Woodfield Back At Molineux – But Who Recognised Him?

David Woodfield has used his first visit back to Molineux in several decades to remind himself of local derbies and stirring FA Cup campaigns of old.

The rugged centre-half, sporting a hairstyle somewhat removed from your average 73-year-old, brought a family-and-friends group of eight to the Wolves v Aston Villa clash nine days ago and was surprised to bump into former team-mates Fred Davies and Ted Farmer in the media room.

Furthermore, the televised victory over Steve Bruce’s men brought back memories of the Cup marathon the post-Cullis Wanderers waged and eventually won against the same opponents in February, 1965.

“I remember there was snow around for one or two of those games,” Woodfield said. “The pitch at Molineux now looks perfect, even in a cold spell of weather like this, but we had to be prepared to play in anything.

“I wouldn’t say I enjoyed playing in the snow but we had happy memories from putting three past Villa in the second replay. It was at The Hawthorns and it was white over but Hugh McIlmoyle had a great night and scored a hat-trick.”

We have written on these pages before about the wanderlust that has taken ‘Duggie’ to many points in the Middle East and Far East since the end of his playing career.

What surprised us was that the group he was in the weekend before last contained a brother, Les, who he had not seen in around 25 years.

“I spent so long abroad,” he adds. “Many, many years. Les is in Leamington, where I was born, and another brother, Paul, is in that area, too, along with one of my sons, Jason.

“I travelled over to the game with another son, Gary, who lives near Newmarket, like me, and there were two friends completing our group.

“I can’t remember the last time I had visited Molineux, although I’m sure it was before the ground was redeveloped and it was against Oldham.

“I was told some time ago that I could go over with a guest and have a couple of tickets and they had me answering some questions in the corporate areas as well.”

Woodfield will be a keen observer from afar when Wolves return to the Cup trail at Liverpool on Saturday.

While we relish the thought of Paul Lambert’s men performing in front of an expectant Anfield crowd, we shouldn’t forget the huge attendances of past decades.

A total of 137,473 watched the three ties against Villa 52 seasons ago and, when Wolves last visited either of Merseyside’s giants in this competition, a whopping 60,020 packed into Goodison Park to see their 3-1 fourth-round replay defeat against Everton in February, 1967.