The Story of the Wolves – part 54
AND so we come to the end of ‘The Story of Wolves’ as printed in the Birmingham Gazette in the immediate post-war years.
On 10th February 1944 Major Frank Buckley, having been given a tenyear contract in 1938, shocked the Wolves’ board by resigning as manager.
Dealings
During almost seventeen years at the club he had made £100,000 for them in transfer dealings but, more significantly, had laid firm foundations for the unprecedented glories and trophy-laden years that were to follow between 1949 and 1960.
After receiving over a hundred applications Ted Vizard was appointed the new manager. Vizard had spent the majority of his senior career with Bolton Wanderers, having joined them from Barry Town in 1910. Playing at outsideleft he made almost 500 appearances for the Burnden Park outfit and was awarded 22 full international caps by Wales. He also appeared in three FA Cup finals (1923 – the first at Wembley, 1926 and 1929), winning them all. After retiring from playing he managed Swindon
and Queens Park
Town Rangers.
Vizard was in charge for the post-world War II return of league football in August 1946. A horrendous winter made it the longest football season on record (running for 274 days from 31st August 1946 to 31st May 1947). Of course that was overhauled by the COVID interrupted campaign that lasted for 341 days (by my calculation) from 11th August 2019 to 26th July 2020.
Three players made their debut for the club in the opening day 6-1 thrashing of Arsenal: Bert Williams, Johnny Hancocks and Jesse Pye. The latter, bought from Buckley’s Notts County, scored a hat-trick, with Dennis Westcott netting a double and Jimmy Mullen opening his account.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Vizard gave 16 players their first football league start that season. There was great public excitement across the country at the return to league action after World War II and most home games at Molineux attracted crowds in excess of 40,000 with five topping 50,000, including the first and last games of the campaign.
Seven
At Molineux Wolves scored six goals three times (against Arsenal, Huddersfield Town and Chelsea) and also put seven past Derby County.
Dennis Westcott scored an incredible 38 league goals in only 35 games, a club record. Other regular scorers included Jesse Pye (20), Jimmy Mullen (11) and Johnny Hancocks (10). Westcott, Pye and Hancocks also got a goal apiece in the FA Cup. On September 28th 1946 Billy Wright was awarded the first of his 105 caps for England, being selected for the 7-2 win over Northern Ireland at Windsor Park, Belfast.
Final hurdle
But, just as in 1938, they fell at the final hurdle at home to Liverpool on 31 May. Needing victory to be assured of the title (although as it transpired their superior goal average would have hauled them above Manchester United and kept them a point clear of Liverpool had they drawn) they lost 2-1.
The details of the match, the retirement announcement of Stan Cullis (after 171 starts) and his decision not to hold back Albert Stubbins to deny Liverpool what was effectively a winning goal are all well documented.
To add to the agony of defeat, four from Westcott had helped them to a 5-1 win at Anfield on 7th December but it was all in vain. Despite another near miss, Vizard’s Wolves had won 25 of 42 league games, scoring 98 goals.
The photograph of the Wolves’ team attached to this article and coloured in by my father for his scrapbook was taken earlier in the season and was not the line-up against Liverpool that sweltering May afternoon. Pictured are, from left in the back row: Ted Vizard (manager), Tom Galley, Angus Mclean, Bert Williams, Billy Crook, Billy Wright,
Jack Smith (trainer), Jack Howley (secretary). Front row: Johnny Hancocks, Jesse Pye, Dennis Westcott, Stan Cullis, Willie Forbes, Jimmy Mullen.
Injured
Galley and Westcott, two key players, were absent injured and replaced by James Alderton (making one of only 11 starts that he had with Wolves) and Jimmy Dunn (making 143 appearances before leaving for Derby County in 1951).
Some key members of the successful teams of the fifties had yet to make their mark, including the formidable Bill Shorthouse, badly wounded during the D-day landings, but going on to appear in 376 games before retiring in 1957.
Sold
The following season (1947-48) Dennis Westcott suffered from a series of injuries but still scored 14 goals in 25 competitive games before Ted Vizard surprisingly sold him to Blackburn Rovers in April 1948.
Wolves finished in fifth place and were top goal scorers in the league with 83. Top scorers in all competitions that season were Jesse Pye (16), Johnny Hancocks (16) Jimmy Dunn (9), Jimmy Mullen (9), Willie Forbes (8) and
Sammy Smyth (8).
Ted Vizard was replaced by his assistant Stan Cullis in June 1948. Cullis insisted that his team should play at a higher tempo than the opposition, believing that this would pressure them into mistakes.
His first two seasons in charge saw Wolves finish sixth and second in the league, and in 1949 he became the youngest manager to lead a team to FA Cup glory.
End
But as we have reached the end of the Birmingham Gazette cartoons, the post-second World War story of the Wolves will have to wait for another
time. For that dream to be realised, I need a cartoonist to help me with the project.
Thank you for reading this far. A new Wolves
article will be appearing soon, celebrating the 300 Club, those players who have made 300 or more appearances in the gold and black.