Albion in action at Old Trafford 60 years ago
WE turn the clock 60 years with these pictures of West Bromwich Albion in action on the field. Sadly, we don’t have many photographs of that vintage and this set, unfortunately, show the Baggies on the receiving end of a 4–1 beating at the hands of Manchester United.
The match was played at Old Trafford on February 24, 1962, before a crowd of 32,456.
Albion’s XI for the game were: Tony Millington (1943-2015), Bobby Cram (1939-2007), Stuart Williams (1930-2013), Don Howe (1935-2015), Stan Jones (b.1938), Chuck Drury (1937-2020), Alec Jackson (b.1937), David Burnside (1939-2009), Keith Smith (b.1940), Derek Kevan (19352013) and Clive Clark (1940-2014).
Playing for Manchester United were: Ronnie Briggs (1943-2008), Shay Brennan (1937-2000), Tony Dunne (1941-2020), Bill Foulkes (1932-2013), Johnny Giles (b.1940), Nobby Lawton (1940-2006), Nobby Stiles (1942-2020), Maurice Setters (1936-2020), Bobby Charlton (b.1937), David Herd (1934-2016) and Albert Quixall (1933-2020).
The goal-scorers were Bobby Charlton, with two, Maurice Setters and Albert Quixall for United, while Alec Jackson scored one for Albion.
The result was Albion’s heaviest defeat of the 1961-62 season, and they suffered a second 4–1 defeat away at
Chelsea in November.
It was not a vintage season for the Baggies – they started badly and never got going, winning only three of their first 15 League games and drawing six of them. Their form fluctuated, with a decent spell through the winter before another slump and then rallying towards the end of the season – they won six of their last ten games, including a 5–1 victory over Wolves at Molineux.
In all, Albion won 15 and drew 13 of their 42 League matches, scoring 83 goals (the fourth highest in the Division) and conceding 67, with a points tally of 43, leaving them in ninth place, 13 points behind champions Ipswich Town and 10 adrift of runners-up Burnley.
The Baggies’ best win was in the last game, with a 7–1 home win over Blackpool, in which Derek Kevan scored four. They also walloped Bolton Wanderers 6–2 at the Hawthorrns in February and defeated Cardiff City 5–1 in early March.
Of Albion’s 13 draws that season, the two most exciting battles ended 4-4 at Nottingham Forest and 3-3 at West Ham. In that game, on November 11, 1961, Albion were 3-0 down before staging a second-half comeback.