A rarity to savour – a Wolves win over Liverpool in the top flight
Wanderers’ recent demolition of the Reds reminds us of some classics of yesteryear
Emlyn Hughes was surprised by Eamonn Andrews on leaving the field
WOLVES fans well know that league wins over Liverpool are few and far between, especially at Molineux.
Although Raul Jimenez and Reuben Neves netted in a 2-1 win four years ago, that match was in the third round of the FA Cup, and until that 3-0 victory on the 4th February last the Wanderers had to endure a run of eleven straight top-flight defeats. Ironically the last had been a 1-0 win at Anfield on 29 December 2010 through a Stephen Ward strike – this lifted Wolves off the bottom of the Premier League table and led to Roy Hodgson’s dismissal as boss.
For the last home wins in the fixture one has to go back to 1980 – two coming in the same year. The first was a 1-0 win on 26th February, courtesy of a John Richards goal, the second a 4-1 thrashing on 25th November when Mel Eves, Norman Bell and Emlyn Hughes joined Richards at the party.
The evening of Tuesday 26th February 1980 was a night to remember in more ways than one, Wolves having recently qualified for a League Cup final encounter with Nottingham Forest. Norman Bell returned from injury to feature as a substitute, and a low right-footed finish from John Richards flew past Ray Clemence on 65 minutes to earn Wolves the points to take them into the top eight.
For Emlyn Hughes it was particularly memorable as he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews on leaving the field, as manager John Barnwell recalled: “It was a very emotional night, of course, for Emlyn. He had no inkling that he was to be the victim of ‘This is Your Life’, even though most people in the ground knew the secret.” The programme in honour of the 62-times capped England defender was recorded in the Wolves Social Club, the first time ever that the programme had been recorded outside London. Ken Hibbitt pays a personal tribute to Emlyn: “He had a ‘This Is Your Life’ and we beat Liverpool that night. He was a great loss to football, a great TV pundit. He always had something to say, you could talk to him all day. I found him terrific, as both a person and a professional.”
Nine months later the visit of reigning champions Liverpool promised little respite in what was proving to be a difficult season for Wolves. The Molineux men had lost half of their opening league games, whilst Liverpool were unbeaten in 22 games in the league, League Cup and European Cup. Wolves had also failed to score in their three previous games, holding Manchester United to a goalless draw at Old Trafford, before losing 2-0 at home to Brighton and away to Middlesbrough.
Meanwhile, three days earlier, Liverpool had beaten Aston Villa at Anfield to bring their 12-game unbeaten run to an end and take themselves to the top of the table. Villa would fight back to win the 198182 title.
Liverpool fielded nine current and one future international players against a Wolves team that had just Emlyn Hughes and John Richards having enjoyed similar national honours. Having played in midfield at Ayresome Park, Geoff Palmer was omitted, with Mel Eves taking the number 11 shirt. Wayne Clarke was also left out, with Norman Bell partnering Richards in attack.
They gave Colin Irwin and Alan Hansen an unexpectedly torrid time. After just 13 minutes a ball forward from Hughes set Bell free on the left and he crossed for Eves to fire home. Richards then came close twice, but a
minute before half time Phil Neal gave Liverpool an undeserved equaliser from fully 25-yards out. Wolves regained the lead just after the hour mark, Peter Daniel being fed by Mick Hollifield to put over a cross that was deflected by Avi Cohen for Richards to head home.
Hughie Atkinson, continuing to stand in for Willie Carr, sent a flighted pass to Eves whose centre was thunderously headed home by Bell. Eves then put Hughes in and his mis-hit shot trickled over the line to leave the wrong-footed Clemence helpless.
Ray Kennedy graciously accepted defeat, admitting that Wolves could have won by ten. It was the first time in 62 league, League Cup, FA Cup and European matches that Liverpool had lost by more than two goals. It was the Reds’ biggest defeat for three years and until February 2023 remained Wolves’ last home league win over them.
Manager John Barnwell purred: “A lot of planning went into the way we played against Liverpool and it was marvellous to see our ideas coming to fruition out on the field. We surprised Liverpool by getting the ball forward quickly and putting pressure on their defence at every opportunity.
“It was tremendous to see Emlyn scoring against his old club-mates, even though he did mis-hit his shot, with the ball seeming to take an eternity to roll over the line. But full credit to Emlyn because he made a superb run to be in the right place at the right time.”
But let me close my reminiscences with a look back at a match from over fifty years ago, back in a time when home wins for Wolves over the Reds were not as rare, even though Anfield remained a fortress.
The visit of table-topping Liverpool on Saturday 27th January, 1973, proved to be one of the high spots of a season when Wolves fell at the semi-final stage of both domestic cup competitions. It was preceded by a furious Bill Mcgarry accusing Irish international star Danny Hegan of “kicking me in the teeth”. Hegan, disciplined by Mcgarry in November, had been given the previous weekend off to visit his family in Scotland but, on return, missed two days’ training. Bernard Shaw was chosen as his replacement. At a windswept Molineux in front of a crowd 32,957 Wolves enjoyed the good fortune of an early Emlyn Hughes own goal (the future Wolves man who would play a key role in both 1980 wins and lift a Wembley trophy for the Wanderers that same year). Hughes tried to make a back-pass under pressure but the ball rolled wide of Ray Clemence into the net despite the despairing efforts of Peter Cormack.
Kevin Keegan equalised on 17 minutes after John Toshack had dispossessed Frank Munro before centring for him to fire home.
In a tremendous second-half the game could have gone either way, and midway through it John Richards nodded the ball past Clemence only for the referee to rule it out for an infringement.
But on 78 minutes Richards was put in by Bernard Shaw to inflict only Liverpool’s fourth loss of the season and their first since a 2-0 reverse against Manchester United on November 11th.
It was a team goal started when John Mcalle found Alan Sunderland free on the left and his clever inside pass sought out Jim Mccalliog. He squared to number four Shaw who charged towards the penalty area where he played Richards in on the edge of the box.
Richards ignored offside claims to slide the ball right-footed under Clemence to clinch both points. Playing an unaccustomed role in midfield, Shaw asserted: “I always take notice of the crowd and they were a tremendous help to me.”
Although Liverpool remained top of the table as January came to an end, Wolves had climbed to eighth place with games in hand on all teams above them and with the prospect of a run in the FA Cup very much still on the cards.
They would finish in fifth place – still their highest top-flight standing to date.
Of course one swallow doesn’t make a summer ... but we can only hope that the current Wolves side will be spurred on to at least preserve their Premier League status this time around.
Hughes tried to make a back-pass, but the ball rolled wide of Clemence and into the net