When Wolves Went Goal-Crazy On Their Travels
Are you itching for the club programme to resume this coming Saturday and regarding this three-week gap in domestic fixtures as an interruption rather than an international break? At least England’s weekend slaughter of Croatia raised the national mood….
We look at the nine occasions in the past on which Wolves have scored six or more goals on their travels in competitive matches, all of them in the League.
April 18, 1892: Villa 3 Wolves 6 A hat-trick by Harry Wood helped ensure that Wolves ended a middling season in style, left-winger Jack Johnston scoring twice. Wood scored eight goals in eight games after coming into the side in the late winter, his first three appearances having drawn blanks.
January 5, 1924: Accrington 1 Wolves 7 Tom Phillipson, later to become Major of Wolverhampton, plundered a hat-trick and Stan Fazackerley and Harry Lees bagged two goals each against a team Wolves had struggled to beat 1-0 at Molineux a week earlier. The task was made easier as Accrington were down to ten men in the second half because of injury. These were the first three of Phillipson’s 111 goals for Wolves….scored at a venue further north than the club had ever played in the League before.
December 12, 1931: Port Vale 1 Wolves 7 As goal rampage go, this was a relatively familiar scoreline. Half-way through the club’s Division Two promotion season, all five forwards scored and Wolves were so much in control that full-back Wilf Lowton netted two. Wolves stayed in seventh heaven by beating Manchester United 7-0 on Boxing Day at home.
September 29, 1951: Huddersfield 1 Wolves 7 Jimmy Dunn rattled in his only hat-trick for the club a game on from them hitting five at home to Chelsea. Once more, it was a team effort, though, with all the forward line scoring, apart from Roy Swinbourne. We wonder if Stan Cullis had any choice words for him afterwards! Jimmy Mullen was presumably above reproach after netting twice – but then again……
September 3, 1955: Cardiff 1 Wolves 9 The ultimate in happy away days, this utterly dominant victory being built on the trebles hit by Swinbourne and Johnny Hancocks. Peter Broadbent (2) and Mullen were also on the score-sheet while the Welsh club’s reply in this slaughter in the sun came from former Molineux man Ron Stockin with the last goal of the afternoon.
September 5, 1959: Manchester City 4 Wolves 6 These opponents took some heavy punishment from Wolves during this era and this sounded more like the score from a first set at the tennis. City were two up in six minutes but still trailing at half-time against the back-to-back League champions, who had Jimmy Murray (2), stand-in no 10 Bill Slater (2), Mickey Lill and Norman Deeley as their scorers.
October 7, 1961: Birmingham 3 Wolves 6 Further echoes of Wimbledon, this time across the patch, with goals from Slater, Bobby Mason (2), Mark Lazarus, Murray and Deeley bringing home bundles of bragging rights. Again, Wolves trailed early on but had the game effectively won by opening a 5-2 lead just after half-time. All this after they had lost at Villa five days earlier.
October 2, 1976: Hereford 1 Wolves 6 Bobby Gould, soon to serve at Edgar Street in partnership with Mike Bailey, led the way with two goals as Wolves cut loose in the border country. He netted twice and Steve Daley, Willie Carr, Steve Kindon and Alan Sunderland all struck with one each in this unlikely Second Division meeting. Three nights after that, Sammy Chung’s men, who would be crowned champions some six months later, caved in 6-2 at home to Southampton.
November 7, 1998 Bristol City 1 Wolves 6 The David Connolly match. The speedy former Watford and Feyenoord forward had not scored in 15 previous appearances in gold and black but spectacularly put things right with no fewer than four of the half dozen that downed the West Countrymen after an early goal at the other end. Guy Whittingham and Carl Robinson were the others on target in a dream first game as caretaker boss for former Ashton Gate youngster Colin Lee. Ade Akinbiyi and Matt Hill were in the home line-up.