Even a change of keeper couldn’t stop Wolves hitting double figures
Part 5 of our look back at the famous floodlit friendlies that lit up Molineux in the 1950s
Wolves 10-0 Maccabi Tel-aviv Friendly – Attendance: 26,901
TWO weeks after the goalless game against First Vienna of Austria, Wolves hosted their fifth floodlit friendly against Israel’s Maccabi of Tel-aviv.
The visitors’ team contained seven Israeli internationals and arrived at Molineux as the Israeli league champions. The notes within the programme
All the Wolves forwards scored, and so did their wing-halves
confirmed the visitors’ pedigree: ‘we look upon Maccabi as opponents well worthy to appear on the Molineux pitch in a series of floodlit games that have already set a high standard’.
The reputation of the opponents did not materialise on the pitch as Maccabi were well beaten as the visitors found Wolves in a ruthless mood. The Birmingham Gazette newspaper on the following day ran the headline ‘MACCABI OVERWELMED 10-0 AT MOLINEUX ALL WOLVES FORWARDS SCORED – And wing-halves too’.
The contest was pretty much over after 19 minutes, with Wolves being three goals to the good.
It was a game that would see Wolves achieve a double figure winning margin, as the home side scored an incredible 10 goals.
It was Ron Flowers who opened the scoring with a strike from 30 yards out that whistled underneath the visitors’ crossbar. Dennis Wilshaw followed up with the second goal, before Roy Swinbourne headed home the third.
Before half time Bill Slater set up Peter Broadbent who scored Wolves’ fourth goal as his shot went straight down the middle of the goal, and this was promptly followed by Maccabi’s goalkeeper Ben Dori being substituted, much to the amusement of the Molineux faithful.
The substitute keeper Buch experienced a similar fate to his predecessor as the goals continued. Johnny Hancocks scored Wolves’ fifth goal just before the half time interval.
The second half continued in a similar pattern as the first, with Swinbourne heading in the sixth goal, shortly followed by Hancocks scoring a long-range lobbed shot and then Tommy Mcdonald getting the eighth goal of the night. These last three goals had been scored within four minutes and Mcdonald’s strike meant that all the Wolves forwards had found the back of the net.
The goal scoring exploits were still not over with Bill Stater and Roy Swinbourne further adding to the total number of goals. For Swinbourne it would complete his hattrick and complete Wolves’ scoring on the night with an impressive haul of ten goals.
Wolves could have scored even more had it not been for some fine saves by Buch.
For Wolves’ next foreign visitors, it would be an all-ticket affair as they would welcome visitors from Russia, Spartak Moscow. Supporters at the Maccabi game were given priority for tickets for the Spartak game.