In Praise Of Billy

Yesteryear Arsenal Glories Were Based On The Wright Way

Billy Wright the coach….conducting an England under-23 training session containing Dick Le Flem (number 11), Gordon Jones (3), Brian Labone (5) and Johnny Byrne.

Further reminders of the positives of Billy Wright’s easily dismissed career in football management have come to light as Arsenal prepare to launch the defence of their Premier League title this weekend.

The Gunners’ crowning as champions – in the spring in which Wolves finished bottom of the top flight – sparked nostalgic North London talk of past title triumphs, including the one in 1970-71 that formed part of their memorable double under Bertie Mee.

But the role played by earlier England under-23 boss Wright in creating that all-conquering squad of five and a half decades ago should not be overlooked.

We have touched on the subject before and are happy to remind our readers that, during his four years in charge at Highbury, the Molineux legend signed skipper Frank McLintock, heroic keeper Bob Wilson, central defender Peter Simpson, tough-guy utility man Peter Storey, maverick forward Charlie George and attack leader John Radford.

Now, thanks to the 97-issues-old Backpass magazine, we can add the name of another Highbury favourite to that star-studded list – defender Sammy Nelson.

The Northern Ireland international was very much on Billy’s radar as he played in Arsenal’s two-leg final FA Youth Cup final victory over Sunderland at the end of the 1965-66 season. He has been featured in the publication this year.

The nurturing of young talent was regarded by the manager as high priority because he had seen the value of home-grown lads stepping up and achieving first-team greatness during his long and glorious playing career at Wolves.

In former Fleet Street sportswriter Norman Giller’s excellent Man For All Seasons book of 200*, Wright was quoted as saying: “What hurt most (about his 1966 departure from Highbury) was that I knew things were going to change for the better.

“I had followed the old Wolves way of developing a youth policy and it was just about to bear fruit but I would not be there for the harvest.”

Arsenal were beaten by Everton in the Youth Cup final of 1965 but got it right in the final 12 months later, thanks to a team containing Pat Rice and with Nelson on the fringes.

Ted Farmer takes on the debutant Ian Ure during Wolves’ Higbury victory over Billy’s Arsenal on the opening day of 1963-64.

“Here is a summary of the Wright influence on the Arsenal side,” Giller wrote in his publication. “Along with Bob Wilson, who was signed as an amateur, six of the double-winning squad came through Billy’s youth academy – Rice, Nelson, Storey, Simpson, Jon Sammels and Radford. And in the spring of 1966, he signed a youngster fresh from Holloway School, where he had been coached by Bob Wilson. His name was Charlie George.

“Billy Wright’s fingerprints were all over the League and FA Cup trophies……it was almost the team that Billy built. He should, at the very least, have been given the freedom of Highbury.”

Wright also bought Joe Baker for a club record £70,000 from Torino and saw the forward repay the outlay by scoring 100 goals in 156 games in all competitions for them.

In addition, he signed Wolverhampton-born Albion legend Don Howe and centre-half Ian Ure, the Scot who made a losing debut in a 3-2 home defeat against Wolves.

And the latest issue of Backpass reminds us, in its obituary section, that Simpson, who died in May aged 81, was given his senior debut by Billy before going on to make approaching 500 appearances at that level – highly impressive figures for a product of the junior ranks.

Many of his games were in front of former Wolves amateur Wilson, who was contacted by Wolves Heroes this summer to talk about the Wright way at Highbury.

Three of Billy Wright’s hugely successful signings, Sammy Nelson, Bob Wilson and Frank McLintock, are powerless to prevent Derek Dougan’s improbable angled finish during Wolves’ epic 5-1 win over the defending double champions in November, 1971.

“As Arsenal manager back in 1963, and encouraged by physio Bertie Mee, Billy really believed in me as a possible decent goalkeeper for Arsenal,” he told us.

“I remember only encouraging words coming my way from him in the time he and assistant Les Shannon were in charge. He could also be quite severe if and when I didn’t live up to his expectations.

“Sadly for Billy, results from the Arsenal 1st XI back then were not great and, ultimately, Bertie took over and achieved unexpected success.”

As Arsenal fans count down to the start of their season at home to Coventry tomorrow, they should rightly laud Mikel Arteta and continue to revere Wenger, Graham and Mee.

But some gratitude should also be reserved for the man who laid some invaluable building blocks 60 years or so ago.