Spurs win ended 36 years of hurt

Wolves' Sporting Star columnist John Lalley saw 36 years of hurt consigned to memory in winning at White Hart Lane against Tottenham.

I can vaguely remember the day back in November 1973 when Wolves last won a match at Tottenham. That was in the good old days when reserve matches in the Central League were played on Saturday afternoons and, if you were not following the first team on the road, the next best thing was to watch the reserves at Molineux.

I did just that on this day and as always, the main pre-occupation was the score from the first team match which was telephoned through to Molineux every 15 minutes. The score was duly posted on the old alphabetic A to Z scoreboard at the South Bank end of the Waterloo Road stand.

The reserve game was against Albion which gave the fixture just a little bit of spice and Wolves won 1-0 with an early goal scored I think by our Irish winger Jimmy Kelly, although I stand to be corrected on this detail.

I'm also pretty sure too that Jeff Astle turned out for Albion that day. By then, he must have been playing out his time after a highly successful career at the Hawthorns.

Kids in the Enclosure would congregate by the old scoreboard waiting for the attendant to take the phone calls giving the score from the away venue. If they started hopping about and waving their arms, you knew that Wolves had scored and a cheer would echo around Molineux, which was open to spectators on all four sides for reserve games in those days which very often meant a decent atmosphere was created.

When the confirmation came and the attendant fixed the 0-1 score beside the letter A, another cheer louder than the initial one always followed. I usually treated myself to a seat in the Molineux Street stand for reserve matches as one for a first team game was too expensive.

First team prices back then for adults were 40 pence for the North and South banks, 50 pence in the Enclosure and a seat for a quid. For the match at White Hart Lane that day, you could buy an unreserved seat for 80 pence.

Whenever a Wolves away goal was scored, your eyes always diverted away from the action on the pitch waiting to see the chief steward come striding along the stand concourse, chest puffed out, delighted by his self-importance of being the bloke who informed one and all who had scored the Wolves goal.

Even the group of kids who spent most of the afternoon cheeking the steward instead of watching the match would pay close attention. Three times in quick succession on this day he marched the length and breadth of Molineux Street barking out the names. Hibbit! Palmer! Powell! - our three men were all on target in London.

Unlike Saturday, Wolves winning at Spurs was no major surprise - we had got a hell of a good team. Just four days earlier we had beaten Exeter 5-1 in the League cup fourth round, a prelude to Wembley glory four months later.

The Exeter match and the fifth round win over Liverpool the following month are matches that have found their way into Molineux folklore, kicking off on weekday afternoons due to restrictions on floodlights during the miners strike.

Mind you, any victory over Spurs was sweet, after all in the previous two seasons they had beaten us in the UEFA Cup final and in the semi-final of the League Cup. Television highlights of every game was still way off in the future, but the cameras were in North London to cover this game.

I can still see now a startled Pat Jennings standing motionless as Geoff Palmer thunders a long range screamer into the net for his first senior goal in a Wolves shirt.

I didn't expect to wait this long for another win at White Hart Lane, we sure have had to be patient. Maybe we can learn a thing or two from Tottenham as we strive to establish ourselves as a credible Premier club.

Back in May 2006, Spurs under manager Martin Jol looked certain to finish in the top four and tap into the riches of the Champions League. But for a bout of food poisoning suffered by their players prior to the last match of the season, they would certainly have qualified.

Early on in the next season, their chairman Daniel Levy panicked, sacked Jol and installed Juande Ramos who promptly took Spurs to the brink of relegation and had to be paid off.

Our current horizons may be more modest but the principle is the same. There is much to be said for patience and continuity, but lets hope it's not another 36 years before we win at White Hart Lane once more!