Wolves v Shrewsbury Town, FA Cup 6th Round, 10th March 1979

Highlights of the FA Cup 6th Round match between Wolves and Shrewsbury Town on 10th March 1979.
John Barnwell was appointed Wolves manager in November 1978 following a dismal run of 11 defeats in 14 matches that led to the dismissal of Sammy Chung. It was the beginning of a brief successful period for Wolves; the slide towards relegation from the First Division was ultimately reversed late in the season and, in addition, Wolves appeared in two FA Cup semi-finals during Barnwell's tenure (both defeats) and won the League Cup on 15th March 1980. One of those two semi-finals followed their match against Shrewsbury when, after a closely fought draw at Molineux in front of almost 41,000, Wolves won the replay at Gay Meadow some three days later.
A prime reason for the alarming run of results at the start of the 1978-79 season was due to the absence of striker John Richards who underwent an operation on his right knee in October 1978. Prior to that, Richards had appeared just twice earlier in the season, but his return to the team brought instant rewards for John Barnwell with the winning goal away to Arsenal on 24th February 1979. There followed a further 8 goals in 16 games for Richards as Wolves finally pulled clear of relegation for good with a 2-1 win at Chelsea on 24th March 1979, with another all-important goal scored by Richards.
The Wolves line-up for the match against Shrewsbury had a familiar look to it with Richards, Kenny Hibbitt, Geoff Palmer, Derek Parkin, John McAlle, Willie Carr and Steve Daley - all players that figured prominently in Wolves teams from earlier in the decade. Added to that were more recent introductions; George Berry made his Wolves debut in the penultimate match of the 1976-77 season whilst Billy Rafferty, Peter Daniel and goalkeeper Paul Bradshaw were signed by Sammy Chung. Daniel and Bradshaw, in particular, served Wolves admirably during their time at Wolves and were, along with Berry, key members of Barnwell's League Cup winning team.
At the time of their FA Cup encounter with Wolves, Shrewsbury were second in Division Three and would eventually win the title by a single point ahead of Watford and Swansea City. Included in their team at Molineux was centre-half Graham Turner, who had been appointed Shrewsbury's player-manager in November 1978 following the departure of Richie Barker to assist John Barnwell at Molineux. In later years, Turner managed Wolves in a successful seven-and-a-half year spell.
Originally broadcast by ATV Star Soccer with commentary provided by the peerless Hugh Johns.

[@jamesjoyce2279]

look at the state of that pitch - that is proper football

[@simonlee8538]

I was at the game with brother and dad. Fantastic atmosphere, that was fantastic Shrewsbury team.

[@1061andy]

this is everything and more that football isnt now...the pitch, the robust challenges, the massed terraces. love it.

[@seltaeb3302]

Yup, pitches went through the seasons, summer perfect, autumn some wear, winter the Somme, spring green shoots. That gives you variety & skills like in this game.

[@shawnflanagan4995]

i'm in the u.s., and am a soccer novice at best. that said, this stuff from the 70s is addictive.

[@pauldrummond3476]

I went up for this game with my uncle Dave and we never saw a blade of grass all night but I would like to see some of these big star players of today produce something on this pitch and others like it back in the day. Brilliant.

[@seltaeb3302]

They are just trick merchants now, & the ball too, now they barely kick it & woooosh it ping pongs away. 'orrible.

[@markstanley2232]

that' was the best time to be a wolves fan the old ground what an atmosphere never the same when they built the new stand

[@seltaeb3302]

That new stand had the pitch so far away on one side, it was half the pitch wide. Why? Ruined the great Molyneux roar.

[@Wolvesfan-oz6yh]

Paul Bradshaw was a fantastic Keeper. Each time he dived to make a save, he'd always finish up lying on his stomach looking towards his net !! Things you pick up watching live football as a kid at Wolves in the late seventies,Smell of cigars and constant chanting from the South Bank " come on have ago at the Subway Army"... Wonderful... Only Steve Bull would of made that team of 79-80 season..... And I think he would of been sub too!!

[@martinbarratt1070]

Right miserable sod though, tried to get his autograph at Chelsea (when we'd just beaten the Blues) and while Carr, Richards, Hibbitt etc were very obliging he pushed us all out the way. Utter knob.

[@peterturley1331]

That was the the 'roughest' state of the hallowed Molineux turf in decades. The grass always looked like an immaculately trimmed carpet. The Groundsmen were first class. Very very unusual!

[@jimb9063]

Wolves had some good ball players in the late 70's. So I'm guessing the pitch wasn't turned into a mudbath on purpose like it was in the 50's when Woles needed to stop good ball players from being able to play? : )

[@bramleydragon]

That goalkeeper for the Shrews, Bob Wardle went on to join Liverpool as back-up for Bruce Grobbelaar with Steve Ogrizovic going in the opposite direction.

[@rhyslew70]

Thanks for posting this, it was the first football match I ever saw live, on my ninth birthday. All I can remember of the day is losing my brand new Shrewsbury rosette in the scrum to get in, and that muddy mark on Maguire's chest which he must have picked up in the first five minutes.

[@davidkindness6791]

was my 1st away match

[@michaelroberts7374]

Great memories

[@michaelroberts7374]

Great away support Shrews!!

[@yippyialeftside8351]

loads of shrewsbury fans, im surprised the big end was not the traditional wolves end till the other terrace closed, still a great ground

[@paulshrew]

12 y/o with a school friend stood on the south bank, shrews fans were in the north bank as well...great day out!

[@michaelroberts7374]

Paul Maguire, PFA man. Took the corner that saw MCFC giant killed in round 4. Later at Stoke. One of those players I had a soft spot for. Admit it, some you can't stand haha. Great days

[@stevewilson1600]

Used to have a drink with Paul in the wheatsheaf on high street back in the day

[@asleandere8852]

Ha. Graham Turner the then future Wolves manager playing against them here ....

[@jimb9063]

Is this even the same sport now? Some things have changed for the better, but we've lost a lot of what was great about it too. Great things like appearing in the 6th round a couple of times!

[@seltaeb3302]

Agreed, but the plastic grass hybrid pitch gives no feel no grit no wear. That's part of football, or was. Football was kidnapped & I'd like it back. Don't watch it anymore bar KZbin 20th century footy. Purely Millennial football now.

[@Mute_Nostril_Agony]

George Berry's hair was one of the natural marvels of the 1970s

[@incrediblejon5383]

"Wolves are in the black shorts"? Still a lot of black and white tvs around then I take it? 😅

[@rc2869]

Great Cip Tie

[@neilrogers6231]

Proper football proper men

[@mikedavies9953]

The Shrews beat City 2-0 at gay meadow in the 3rd round i remember it well being City fan, got even worse the year after we lost to Halifax 1-0

[@glenjarnold]

I was there on the South Bank, felt unwell after about 20 minutes or so (it was the start of a flu) and ended up sitting on the terrace floor for the rest of the match! 😂

[@stuartwilliams7912]

47,000 Wolves last big attendance.

[@a.tanner8524]

That pitch wouldn’t even meet pub league standards these days.

[@asd36f]

I didn't know that Wolverhampton had a beach! :-)

[@davidsmythe9266]

More like a quagmire lol 😂

[@WELLBRAN]

More depth in the football league then..if you got drawn to a div 3 team, as a div 1 team it was no push over some good teams in the lower divs in those days. As for football now?....don't watch it at all.

[@basilbrush7335]

fast forward 40 years date :5/2/19 venue : Molineux - Shrews still no push over :)

[@WELLBRAN]

@@basilbrush7335 thing is now the small teams get drawn to premier teams it's. " Oh we can make money to stay alive (chairman) then it was . "We can beat these suckers!"

[@jonc3295]

They couldn't possibly have employed grounds staff in those days.

[@swiftymorgan5064]

Pitch beggars any description Nice to see both sides trying to play a bit of football rather than just hoofing it

[@royharper9224]

Went to that

[@McAlmanac]

"Peerless Hugh Johns" - indeed.

[@WELLBRAN]

When my brother was small he used to go around the house imitating Hugh johns...and also Alan weeks.. Of ice skating.... Lol. Religiously he used to watch ITV sport every Saturday lunch time...and liked the special section...like logging championships ..USA high diving and the human fly etc...happy days

[@michaelroberts7374]

@@WELLBRAN great memories! I used to do a mean John Motson down the park !!

[@WELLBRAN]

@@michaelroberts7374 also my brother was heavily influenced on Saturday mornings by the 1st showing of Monkey (magic) used to go around imitating the narration eg " the phoenix can fly only when its feathers are grown"...my mum used to scratch her head 😂

[@michaelroberts7374]

@@WELLBRAN again same here!! It used to be Harold Lloyd, then Monkey. Any lad of this era who says he didn't whistle for his imaginary pink cloud is a shitter! Haha!! My man couldn't get her head round it either, but it was Michael Bentines potty time that really weirded her out! Yo just taken me back 40 years haha!!

[@WELLBRAN]

@@michaelroberts7374 tv was more entertaining then

[@Onkarr]

8:56

[@angelicskin7756]

was at the game and the replay,great days and real footballers ,imagine todays fucking pansies having to play on a pitch like that

[@Psalm11950]

Those were the days. Imagine today's overpaid players going out on a pitch like that ?

[@repsnsets]

Wolves won the replay 3-1

[@stevewilson1600]

Wolves won the reply 4/1 I was there in the wakeman end

[@seltaeb3302]

Splodge-ball.

[@paulshrew]

1.32 penalty!!!

[@MHMajid-yi8iu]

I love old games. Typically when the both team donning an Umbros kit. My favourite British kit until now. By the way I'm from KL.

[@williamturley3224]

I was sitting on the saint John aberlance dug out in the corner of the South bank enclosure my dad's pub was at the back of the South bank THE FOX INN MAGIC DAYS MAGICAL GROUND WONDERFUL CLUB. AND STILL A SEASON TICKET HOLDER

[@macca1146]

The days when the game was played by men, not the hairy fairy cry babies we see today.