Kenny Hibbitt – deal of the century?
Born: Bradford, 3 January 1951 Wolves 1968-1984 Club Honours: Texaco Cup (1971), UEFA Cup runners-up (1972), League Cup (1974, 1980), Division 2 champions (1976-77). Hall of Fame (2011). Appearances (Goals) League 466* (89), FA Cup 47**(10), League Cup 36**(12), Other 25**(3). Total 574# (114). *Includes 19 as substitute, **Includes 1 as substitute, #Includes 22 as substitute.
RONNIE Allen’s purchase of Kenny Hibbitt from his home town club, Bradford Park Avenue, for £5,000 in November 1968 must rate as one of the deals of the century.
Spotted by chief scout Joe Gardiner at 16 years of age, Kenny went on to serve Wolves for 16 years, making a first appearance coming on for John Farrington in a 1-0 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion on 12th April 1969.
During the close season the 18-year-old Hibbitt came to wider attention when he was named player of the tournament at the Europea-festival in Altrip, a competition that involved junior teams of European luminaries like Inter Bratislava, Eintract Frankfurt and FC Bologna.
Full debut
Kenny had to wait 17 months for a full debut and it came at a soggy Stamford Bridge on 12th September 1970 where Chelsea quickly raced into a twogoal lead. Hibbitt fired home left-footed to reduce the arrears in a game that ended 2-2 and remembers the day distinctly: “I waited a long time for my full debut. I had a cartilage out that set me back a little bit but then I started at Chelsea. It was nice to score on my debut and I went on from there, a magnificent occasion and I wanted more of it.”
That December Hibbitt was selected to represent England at Under-23 level in their match against Wales at Wrexham; scandalously it was to be his sole international cap. He would later be picked for an England B-team tour but a broken ankle cost him the chance.
On the 2nd January 1971 a flying header in a 5-1 win over Norwich City in the cup saw him become the first Wolves player to score on his full league and FA Cup debuts since Terry Wharton. Kenny would score in the return match with the Londoners in February and in his breakthrough season he made 32 starts, scoring 3 goals.
The following campaign Kenny played in all but two of Wolves’ UEFA Cup matches that took them to final disappointment against Tottenham Hotspur. Kenny, who scored twice along the way, comments: “We didn’t get beaten once until the bloody final. We’d been all over the eastern bloc and were magnificent away from home.”
In 1972-73 he was a fixture in the team that finished fifth in the league but lost in the semifinals of both FA and League cups. But this disappointment was put aside on March 2nd 1974 when Wolves beat Manchester City 2-1 at Wembley in the League cup final. Hibbitt put Wolves ahead with the outside of his right foot just before half time, as he recalls: “It came off the top of my foot. Geoff Palmer put in a great cross and
John Richards was coming away from goal, banged his leg up and just missed it. I had got into position to volley it, but just lost it for a second and mistimed it. But it might have been the best thing that happened because it went in any way.
“Keith Mcrae in goal went for it and all I saw was him grabbing thin air as it dropped over him. I knew it was in and I was on my run before it hit the back of the net.” Although the team would be relegated to Division 2 in 1976, in 1974-75 Kenny enjoyed a splendid season, playing 45 of 46 games and finishing top scorer with 17 goals. He scored nine penalties that term, and became the first midfield player to score two league hattricks in a season, one of which was a four-timer at Molineux against Newcastle United and his brother Terry.
Champions
Kenny helped the club to promotion as champions to the top flight at the first attempt in its centenary year of 1977. In the 1978-79 season he fulfilled a lifelong ambition of becoming team captain, and that November even had an outing as emergency substitute goalkeeper at Tottenham.
Under the leadership of John Barnwell and Richie Barker Wolves progressed to an FA Cup semi-final, losing out to Arsenal. The following campaign Kenny was one of the four 1974 ‘veterans’ (Mcalle, Palmer and Richards the others) who returned to play in and win the League Cup against Nottingham Forest on 15th March 1980. The next month he scored his 100th Wolves goal in a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane.
1980-81 was Hibbitt’s testimonial season, marking his then twelve years at the club. It almost ended in an FA Cup final appearance, thwarted only by Spurs after a replay.
His testimonial match took place on Sunday 23rd August 1981, ending in a 2-1 victory over Derby County, and one of the biggest joys of the day was a fifteen-minute appearance as substitute by Peter Knowles.
During the following summer the club was engulfed by the storm clouds of imminent bankruptcy and Kenny took up an offer to play for Seattle Sounders, spending three and a half months there. He netted the winning goal to get the Sounders into the NASL play-off final where they took on Pele’s New York Cosmos.
Kenny returned to help Graham Hawkins to take Wolves back to Division 1 and in March 1983 made his 450th league appearance, at Oldham Athletic. The following month he scored his last goal for the club in a 1-1 draw at Rotherham United. Kenny then featured in over half of the games in the disastrous top-flight league season of 1983-84 but was helpless to turn the tide of inevitable relegation. After almost sixteen years with Wolves, he left on a free transfer to Coventry City in the summer of 1984, spending two years with the Sky Blues before joining Bristol Rovers. It was at Twerton Park in February 1988 against Sunderland that Kenny suffered a broken leg, but with his playing career ended he stayed on as assistant manager to Gerry Francis – together they led the team to the Division 3 title in 1990.
Memorable
A memorable moment during his time with the Pirates came in March 1989 when they inflicted on Wolves a first home loss for 13 months. Kenny was afforded a rapturous welcome as he made his way to the away team dug-out a n d remembers it well: “The supporters had always been great to me but the reception I got that day really took me by surprise. I thought some people might recognise me, but when I walked out of the tunnel and the whole ground started, my legs just turned to jelly. “I was full up, I couldn’t believe the reception. It was marvellous, the greatest moment of my career, as good as winning the League Cup at Wembley.
Hibbitt was later manager of both Walsall (from 1990 to 1994, taking them to the Division 3 play-offs in 1994) and Cardiff City, later becoming Director of Football at Ninian Park.
Tributes:
I was on my run before the ball hit the back of the net Kenny Hibbitt recalls his goal in the League Cup final, 1974
Stan Cullis (watching in 1974): “Wolves have such a lot of good youngsters who never stop running, and what a shot Ken Hibbitt has.”
Sammy Chung: “He had this extraordinary ability to open up doors with his passing. As a manager and a coach it was a pleasure to work with him because no matter what you asked him to do, he did it.
“He was a model professional and they were certainly happy days working with him.”
Ronnie Allen (who signed Kenny for £5,000 only to be sacked the next day):
“I felt sorry for Kenny – he must have wondered what on earth he was coming to.
“I was delighted when he came to the club because I always thought he would turn out to be a good player.
“He was a good worker and a quick learner who had good self-discipline. One thing is certain – Wolves certainly had their money’s worth from him.”
John Richards: “Kenny was talented, exciting and always likely to pull something out of the bag.
“He could strike the ball as sweetly as anybody in the game; it was effortless.
“His performance and four goals against Newcastle was a master class of midfield play and scoring – it was a privilege to have been on the same pitch as him.”