Sixties violence ruined the game for my dad
I recently made a very sad discovery in the loft, a letter sent by my father, Reg Corbett, to the Express & Star in September 1969.
That Dad sent a letter was no surprise to me, but the fury and passion is telling, even well over fifty years on.
This is shown in the breathless, almost unpunctuated manner of his writing. The reason for his missive was his experience on the South Bank at Molineux the previous Saturday, 6th September. This was of course Peter Knowles’ last match for Wolves, something that Steve Gordos brilliantly covered in the Bugle last year to mark the 50th anniversary.
On the pitch Hugh Curran (twice) and Derek Dougan scored to give the hosts a comfortable lead over Nottingham Forest, an advantage that was cancelled out in a crazy second half by one on 67 minutes from Welsh winger Ronnie Rees and a Henry Newton brace on 61 and 70. It left Wolves boss Bill Mcgarry moaning: “I find it hard to recall a game in which a team made more chances with so few conversions. Perhaps it would have been better if we had not scored our third!” But events on the pitch sadly spawned shocking scenes on the terraces.
For this reason my abiding memory of the game is that of a first-hand introduction to hooliganism as home ‘supporters’ from the North Bank invaded the South Bank and visiting ‘fans’ kicked in the back of the South Bank and skimmed sheets of corrugated asbestos into the crowd below.
As advised in Dad’s letter, the club rectified things structurally by replacing the metal with wooden boards. But my dad found it difficult ever to regain his enthusiasm for football in the ‘new age’ and having begun to follow Wolves in the war years he would never again be a regular visitor to Molineux.
Family
Up until then he had regularly taken a group of friends, family and me every fortnight, something that he felt too risky to continue.
Interestingly, Peter Knowles himself quoted the blight of hooliganism as one of the reasons for turning his back on the game: “I think sport has gone out of football myself. It’s getting a big business and there’s that much at stake, well anything can happen and it’s the same with the crowds.
“At one time a woman would never go to a football match, but now there’s all women in the crowd. There’s people getting smashed over the head with bottles, there’s people getting stabbed and I can see that it’s going to come to a big climax in one game.”
Amongst other matters he may well have been referring to the invasion of the North Bank by Manchester United fans a few weeks earlier which had led to fights, and bottles and coins being thrown, not to mention the events at the other end of the stadium on the day of his departure.
At a time when matches are being played behind closed doors, I hope that the hooligan minority, who are still there though hiding in the shadows, wake up to what they are missing and stop blighting the game that we all love. As far as Reg Corbett was concerned the experience of September 1969 killed his love forever and in tribute to him I reproduce his letter in full below.
On a final note, it seems that Bill Mcgarry also accepted some football advice from Dad, signing Mike O’grady from Leeds United for £80,000 very soon afterwards. Mike made his debut just 17 days after Dad’s letter was published.
Molineux ‘fans’ struck fear
For the first time in over 25 years of supporting Wolves from the comparative sanity and safety of the South Bank, I was frightened for the safety of my wife and the four young boys we take to each home game, during the match against Notts. Forest, the sadistic September 6.
The opening of the gates before the end of the game, thus allowing the lunatics from the North Bank to enter and mingle with their juvenile counterparts from Nottingham, was the sole reason for the wave of terror that swept across the people who had come to the match.
If these gates must be opened for the convenience of people who wish to leave early, it is imperative that half a dozen police keep out the mob element, who change ends “to help Wolves score” when attacking the South Bank end in the second-half.
The Forest fans were far from blameless. They kicked in the corrugated sheeting at the back of the stand and hurled pieces of this into the crowd along with bottles, as a sign of their elation when their team were handed a point on a plate.
Incidentally, this sheeting is regularly kicked in by rival fans. The first time this was done by West Bromwich Albion fans the week before they were awarded a prize for being the best behaved supporters in the country.
Wolves again, if only in the interests of economy and safety, must consider replacing this with metal sheeting.
Finally, to the vexed question of bottles on the terraces. I suggest Wolves directors visit Hillsborough, Sheffield, where all drinks are served in plastic containers and bottles are never allowed to pass to customers.
I have spoken to a bartender at Molineux and asked why, when plastic cups are provided, they allow customers to pour drinks for themselves – “We haven’t got time” was the answer. But the hospital doctors, who have to attend to the reluctant recipients of hurled bottles, have to make time.
Bottles
No, Wolves – a printed notice “Strictly forbidden to carry bottles beyond this point” at each entrance is hardly likely to deter these idiots who really delight in showing contempt for the police, who have a thankless job trying to protect the people who come to watch the match.
As a measure designed at trying to isolate these 14 to 18-year olds, few of whom, I contend, can be classed as genuine football supporters, might I suggest that, over each turnstile on the North Bank, notices to the following effect be displayed: “People who have come to watch the game are advised to go on the South Bank”, and follow this up with instructions to the police not to interfere with any mob warfare that breaks out in the aptly nicknamed ‘cow shed’, in the fervent hope that these hooligans will obliterate each other and bring sanity back to football crowds.
On a closing note, and as an answer to the Peter Knowles epic, has it escaped Bill Mcgarry’s notice that Leeds have placed Mike O’grady on the transfer list? Or given a thought to Dave Woodfield at full-back?
R.A. Corbett, 22c Broad Street, Pensnett, Brierley Hill.