushed over the bar by goalkeeper Harker who was massaging his fingers for some time afterwards.
The other full back, Granville Palin, restored to his normal position was well in control of Bury's left winger Hubbard and had time to race into attack on several occasion making Harker dive full length to save at the foot of a post. Taylor was back to his best on the left wing and his speed off the mark made his goal look off side, at least to the Bury defence, but not to experienced referee Reg Leafe.
Another shot from Taylor brought the second goal. His shot looked to be going wide when Richards appeared to turn it into the net from close range. Richards had got the ball into the net three minutes earlier but the referee ruled he had elbowed a defender off the ball. Half time 2-0.
The second half was rather a drab affair, with Walsall satisfied with their two goal lead and Bury were handicapped by the loss of wing half May just ten minutes after the re-start. He was trying to stop George Meek breaking through and unfortunately collided with his own goalkeeper. He was helped off by the two trainers with a knee injury and did not return. Bury's ten men showed little ambition and they may be making a quick return to the Third Division.
The only remaining excitement came ten minutes before the end when another fine clearance from Sharples found Foster, who has now settled into the centre forward role, he in turn passed to Tony Richards who had no problem in scoring with his left foot to put the game well beyond Bury. Meek had his usual lively game on the right wing and inside forward Ken Hodgkisson earned praise from the Birmingham Post's reporter for being to clever for his colleagues, some of his incisive passes catching them unawares!
WEDNESDAY 21ST MARCH, 1962
INTER LEAGUE MATCH AT VILLA PARK, BIRMINGHAM
FOOTBALL LEAGUE 3 (Hunt 2, Haynes) SCOTTISH LEAGUE 4 Attendance 18,429
Springett (Sheffield Wed); Armfield (Blackpool), Wilson (Huddersfield Town); Miller (Burnley),
Swan (Sheffield Wed), Flowers (Wolves); Jackson (WBA), Hunt (Liverpool), Crawford (Ipswich),
Haynes (Fulham), Charlton (Manchester Utd);
Connachan (Dunfermline); Hamilton (Dundee), Caldow (Rangers); Crerand (Celtic), McNeill (Celtic), Fraser (Dundee Utd); Scott (Rangers), Quinn (Motherwell), Millar (Rangers), Brand (Rangers), Wilson (Rangers);
Referee:- C.W. Kingston, Newport
As the above assorted press headlines suggest England's preparations for the forthcoming 1962 World Cup in Chile were thrown into confusion by this splendid display by the Scottish League side in front of a very poor crowd at Villa Park. In view of the talent on view it is hard to see why the Birmingham public stayed away. Man of the match was undoubtedly Dave Wilson the fair haired Rangers left winger with three goals. He was not alone as the standard of football from the Scottish side should the English side in a pretty poor light.
The Scotsmen soon found weaknesses on England's right flank with newcomers Alec Jackson and Brian Miller looking out of their class. Poor Jimmy Armfield tried manfully to stop the flow of attacks put far too often got little support. The Scottish side took the lead after 29 minutes following Scott's corner on the right. Springett pushed out Quinn's shot but only as far as Brand who fired home. Five minutes later wing half Fraser evaded Ron Flower's challenge and put Wilson away down the left. The winger cut in and beat Springett with a fine shot into the far corner.
The English League side did get back into the game just before half time with a move started by goalkeeper Ron Springett. His throw put Jackson in possession on the right, he pushed it through to Crawford who found Roger Hunt about twenty yards out and he hit a convincing left foot shot into the net. Half time 1-2.
The English side came out with more determination and Flowers and Haynes began to gain control in midfield. Hunt scored another magnificent goal this time with his right foot after Crawford's good work on the left just two minutes into the second half. It looked as though the Football League might take the game when after an hour's play Charlton pushed a short free kick to the onrushing Haynes, who cleverly flicked the ball home despite goalkeeper Connachan getting a hand to it, to give them the lead.
The lead was short lived as the Scots bounced back almost immediately and in the 62nd minute centre forward Millar, who had appeared to foul Brian Miller, was allowed to play on and put Wilson away yet again to race through and beat Springett with ease to make it 3-3. The game then went through a period of stalemate with few attempts on goal and although the English had been outplayed for much of the game it looked as though they might steal a draw.
It was not to be although the Scots left it late, until the 89th minute to be precise. Centre forward Millar, who had a quiet game against Peter Swan, flicked the ball from the bye line on to Wilson, who hit it with the outside of his right foot into the net for the winning goal and his personal hat-trick.
The jubilant Scots now looked ahead to the full international with England at Hampden Park next month, where it was rumoured they might field a full team of Scottish League players and leave out all the Anglo-Scots they have relied on for so long.
(In fact only three of tonight's Scottish team played at Hampden and Anglo-Scots Bill Brown, Dennis Law, Ian St.John and John White all played. England fielded seven of tonight's team and still lost 2-0).
FRIDAY 30TH MARCH, 1962
LEAGUE DIVISION TWO AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL 3 (Taylor, Allen og, Hill) STOKE CITY 1 (Nibloe) Attendance 16, 570
Boswell; Palin, Sharples; Hill, McPherson, Dudley;
Meek, Hodgkisson, Wilson, Richards, Taylor;
O'Neill; Asprey, Allen; Howitt, Andrew, Skeels;
Matthews, Thompson, Nibloe, Viollet, Ratcliffe;
Referee:- J.A. Cattlin, Rochdale
Star attraction for tonight's 'pay day' match was the old maestro Stanley Matthews still out there on the right wing at the age of 47 for his home town club of Stoke City. Most of those present must have thought this would be the last time they would see him in action. Sadly he was rarely in the game and despite making some neat passes he struck a somewhat lonely figure padding up and down the right wing.
Walsall struck early in the third minute of the game deft passing from Palin, Wilson and Richards set up left winger Colin Taylor with the opportunity to score by smashing home a swerving shot. The goalkeeper O'Neill dived too late and the ball was in the back of the net. In the fifteenth minute Walsall went further ahead when left back Allen under pressure from Tommy Wilson deflected the ball into his own net after Hodgkisson lobbed it into the penalty area.
Walsall were completely in control by this stage and Wilson missed a simple chance with only the goalkeeper to beat. In the 34th minute Ken Hill scored his first goal of the season for the Saddlers and what a goal it was. A corner on the left came to him and he let fly with a 35 yard right foot shot which sped into the far corner of the net.
Stoke sneaked a surprise goal just before half time when Nibloe, who looked offside, gave Boswell no chance with a low shot from just inside the penalty area following a free kick awarded for a foul on Matthews. Half time 3-1.
After the interval Matthews tried hard to get Stoke's forwards into action with some pinpoint passes, but his forward colleagues could not find a breakthrough against the powerful Walsall defence. Dennis Violett, the former Mancheste United star, was a shadow of his former self. Walsall could not match their first half performance but still managed to dominate the game and O'Neill was bombarded from all angles. Another Taylor piledriver had him scrambling on his knees to save at the second attempt..
No further goals then but a series of near misses from Hodgkisson, Meek and Taylor who all went close. Stoke were very lucky to escape without a much heavier defeat.
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