A Land Overrun By Wolves!
How Cullis’s Men Entranced South Africa
Wolves' squad, with Stan Cullis and his trainer Joe Gardiner, in the South African sun 53 years ago.
Wolverhampton Wanderers were already big news in South Africa when they headed there on tour a week or so after winning 3-0 against Aston Villa in their final First Division game of 1956-57.
The club had been widely lauded in the republic for their 12-wins-from-12-matches visit in 1951, since when they had won their first League Championship and made a first-team regular out of a young Johannesburg-defender called Eddie Stuart.
Excitement was high, then, about their return trip six years later to a land that was relatively untrodden by footballers from Great Britain.
Many of England’s present-day finest may have had experience of playing in South Africa, at club as well as international level, before they were jetted in last week on World Cup duty.
But Wolves, under Stan Cullis, were trail-blazers half a century ago. Not too many of their counterparts around the First Division had been to the Southern Hemisphere with their clubs or to one or two of European football’s hot-beds – and certainly not to Russia.
As was the manager’s way, his players were training within a few hours of landing in Johannesburg, where the pitch at the Rand Stadium so impressed him that he said: “If we can’t play here, we should give up.”
Familiar backers for games so far from home.
Wolves certainly did ‘play,’ especially Jimmy Murray. The forward scored all their goals in the opening 5-2 victory over Southern Transvaal, with three of them set up by crosses from Harry Hooper and the home side’s replies both coming from penalties, the score at one stage standing at 1-1.
It’s worth reminding ourselves that the game was played at an altitude of 6,000ft – the extra challenge that prompted Fabio Capello to take his players south so early this year. But Wolves were grateful for the cool, rainy conditions as they thrilled a 6,000 crowd with what South African FA president Fred Fell called ‘a brilliant exhibition.’
The outcome left Stuart particularly proud. With Billy Wright not due to arrive until much later because he was initially on England duty, the powerful homecoming boy was named tour captain – a role he fulfilled with immense pleasure.
Wolves may have won every one of the 20 matches they have played in the African continent but the one against Combined Northern and Eastern Transvaal in Pretoria four days later was as close as they ever went to being held.
A side showing four changes and including lesser lights Noel Dwyer and Gwyn Jones had seen Hooper carried off on a stretcher before they struck with a winner in the last minute, again through Murray.
There were no such alarms after the squad had flown to Durban for their third fixture. Peter Broadbent rounded the Natal keeper to open the scoring and Norman Deeley added the second from 40 yards just past the half-hour. Jimmy Mullen’s magnificent cross then paved the way for Broadbent to make it 3-0 and the brilliant inside-forward crashed in a rebound to complete his hat-trick after Deeley had contributed another fine opportunist effort.
Star visitors for the game in Durban.
The games might be regarded all these decades on as friendlies but they were much more competitive than what the tag now implies. As well as having Hooper on the sidelines, Wolves lost Malcolm Finlayson with the score at 4-1 in Durban with an arm injury that required x-rays to confirm there was no break.
The very concept of a club following up a 44-game competitive season by choosing to travel several thousand miles to play another eight is alien to today’s thinking. And Cullis surveyed his battered squad and found that his side for the clash with Western Province in Cape Town on May 15 was effectively picked for him by the fact he had only 11 fit players.
Hooper was back, but not Finlayson, as the spotlight switched to the wingers. Johnny Hancocks, who was prevented from making such trips by his acute fear of flying, had been transfer-listed shortly before the players left Wolverhampton but Mullen showed he still had something in the tank by turning on the style with two of the goals in Wolves’ 6-0 romp in Table Mountain’s shadow.
Colin Booth (2), Broadbent, with a fine first-timer, and Hooper were also on target at a time when Wolves had announced they were signing native youngster Cliff Durandt. The forward would be carrying more than just his belongings to England. He also had to shoulder the burden of a big reputation, having been dubbed the Duncan Edwards of South African football.
Wolves’ big victory was an unhappy experience for Western Province keeper Albert Uytenbogaardt, who had once faced them in Sam Bartram’s absence for Charlton. And the game against Southern Transvaal had pitched them into opposition to a couple of the players from the South Africa side who strode out at Molineux in 1953 for the match that marked the official opening of Wolves’ first floodlights.
Johannesburg was back on the itinerary for a game on May 18 that looked like being the hardest of the eight. Thankfully, Wolves had their big guns back and pulled away in the second half to beat a South African X1 4-1 following the relief of a penalty miss against them.
Broadbent was again the hero with a hat-trick, Deeley netting the other, and there was another star in the squad’s midst when Billy Wright arrived in the city on the day of the tourists’ 7-3 win under lights in an additional fixture, against a President’s X1.
Cliff Durandt.....spotted by Wolves in South Africa and promptly signed.
Youngster Colin Tether was given his first and only outing of the trip for a side who led 4-1 at half-time on their way to winning 7-3, Deeley (2), Murray (2), Bobby Mason (2) and George Showell scoring the goals. Seventeen-year-old Cliff Durandt was in the President’s line-up and scored twice.
Wolves said goodbye to South Africa to fulfill their final two fixtures before heading home, dropping in first on Bulawayo for a May 24 game against Southern Rhodesia. In less than demanding circumstances, they had Wright back in their defence as they won 10-1 with their tally made up by Deeley (3), Mullen (2), Broadbent (2), Murray, Mason and a Turnbull own goal.
And it was a very similar outcome in Kitwe against Northern Rhodesia, who trailed 6-0 at half-time in front of a 14,000 crowd and were eventually overwhelmed 11-1. Mullen (4), Deeley (3), Murray (2) and Booth (2) were their marksmen at the end of a trip that brought the side one goal short of a half century, with only nine against.
Wolves’ outward journey had spanned 25 hours and the long haul home became a bit longer when floods at Nairobi Airport caused a re-routing via Entebbe in Uganda, as well as Khartoum and Rome.
Broadbent and Mullen, survivors of the squad who had visited South Africa in 1951, nevertheless described this tour as its equal when interviewed by the Express & Star back in Wolverhampton. There was no sign, though, of two other members of the party. Director James Marshall was returning by sea in the company of the young Durandt while manager Cullis had stepped off the plane in London and gone straight to a Football League meeting.
Within a year, he would be celebrating the club’s lifting of the League crown for a second time.
Wolves squad: Malcolm FINLAYSON, Noel DWYER, Eddie STUART (captain), Gerry HARRIS, Eddie CLAMP, George SHOWELL, Ron FLOWERS, Harry HOOPER, Norman DEELEY, Peter BROADBENT, Jimmy MURRAY, Colin BOOTH, Jimmy MULLEN, Bobby MASON, Gwyn JONES, Colin TETHER. Billy WRIGHT joined up with the squad late.
