When Cyrille swapped the stripes for gold
Season 1993-94 Continued
IN the FA Cup competition, Wolves reached the sixth round after beating Crystal Palace, Port Vale and Ipswich Town but then went out 1-0 at Chelsea.
Albion went out in round one, beaten – or should that be humilated – 1-0 at Halifax in front of just 4,250 spectators.
In the League Cup, Swindon Town knocked Wolves out early doors, winning a second round tie 3-2 on aggregate. Albion departed in round two, beaten 3-2 over two legs by Chelsea, having knocked out Bristol Rovers in the previous round.
Wolves and Albion both played in the Anglo-italian Cup. Wolves unfortunately failed to qualify for the group stage after playing out draws with Stoke (3-3) and Birmingham City (2-2).
Albion, meanwhile, did qualify for the competition proper with a draw and a win over Leicester City and Peterborough respectively, but then it all went wrong as they lost their four Group ‘B’ games against Pescara, Padiva, Fiorentina and Cosenza, and departed with their heads well and truly bowed!
Extra club news … Cyrille Regis made his debut for Wolves to become the first player to appear at League level for four different Midlands League clubs, his other three being Aston Villa, Albion and Coventry City. And the building of the new Molineux was finally completed in December 1993.
Signings
Albion started the season with a debut for a 16-year-old goalkeeper
Albion also signed Paul Mardon and David Smith (both from Birmingham) and full-backs Neil Parsley from Huddersfield and Paul Edwards from Wolves.
Out of the The Hawthorns went Wayne Fereday to Cardiff City, Simon Garner and Nicky Reid both to Wycombe Wanderers, Craig Shakespeare to Grimsby Town and Kwane Ampadu to Swansea City.
No less than six Albion players were sent off this season – Garner, Ian Hamilton, Daryl Burgess, Paul Raven, Gary Strodder and Carl Heggs. And manager Keith Burkinshaw named 16 year-old goalkeeper Neil Cutler as a substitute for the opening League game with Barnsley.