Death Announced Of Easily-Spotted Winger
Tributes have been paid to John Farley, the dashing Wolves left-winger of the mid-1970s, after his death was reported in Watford circles.
The player inevitably nicknamed ‘Charlie’ after a Two Ronnies character, has died in Hull at the age of 74.
His passing-away came in the same week as that of England great Kevin Keegan, who was born only seven months earlier of the two and had turned 75.
Farley was still on the Wolves playing staff, albeit around the fringes, on the famous Molineux night in 1976 when Keegan’s goal helped Liverpool to the victory that secured the title for them and spelled relegation for their victims.
While Keegan went on to further glories with Hamburg, Southampton, Newcastle and England, the Middlesbrough-born forward saw out his career with Blackpool, Hull and Bury.
He settled on Humberside, where Wolves Heroes caught up with him in 2009 during the weekend in which Hull boss Phil Brown went on the pitch and sang to supporters in celebration of his side’s Premier League survival.
Farley played 43 first-team games for Wolves and spoke during our meeting of his embarrassment at not scoring a single senior goal for them.
But he told us: “On my home debut against Leicester in 1974, I swear my free-kick went in off the crossbar before John Richards knocked it in and claimed it as his. Strikers are greedy like that, aren’t they!”
Excellent footage of the deeds of the two men in the 5-1 win at Burnley in November, 1975 survives thanks to YouTube. It was from the winger’s left-wing cross that the no 9 opened the scoring inside 18 seconds with one of the fastest goals in Wolves’ history.
Farley later became one of three players to have efforts disallowed at a sodden Turf Moor, the game being shown that evening on Match of the Day.
The two points didn’t prevent Wolves suffering relegation six months later, , alongside Burnley and Sheffield United. Farley was then plagued by knee trouble in the promotion season 12 months later and didn’t feature at all.
He has undergone replacements in recent years, having, by coincidence, made his Wolves senior debut at Burnley in a 2-1 win on the opening day of 1974-75.
Farley previously reached the 100-game mark for Watford and was seen as a possible replacement for Dave Wagstaffe when signed from manager Bill McGarry’s former club in 1974.
He played more than 20 times in his debut season at Molineux, including away to Porto in the UEFA Cup, but struggled to reach the teens in appearances in 1975-76 and his career tailed off from there.
Before moving from Teesside to the Home Counties on a recommendation from one of Watford boss Ken Furphy’s best football friends, Farley had worked as a joiner and returned to that trade after football.
He also had stints as a pub landlord in Cambridge and High Wycombe.