John McAlle

[Oldgold Wolfcub]

I have just read Wolves Scrapbook Derek Parkin and I must admit I surprised about one thing.
Wolves Scrapbook | Derek Parkin
Now Parkin was always one of my favourite players in a team which sported many good players. In this article he rated McAlle when asked for his best player.
Now I dont rate myself as the best judge and I listen to others when they talk about certain players which often makes me re-evaluate somethimes there strengths and weaknesses and over time McAlle has not exactly been forwarded as one of the strongest in that era by a lot of you.
I am sure that most of you would rate Parkin very highly so I would love to see why you think that Derek would have seen in McAlle to value him so highly.

 

[Big Nosed Wolf]

I have just read Wolves Scrapbook Derek Parkin and I must admit I surprised about one thing.
Wolves Scrapbook | Derek Parkin
Now Parkin was always one of my favourite players in a team which sported many good players. In this article he rated McAlle when asked for his best player.
Now I dont rate myself as the best judge and I listen to others when they talk about certain players which often makes me re-evaluate somethimes there strengths and weaknesses and over time McAlle has not exactly been forwarded as one of the strongest in that era by a lot of you.
I am sure that most of you would rate Parkin very highly so I would love to see why you think that Derek would have seen in McAlle to value him so highly.

Interesting piece. Not sure I would put him in the 'brilliant' category.

McCalle is one of those players who was never going to be a fan's favourite. He was eclipsed by Frank Munro in defence in possession. Munro was so comfortable as a footballer, on the ball or without it. In my opinion watching many of their games through that era I always thought McCalle was underrated. His performance defending in the 1974 LC final was top drawer against some great. great players in the Man City side. His strengths were tenacious tackling and his obvious professional approach to the game. He was one that just always got on with it and an obvious will to win. I always thought he was the obvious foil at CB for Munro. He could be weak on distribution when trying to find a player but his kind of defending at the time (there wasn't the same emphasis on ball skills for defenders as now even if we had two in Parkin and Munro) meant he usually only had to stop opposition players playing(very good at that) and finding row Z if in doubt.

A great servant of the club in Wolves side full of character who should be remembered for that.

 

[Berlin Wolf]

Well, it was my dad actually, who observed and said John McAlle was as important as the big stars in the Wolves team.
His reasoning was that John was excellent when we were under pressure inside our box, keeping very tight on his man.
He always seemed able to stick a leg out, make a tackle, make a block, so inside our box John came into his own as a great defender.
There to see that at close quarters was Derek Parkin (and his team mates) which is why he was a highly valued member of the team.
To back all of this up was his 508 Wolves appearances over 14 years.. you don't do that, unless you are a bit special.
I hope this helps answer your question, and of course, I agreed with my dad..

 

[Floyd Man]

Yes at the time the stars of that defence were undoubtedly Parkin and Munro. McAlle, Palmer and Parkes were perceived as ‘weak links’ by many of the fans. But looking back on it they were a unit who had a number of seasons playing together. They knew each other’s game and I’m pretty sure Frank would say the same as Parkin.

 

[Jonzy54]

McAlle was a steady Eddie .If we had someone like Colin Todd in place of him and Shilton instead of Parkes the McGarry years may have been even more rewarding

 

[Jonzy54]

Interesting piece. Not sure I would put him in the 'brilliant' category.

McCalle is one of those players who was never going to be a fan's favourite. He was eclipsed by Frank Munro in defence in possession. Munro was so comfortable as a footballer, on the ball or without it. In my opinion watching many of their games through that era I always thought McCalle was underrated. His performance defending in the 1974 LC final was top drawer against some great. great players in the Man City side. His strengths were tenacious tackling and his obvious professional approach to the game. He was one that just always got on with it and an obvious will to win. I always thought he was the obvious foil at CB for Munro. He could be weak on distribution when trying to find a player but his kind of defending at the time (there wasn't the same emphasis on ball skills for defenders as now even if we had two in Parkin and Munro) meant he usually only had to stop opposition players playing(very good at that) and finding row Z if in doubt.

A great servant of the club in Wolves side full of character who should be remembered for that.

He was a great servant indeed

 

[SA Wolf]

I don't recall that McAlle was ever really liked by Wolves' fans. If playing today, he would be the Bennett of the defence, a scapegoat when things went badly. However like Bennett, he had his strengths and as others have implied, the defence is a team that is greater than the sum of it's parts. McAlle played a long time for Wolves and we've had a lot of worse players over the years.

 

[reanswolf]

I was just about to compare him to Ryan Bennett, a proper defender but weak in distribution. His job was to defend, and he did that unspectacularly but rigidly well.

He was under-rated and possibly under-appreciated when you had charismatic players like the Doog, Waggy, Frank Munro, Jimmy Mac, King Kenny and King John in the team, but I certainly appreciated what he did.

 

[PelsallTC]

John McAlle was a solid defender & besides being good in the tackle he was also good in the air. I don’t recall him making many mistakes or conceding own goals. He just didn’t have the silky skills of Frank Munro or score many goals which Frankie did.
In my option his biggest weakness was his distribution which tended to be hoofball

The team of that era was my favourite but the current team is running them close. Just need some silverware now when football returns for the current team to bypass the 70’s team

 

[Woburn Wolf]

A solid defender who did not make many mistakes.

 

[Jonzy54]

Does anyone else remember him breaking his leg against Watford ?I was stood on the North Bank and you could hear the crack it was very loud .

 

[The Professional]

Must admit my Dad wasn’t the greatest fan of McAlle or Zico Palmer. I never really had any Wolves players I didn’t like until we got to the really bad days of Tommy Docherty when we had some utter dross in the side, but it wasn’t really their fault- virtually YTS players playing for a club in a complete crisis. George Berry was another marmite player (no racial pun intended) - some Wolves fans loved him, others thought he was awful. Liked George, I must admit. Seeing him play for Stoke after we got relegated was just weird.

 

[Jonzy54]

Must admit my Dad wasn’t the greatest fan of McAlle or Zico Palmer. I never really had any Wolves players I didn’t like until we got to the really bad days of Tommy Docherty when we had some utter dross in the side, but it wasn’t really their fault- virtually YTS players playing for a club in a complete crisis. George Berry was another marmite player (no racial pun intended) - some Wolves fans loved him, others thought he was awful. Liked George, I must admit. Seeing him play for Stoke after we got relegated was just weird.

I remember the goal George scored against Derby in a late season night game.They stepped up to catch us offside as George had the ball just inside our half but he took them on and waltzed through them and despite his lack of pace he just kept going and scored up the South Bank end .

 

[Jonzy54]

I remember the goal George scored against Derby in a late season night game.They stepped up to catch us offside as George had the ball just inside our half but he took them on and waltzed through them and despite his lack of pace he just kept going and scored up the South Bank end .

I think it might have been the day of /day after John Barnwell’s crash if memory serves me right .

 

[Can't B Arsed Wolf]

Does anyone else remember him breaking his leg against Watford ?I was stood on the North Bank and you could hear the crack it was very loud .

Yep, I remembered it wrong as being John Holsgrove, age again, but was corrected by Rhoswolf. It was, if I remember an FA Cup tie which we lost 3-0 I think. Horrible to witness, very bad day.

 

[Jonzy54]

Yep, I remembered it wrong as being John Holsgrove, age again, but was corrected by Rhoswolf. It was, if I remember an FA Cup tie which we lost 3-0 I think. Horrible to witness, very bad day.

It was .I think it was the week before the League Cup Final in 1980.He had lost his place and Berry and Hughes were our CB’s .He came on as sub and was then stretched off.

 

[Oakhamwolf]

Yes I remember that game, as Jonzy said everyone heard the crack, always remember the physio lifting him to his feet and then geting him to try and stamp his foot.... at least i remember it that way but it was nearly 40 years ago !

 

[Frank Lincoln]

McAlle was a steady enough player, defensively he often put in many crucial tackles, those long legs often getting in the way of a goal bound shot. He was a good partner for big Frank, but for us to seriously challenge for the league, both he and Lofty Parkes needed replacing. But don't get me wrong, he was a great servant for Wolves, always giving his very best in every game. Despite the 500 plus games he played, he was never really popular with the fans.

 

[Deleted member 5276]

I remember the goal George scored against Derby in a late season night game.They stepped up to catch us offside as George had the ball just inside our half but he took them on and waltzed through them and despite his lack of pace he just kept going and scored up the South Bank end .

That is still one of the best goals I've seen a player score. We won 4-0 and I think that was the final goal of the evening. The way he took it would be raved about today a la Messi. It was fantastic and the way he placed it just inside the left hand post, as if taking a penalty, was superb.

I was never a huge fan of "Chicken George" but he had a good partnership with Bob Hazell.

 

[Deleted member 5276]

Squeak was also a favourite player of mine and it's interesting that he would name McAlle as his best player. Perhaps some of that is out of loyalty to his mate of 50+ years? I guess when you play next to someone for a long time and you lift two trophies together, you are going to look at things in a different way to others.

McAlle was a good reader of the ball and generally always in the right position. Definitely an underrated player but that would always remain the case when you have a bloke like Munro beside him. Think I'm also correct in saying that he never scored a goal in the football league. I think the only goal he did get was in a cup game.

As for Squeak... remember him and Terry Conroy of Stoke kicking the living daylights out of each other behind the ref's back. They'd both be sent off for it today but I don't think they even got booked.

 

[Jonzy54]

Didn't McAlle and Parkin work together in landscaping?

 

[oldgolded]

I remember him as a good solid player in the in the mould of Dougie Woodfield and John Holsgrove.
It was said at the time that we were 2-3 players away from being title challengers, and with all due respect I feel McAlle was probably one of those.
Had we been able to upgrade him with someone like Colin Todd for instance, it would have improved the team immeasurably.
Having said that, he was a good defender, I recall him being described as 'Tough as Teak' and a great servant to the club.

 

[Wagstaffe Was Magic]

McAlle was a steady Eddie .If we had someone like Colin Todd in place of him and Shilton instead of Parkes the McGarry years may have been even more rewarding

This has always been my view ... I think I mentioned Gordon Banks not Shilton... and the Doog had wanted Bill McGarry to buy Banks when Stoke signed him from Leicester!! Those two players would have changed us from a very good side, to a title winning one, particularly if Peter Knowles had stayed the course!!

John was a solid pro, as was Lofty, both great servants of our club!

 

[Rusty Staples]

JMc was in the same school year has me and I played with him for the Huyton Boys Team and I could not believe him when he told me he was signing for Wolves... I did not rate him at all... But proved to be a good consistent player.

 

[Ian]

That is still one of the best goals I've seen a player score. We won 4-0 and I think that was the final goal of the evening. The way he took it would be raved about today a la Messi. It was fantastic and the way he placed it just inside the left hand post, as if taking a penalty, was superb.

I was never a huge fan of "Chicken George" but he had a good partnership with Bob Hazell.

I can't recall Berry and Hazell playing together often??.

As for McAlle as ive mentioned in previous threads i thought he was average at best , pity we sold Hazell as he was a far better player, who along with Munro and later Emlyn Hughes were our best defenders of that era.
I always thought Parkin was overated too and pity we couldnt have got local boy Derek Statham to give him competition.

 

[Wagstaffe Was Magic]

I can't recall Berry and Hazell playing together often??.

As for McAlle as ive mentioned in previous threads i thought he was average at best , pity we sold Hazell as he was a far better player, who along with Munro and later Emlyn Hughes were our best defenders of that era.
I always thought Parkin was overated too and pity we couldnt have got local boy Derek Statham to give him competition.

You mention Derek Parkin.... he was a very good right back asked to play on the left by Wolves!!

I think he sacrificed an International career in so doing!

 

[Jonzy54]

I remember Hugh Johns referring to him as ‘McCally’ when he first broke through

 

[Lawndog]

Never really rated him tbh but I thought he was superb the 2nd half of the 1978/79 season.......we were nailed-on for relegation in early 79 but he was fantastic during the latter stages and helped keep our defence pretty solid!

 

[AndyY]

Good job we didn’t have social media back in those days!

 

[Deleted member 5276]

I can't recall Berry and Hazell playing together often??.

As for McAlle as ive mentioned in previous threads i thought he was average at best , pity we sold Hazell as he was a far better player, who along with Munro and later Emlyn Hughes were our best defenders of that era.
I always thought Parkin was overated too and pity we couldnt have got local boy Derek Statham to give him competition.

Yes, it was short lived as Hazell only played 33 games for us from 77 to 79.

 

[Wagstaffe Was Magic]

I remember Hugh Johns referring to him as ‘McCally’ when he first broke through

Hugh Johns .... what a legend!!!

Never approached a microphone without having consumed a few glasses of Mr Gordon’s finest!

 

[manky codpiece]

I have just read Wolves Scrapbook Derek Parkin and I must admit I surprised about one thing.
Wolves Scrapbook | Derek Parkin
Now Parkin was always one of my favourite players in a team which sported many good players. In this article he rated McAlle when asked for his best player.
Now I dont rate myself as the best judge and I listen to others when they talk about certain players which often makes me re-evaluate somethimes there strengths and weaknesses and over time McAlle has not exactly been forwarded as one of the strongest in that era by a lot of you.
I am sure that most of you would rate Parkin very highly so I would love to see why you think that Derek would have seen in McAlle to value him so highly.

Probably a mate.McALLE NOWHERE NEAR ONE OF THE BEST.

 

[Jamwolf]

Palmer was another player who never got much credit from fans, despite being not far off Parkin for longevity.

 

[The Professional]

Palmer was another player who never got much credit from fans, despite being not far off Parkin for longevity.

Zico was never rated much by fans. He was a pretty average player being honest. Never disliked him, but just one of those players that didn’t look classy or comfortable on the pitch.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Palmer was another player who never got much credit from fans, despite being not far off Parkin for longevity.

Parkin was a top class defender who could play anywhere along the back line, plus he loved nothing better than overlapping Waggy on his many forays forward, much to Waggys chagrin. Palmer, while a decent enough player, was never anywhere near as good as Squeak,

 

[Frank Lincoln]

You mention Derek Parkin.... he was a very good right back asked to play on the left by Wolves!!

I think he sacrificed an International career in so doing!

He was also a very good left back who linked up well with Waggy.

 

[Deleted member 5276]

Palmer was another player who never got much credit from fans, despite being not far off Parkin for longevity.

I remember one of his first games when he was up against Dave Thomas who was playing for QPR against us at Mol. Thomas was a really good player but Zico made a challenge against him I'll never forget. Where the players came out there were two double doors down towards the North Bank... Thomas went to go past Zico and that was a big mistake. Next thing he knew, he was laying against the two doors as Zico came flying in, took the ball and took his man. Thomas never went past him again that afternoon. Zico reminded me of Tommy Smith of Liverpool that day... except Zico was probably only 19.

He then went to become a very good servant for the club and was quite prepared to take on responsibility when the tough times came. His penalties were a thing of legend and he made nearly 500 appearances for us despite the crowd often times getting on his back. Odd really as he was a Cannock boy and one of own as they nauseatingly say these days.

I was never one who gave him the bird though as he was very kind to me when I went along to Castlecroft for a training session. Showed me a few old pro's tricks and always happy to pass on his knowledge. After footy, he joined the Police force and gave great service to the area until he retired.

 

[oldgolded]

Used to enjoy Geoff Palmer's 25 yard sliding tackles in the mud. Those were the days!