New book on the blond bombshell
THE greatest two-footed crosser of a ball ever – that is how more than one person described Alan Hinton to me.
You have only to trawl through You Tube to see countless examples of the man’s ability to pinpoint his pals in the Derby County teams that won the top League honours in 1971-1972 and 1974-1975.
But keep watching. There is also ample evidence of “Hinton’s Hammer” – the ferocious shooting from distance with either of those white boots. And all those penalties – usually with the right foot to counter the assumption of some that the blond left winger was a soccer southpaw.
In fact, he was equally adept with either leg – something learned at the club that nurtured him, the club that he idolized as a kid, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Choirboy
Alan Hinton was raised in a loving family with three boys in Wednesfield. The choirboy would watch the mighty Wolves from the terraces whilst keeping a weather eye for empty beer bottles that he and his mate could collect the deposits on.
He would ask visiting supporters for their clubs’ programmes. And he practiced his game constantly as he went through school representative honours and on to the groundstaff at Molineux. It was here that the likes of Jimmy Mullen took young “Noddy” under his wing as the lad was converted from an inside forward and rose through the various teams that Wolves ran in the Wolverhampton Amateur League, the Worcestershire Combination, the Birmingham League and then on to the second XI in the Central League.
Buses
In the new book Triumph and Tragedy, Alan Hinton goes into depth about his upbringing, both in Wednesfield but also in the Wolves organization. How he and John Kirkham would take several buses each day to and from training at Molineux and Castlecroft.
How he played under an assumed name for a Police team before he was rumbled as a ringer. How Ted Farmer was the bravest player he ever shared a dressing room with. How he made his debut against Huddersfield in 1961, only to get badly injured in a car crash in Birmingham that very evening.
How he found out that he had been selected, aged 19, for England by hearing someone mention it in a bookmaker’s shop. And how hugely important
to him was the dedicated work of the backroom boys at Wolves, notably Bill Shorthouse, Joe Gardiner, Jack Dowen and George Noakes.
It is no secret that Alan Hinton respected Stan Cullis but did not relish his approach to management. Hinton describes how his father marched into Molineux and urged the Iron Manager to handle his boy in a different way, saying that if he did “he will play for England one day”.
Swapped
Ultimately Cullis made what, for many, was his biggest ever mistake by swapping Alan Hinton for Nottingham Forest’s Dick Le Flem, a few days after the clubs had met and in which Alan had flashed his fingers at the Molineux Street crowd. In the book, Hinton expresses his huge regret over that, not least because the catcalls had not been addressed at him, but rather Chris Crowe. To this day he believes that if Cullis had insisted that he apologize to the fans and let the page be turned, then he would have gladly stayed at Molineux.
Instead, it was off to the City Ground and an England recall. Thence to Derby and his integral role in the Clough, Taylor, and Mackay years.
But then came the tragedy and the death of his 9-year-old son. The Hintons rediscovered their life in North America, with Alan having a particularly sensational season in Tony
Waiters’ and Les Wilson’s Vancouver Whitecaps, before himself turning to a successful coaching career, in professional and youth soccer, notably in Seattle, where he still resides.
Pairing
Apart from his own words, the Alan Hinton story is told through the recollections of many former colleagues throughout his career in England and North America. Terry Wharton, the other half of the dynamic wing-pairing in the 1962-1963 season at Wolves, tells of an ill-fated holiday. Vic Povey speaks of how Alan nigh on got him killed in one of their car rides together to Nottingham, when Alan was with Forest and Vic with Notts County. Ted Farmer, Ray Crawford, Peter Mcparland, Ken Knighton, Jim Barron, and the late Fred Davies are among others who shared their memories.
Wonders
One of the forewords to the book was penned by Bob Wilson, who had been a colleague of Alan Hinton’s in the Wolves reserve side before being on the receiving end of the winger’s wonders when keeping goal for Arsenal.
“I still shudder at the thought of the blond bombshell waltzing down the wing and then delivering devastating crosses to waiting heads. He loved to score goals, but just how many did he make,
with his amazing crosses?
“They talk about assists these days: he would surely have been the top in that statistic if it had existed in the old First Division in the ’60s and ’70s.
“There was a fluency about his movement. He got down that wing and would cross from impossible positions. Just give him half a yard and he would do you. He was top drawer, in my opinion the best left winger in the country when he was at Derby.”
Triumph and Tragedy will be available soon from GP Publications – watch this space for more details.
■ Wolves fans may also be interested to know that Bob Banniser’s book, Wolves England Internationals: 1887 to Present Day, will also be available soon from the same publisher. The title currently has more than 60 pre-orders, and subscriptions are still welcomed – subscribers will have their names printed in the book. It will now feature a
foreword by Wolves and England captain Conor Coady.
Email gpbooks@hotmail.co. uk for more information, or send a cheque £15 (plus a further £5 if you require postage) to Clive Corbett, 248 Mount Pleasant, Kingswinford, DY6 9SW. Make cheques payable to Corbettnco Ltd.