DAYS OF GLORY
Season 1960-61 Part Two
Days of glory in the early ’60s
THE arrival of left-winger Clive Clark, a £20,000 signing from QPR, helped Albion escape relegation …as did the scoring form of Derek Kevan who found the net seven times in the last eight games to end the season with a League tally of 18.
Meanwhile, there were celebrations all round for Walsall who finished second in Division Three to gain promotion, having won the Fourth Division title just twelve months earlier.
They ended the season on a high, losing only one of their last 13 matches … and they actually won 18 of their last 26 League games to power up the table from 17th to second.
A truly great achievement as they returned to the second tier for the first time in sixty years.
In the end the Saddlers won 28 and drew 6 of their 46 games, scoring 98 goals in the process.
Unbeaten at Fellows Park, their biggest victories were those of 6-2 versus Port Vale, 5-1 over
Southend and 5-2 over Watford, all at home.
Goals
Tony Richards (36) and winger Colin Taylor (33) led the goal rush, while inform John Christie was an ever-present between the sticks. As FA Cup holders,
Wolves unfortunately went out of the competition in round three, beaten 2-1 in a replay by Huddersfield Town. Albion also succumbed at this stage, defeated 3-1 by Lincoln
City at Sincil Bank, while Walsall were eliminated in round one, losing 1-0 at home to nonleague side Yeovil Town.
A new competition came into force in 1960-61 – the Football League Cup. Of our three clubs, only Walsall entered at the outset and they unfortunately fell by the wayside early doors, beaten 3-1 by
Everton at Goodison Park. Albion did not enter until 1965, Wolves followed a year later.
Checking out 1960-61, two wingers, Gerry Mannion and
Des Horne, both left Molineux … Ronnie Allen left The Hawthorns for Crystal Palace after scoring 234 goals in 415 games for Albion. Joe Kennedy also left the Baggies for Chester after appearing in almost 400 matches for the club in 11 seasons.
Alan Everiss took over as club secretary at The Hawthorns (from Eph Smith) … and for the first time since December 1955, Walsall had a home attendance of over 16,400.