The 1983/84 season was one to forget for Wolves. But they did manage to pull off a shock win at Anfield to provide their supporters with a rare moment of joy.
There are seasons so bad that any supporters who lived through the experience will shudder at the memories. Stoke fans who had to endure the 1984/85 horror show or Derby followers during the 2007/08 campaign deserve a badge of honour for their support during these hard times. Wolves' 1983/84 season falls into the same category.
Just six wins in a 42-match league campaign gives a clear indication of the struggles Wolves faced that season. It took 15 games for them to gain their first league win - albeit a delicious derby win at the Hawthorns - and their first home league win came just before the new year. Conceding 80 goals, losing 25 matches, and scoring 27 goals, Wolves were a mess.
In truth, the writing was on the wall even before the new season had kicked off. Promoted as runners-up from Division Two, manager Graham Hawkins had reportedly given chairman Derek Dougan a list of players that he wanted to bring to Molineux, including David Seaman, Mick McCarthy, Paul Bracewell, and Gary Lineker. But the cash-strapped club were simply not in the market for these rising stars.
Instead Hawkins had to make do with an £80,000 signing in Rotherham winger Tony Towner - purchased by Dougan when his manager was on holiday - and free transfers/loan deals that failed to add enough quality to the team that had gained promotion.
Andy Gray would depart in November, but John Burridge, Geoff Palmer, Peter Daniel, Kenny Hibbitt, and Mel Eves provided experience in the squad. Yet the First Division was a harsh learning ground for a lot of the youngsters involved. You don't win anything with cubs, as Alan Hansen might have said. It soon became apparent whether Wolves would sink or swim.
Eleven defeats in their first 13 matches left Wolves playing catch-up for the rest of the season, and a League Cup defeat to Third Division Preston did little to improve matters. Prior to their win against West Brom, the team had gone four matches without scoring, but there was a small ray of light at the end of the year.
Back-to-back wins over Everton and Norwich gave hope a chance, and then came a result at the start of the year that would add belief that Wolves could get out of the mire. Their 1-0 win at Anfield was the very definition of a coupon buster, as a Liverpool side pursuing a quadruple were stunned.
Wolves had drawn their first match of the season 1-1 at Molineux against Joe Fagan's team. And although league leaders Liverpool had lost at home to struggling teams such as Leicester and Brighton in recent years, the Guardian match preview written by Robert Armstrong did not look too outrageous.
"Liverpool are almost certain to extend their lead at the expense of Wolverhampton, who visit Anfield having lost nine of their 10 away games this season." Sunderland had won at Anfield earlier in the season, and the previous month had seen Coventry hammer Liverpool 4-0 at Highfield Road. But it was hard to make a case for the visitors.
The player who would prove the matchwinner was not even expected to play. Steve Mardenborough, a 19-year-old forward who had been signed on a free transfer from Coventry, had been out of the team for a month. But a late injury to Eves gave him his chance.
"Manager Graham Hawkins told me I was playing and I got really nervous," Mardenborough admitted after the match. "Most players get nervous before any game, but this was my first time at Anfield. It's a frightening prospect to go out there."
The youthfulness of the Wolves team that day made the subsequent result that more impressive. As well as Mardenborough, John Humphrey (22), John Pender (20), and Wayne Clarke (22) started the match. Danny Crainie (21) had recently been signed from Celtic. Sammy Troughton (19) was a £30,000 buy from Glentoran.
Liverpool were missing Kenny Dalglish. Yet as Mardenborough revealed, playing any Liverpool team at Anfield was an ordeal. Maybe the fearless nature of youth aided by some wise old heads benefitted Wolves on Saturday January 14, 1984. The early goal certainly helped.
The match was played in atrocious conditions, with a gale blowing across most of Britain; Watford goalkeeper Steve Sherwood scored against Coventry due to some assistance from the wind. Bruce Grobbelaar did not enjoy his afternoon as much as his Watford counterpart.
In the 8th minute, Crainie swung in a cross from the left, and initially Grobbelaar left his line to collect the ball. But indecision left him stranded, as Mardenborough rose to meet the cross. "It hit me half on the head and half on the shoulder," Mardenborough said. "It looped over him and into the net. I've scored better, but none have been as memorable."
Hawkins noted that a quiet word in Mardenborough's ear had paid dividends. "I'd left out Mardenborough because I felt he wasn't getting enough chances in the penalty area. Before this match I told him he had to get in there and thankfully he did just that."
The early goal at least gave Wolves something to hold on to. Liverpool, attacking the Kop in the first half, naturally dominated possession, but balls into the box were dealt with easily, and soon the home team became frustrated as the two banks of Wolves' defensive unit became harder to penetrate.
"Even though we had 70 per cent of the game, there's no way that Wolves looked uncomfortable in defence," Fagan said after the defeat. "They were very cool under pressure." Burridge in particular was a calming presence, safely dealing with anything that came his way. As the second half progressed, he would be needed more and more.
Burridge's save from Steve Nicol's volley in the 59th minute was stunning, and he would also deny Sammy Lee and Ian Rush. As the clock ticked down, Burridge could only look on as substitute Ronnie Whelan's header struck the bar and fell to safety. Wolves had pulled off the unthinkable. Those left on the Kop - in a crowd of 23,325 - sportingly applauded the visitors off the pitch.
"If the Pools Panel, in operation for the first time on Saturday, had dreamed up this one they would have been laughed out of a job," Simon Inglis wrote in the Guardian, as punters up and down the country ripped up their coupons. But the hero of the day understandably revelled in the moment.
"This is the greatest day of my football life," Mardenborough stated. "It was my first goal for the club and to score at Anfield was even better." In fact it would be Mardenborough's only goal for Wolves. But his head/shoulder gave Wolves their first win at Anfield since 1950, and that is not a bad claim to fame.
The win did allow Hawkins to dream of a great escape. "Anything is possible as long as we don't go over the top. You can see that the players are starting to believe in themselves, but we've got to sustain this form for another 19 matches."
Sadly this would not be the case. Wolves won just two more league matches post-Anfield, and their relegation was confirmed in April when they lost 2-0 to Everton, with Gray scoring the opener. Hawkins was sacked a few days after this defeat and the club spiralled out of control. By 1986, Wolves were a Fourth Division club playing in a decaying stadium and on the verge of folding.
Fortunately the club was saved, and the Bhatti brothers era could be consigned to the past. Gradually the sleeping giant awoke, and the quest to climb back up the Football League began. It would take Wolves 19 years to return to the top table of English football. By December 2010 they would achieve their next win at Anfield.
As for Liverpool, they dusted themselves down after the shock defeat and marched on to win the First Division, European Cup, and League Cup. Ian Rush, who was involved in a car accident on the evening of the Wolves match, scored a hat-trick in the next league match, a 3-1 win live on the BBC at Villa Park. Normal service had been resumed.
No comments:
Post a Comment