Rare Photo And An Elland Road Victory 

It’s not often that we publish picture-led stories on this site. Then again, it’s not often that we stumble across a photo from a Wolves away game in the old Central League.

We believe we know which particular fixture this Yorkshire Evening Post image (right) is from and will briefly prolong the guessing game while our readers might try to work it out for themselves.

The gold-shirted figure in the background, Mike Bailey, will narrow the possibilities down considerably as he played so many first-team games and was on reserves duty in this clash at Leeds only because he was on his way back from injury.

The defender lunging in on the player shooting is Nigel Williams and we believe the other Wolves man in view (closest to the camera) to be another full-back, Keith Pritchett.

One red herring appears to be the round-necked shirts Wolves are wearing. Many supporters will regard these as having been discontinued from the start of 1972-73 but clearly they remained as match-day garb for the second string for some time after that.

The fact that Williams’s senior career was largely spread across 1974-75 may or may not be a clue. Much less so confirmation that Pritchett failed to make the first team at all while at Molineux.

Something else we can reveal is that Wolves won this game 2-1, with Peter Eastoe and an own goal making up their tally; a happy outcome given that the club were victorious only twice in 22 attempts in matches against Leeds at first-team level during this decade, one of those wins coming in the infamous title decider in May, 1972.

Ok, time is nearly up….one definite steer is the revelation that Bailey was heading towards a full return at the time from the injury he suffered after scoring the only goal of the FA Cup third-round home tie against Manchester United.

He would be back, albeit only as a used substitute, for the semi-final clash against Leeds at Maine Road a week after this meeting at an almost deserted Elland Road.

So our top photo is from March 31, 1973, which was also the day Wolves drew 1-1 at home to Sheffield United in the First Division, with John Richards on target.

They lined up as follows in the Central League: Charlton, Palmer, Pritchett, Bailey, Rutter, Williams, Eddie Gould, Bradbury, Eastoe, Sunderland, Kelly. Sub: Robinson.

By coincidence, Wolves’ first team had played at Leeds the week before and drawn 0-0, albeit with none of the players they sent out for this reserve fixture.

*Tickets are still available for the charity evening Colin Lee is staging with his former Chelsea team-mate, David Speedie, at the Livermead Cliff Hotel in Torquay tomorrow night. Seats cost £50 and are available through ringing the hotel on 01803-299666