Fifty-Year Anniversary Of Epic Game That Was Hardly Golden For Wolves
Willie Carr and Mike Bailey challenge Ray Kennedy in the Wolves v Liverpool cliffhanger in 1976.
It was described on the cover of the match programme as The Great First Division Drama, so why wouldn’t it be more deeply etched in the nation’s cultural fabric?
One team needed both points on that historic Molineux night to have any chance of staying up. The other required a draw or win to become First Division champions for the ninth time.
Wolves’ hopes soared in front of a colossal 50,000-plus crowd with Steve Kindon’s early goal and, in what proved to be Bill McGarry’s 410th and last competitive game in charge, they were still leading with 13 minutes left.
Then visitors Liverpool, as they were inclined to do, found another gear and scored three times, through Kevin Keegan, John Toshack and Ray Kennedy. Cue mayhem on the South Bank as away fans spilled on to the pitch in celebration.
The squad taken over by Bob Paisley two years earlier had their title and Wolves were down. Fifty years on to the night, no wonder the May 4 theatre show capturing the occasion is to be staged on Merseyside and not at the Grand!
Dancing at Wolves is being hosted by former TV commentator Elton Welsby and stars David Fairclough and John Aldridge alongside ‘many surprise special guests’ who are still to be revealed.
Producers are hoping for a cameo from Kindon, whose excellent right-foot finish on the run past Ray Clemence sent shockwaves though the Birmingham side who were playing at Sheffield United at the same time. They were the other team in danger of joining the already doomed Blades and Burnley in Division Two.
But Blues, who had Kenny Hibbitt’s brother, Terry, in their line-up, recovered from a 1-0 deficit at Bramall Lane to salvage the draw that would have rendered even a Wolves win over Liverpool as insufficient for survival.
“A night drenched in tension and glory,” says the show’s blurb, continuing: “The Kop travelled to Wolverhampton – and turned Molineux into a sea of red. Now relive that legendary night in a theatrical retelling packed with emotion, nostalgia and laughter.”
Well, any evening featuring Kindon will not be short of laughter and the additional claim that the live music will be by one of Liverpool’s best-known artists wll raise eyebrows. Merseyside has not been short of such talent over the decades.
The script-writer, Hyder Jawad, is an Anfield fanatic but has a firm foothold in the West Midlands, too, having worked for many years in the past on the sports desk of the Birmingham Post.
Script-writer Hyder Jawad.
He has just firmed up plans to attend what will be his ninth World Cup finals and also taken on the job of editing the memoir of Eric Wynalda, the forward who played for the USA in the 1990, 1994 and 1998 tournaments. His book is due for publication in Los Angeles in May.
Dancing at Wolves, which is directed by David Peel, takes place at the Epstein Theatre in Hanover Street, Liverpool on May 4 (7.30pm). Tickets are available by clicking on purchase.epsteintheatre.com
*The attendance for the decisive Wolves v Liverpool game in the spring of 1976 was given as 48,918 but many more are known to have got in for free after a gate was forced open.
*And here’s another thing…..despite their relegation, McGarry’s side equalled both the top flight’s biggest home win of the season (5-0 against Newcastle in the April) and the largest away victory (5-1 against Burnley in the November).