The fabulous footballing Fifties!
PAT TALBOT continues his look back at the golden age of Black Country football ... the 1950s. Here are some more local lads who starred in FA Cup finals
The 1958 Cup Final: Bolton Wanderers 2 Manchester United 0
BOLTON’S Dennis Stevens was born in Dudley in 1933; Stan Crowther of Manchester United was born in Bilston in 1935.
Albion and Wolves were both knocked out in the 6th round by these two finalists.
There was huge public sympathy for Manchester United in the 1958 final because of the Munich air crash, in which they had lost the core of their first team squad. They had to piece together a replacement team of survivors, reserves and players acquired from other teams for League and Cup games.
One of the latter was Villa’s Stan Crowther, signed immediately before the semi-final with special dispensation from the FA to play for a different club in the same cup season, a unique record.
Dummy
Dennis Stevens was inside right for Bolton. He was Duncan Edwards’s cousin and he had been scouted to become a Bolton junior in 1950. Dennis was to play league football from 1953 to 1967, principally with Bolton 1953-61 (253 games and 90 goals) and Everton 1961-65 (120 games and 20 goals).
Dennis played two parts in the build-up to Bolton’s second goal: selling a dummy for the ball to reach a better-placed colleague and firing in a left foot shot, which United goalkeeper Harry Gregg stopped, only for Nat Lofthouse to bundle keeper and ball over the line.
The 1959 FA Cup final: Nottingham Forest 2 Luton Town 1
Jack Burkitt (Nottingham Forest) was born in Wednesbury in 1926.
This was another of the ’50s finals that made the case for the use of substitutes in football. Forest were two goals up in 14 minutes but lost Roy Dwight to a broken leg in a little over half an hour. Although Luton got a goal back, Forest were able to hang on to the slim lead and win the cup.
Jack Burkitt was inspirational for Forest from the left half position. As club captain, he received the FA Cup, the last Black Countryman to do so in the FA Cup final.
Jack had played for Darlaston before being signed by Forest in May 1947. The man who brought him to the City Ground was another Black Countryman from Wednesbury, Billy Walker, the great Villa star of the 1920s. Walker was still manager in 1959. Jack was initially a centre half but converted to left half and played for Forest for all his professional career: 463 games from 1948-49 to 1961-62.
The 1960 FA Cup final: Wolves 3 Blackburn Rovers 0
George Showell (Wolves) born in Bilston in 1934; Norman Deeley (Wolves) born in Wednesbury in 1933.
For the second successive season, Albion’s hopes of an FA Cup final appearance vanished in a fifth round exit.
There was not a lot of goodwill around the 1959-60 final. All was not well in the Blackburn
camp prior to the game, following poor league form. Indeed, centre-forward Derek Dougan (later to become a Molineux favourite) is said to have submitted a transfer request an hour before the final kicked off!
There was hard tackling from both sides, Blackburn’s Dave Whelan was carried off with a broken leg and some Lancashire fans booed Wolves when they were presented with the cup. Wolves, disappointed at being pipped to the First Division championship by Burnley, were determined to carry off the trophy.
Pounced
They won comfortably with two goals from pint-sized winger Norman Deeley. The Wednesbury man took his first nicely and pounced on a Blackburn mistake for his second.
Deeley began his career at Molineux in 1951 and managed 206 games and 66 goals for them until 1961, when he left for Leyton Orient.
Bilston-born George Showell was very solid in defence for Wolves, characteristic of his 200 appearances from 1954-64. He went on to finish his career with Bristol City and Wrexham.