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John Richards.

Wednesbury Wolf

Wednesbury Wolf

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Frank Lincoln said:
If he brings his boots next week he will get a game… :)

What a player and what a great person. When I saw the thread title I feared the worst.
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I saw his first few games for us and the crowd round me on the south bank all had the same opinion in that he wasn't good enough.
As a schoolboy you kept your mouth shut for fear of offending fans a lot of whom had seen the greats of the 50's so knew what they were talking about. Within a few weeks they'd all decided "he'd do" and within a few months they thought he was the second coming, what a fine player King John was. Once he'd lost a defender nobody could ever catch him he was lightning from a standing start, him and the Doog were a formidable twosome.
 
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Bigcheese

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I wonder what the pair of them would be worth today?
Wednesbury Wolf said:
I saw his first few games for us and the crowd round me on the south bank all had the same opinion in that he wasn't good enough.
As a schoolboy you kept your mouth shut for fear of offending fans a lot of whom had seen the greats of the 50's so knew what they were talking about. Within a few weeks they'd all decided "he'd do" and within a few months they thought he was the second coming, what a fine player King John was. Once he'd lost a defender nobody could ever catch him he was lightning from a standing start, him and the Doog were a formidable twosome.
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I wonder what the pair of them would be worth today?
 
Big Saft Kid

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Wednesbury Wolf said:
I saw his first few games for us and the crowd round me on the south bank all had the same opinion in that he wasn't good enough.
As a schoolboy you kept your mouth shut for fear of offending fans a lot of whom had seen the greats of the 50's so knew what they were talking about. Within a few weeks they'd all decided "he'd do" and within a few months they thought he was the second coming, what a fine player King John was. Once he'd lost a defender nobody could ever catch him he was lightning from a standing start, him and the Doog were a formidable twosome.
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He had 4 games at the back end of 69-70 and about 10 games in 70-71, scoring a total of 1 goal (IIRC). Nothing to write home about. Then he started playing regularly in October 71, and hit his stride more or less straightway. Scored 2 v Derby in a 2-1 win and really looked the business (Derby went on to win the league that season). Went home and told my Dad that night 'we have really got a player in that young lad John Richards'. He never looked back......
 
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Oldgold Wolfcub

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Big Saft Kid said:
He had 4 games at the back end of 69-70 and about 10 games in 70-71, scoring aa total of 1 goal (IIRC). Nothing to write home about. Then he started playing regularly in October 71, and hit his stride more or less straightway. Scored 2 v Derby in a 2-1 win and really looked the business (Derby went on to win the league that season). Went home and told my Dad that night 'we have really got a player in that young lad John Richards'. He never looked back......
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Maybe we should remember this when we write off some of our youngsters too early.
 
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WolvesinBrum

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I was only a kid in the 70s, so some of this is off TV rather than at the ground. My debut was Chester City at home in the FA cup 5th round. Have a feeling JR was injured. Otherwise it was 1-0 and if playing had to be Richards who scored.

That reading of the game, a positional sense, made him a great strike partner.

He was unobtrusive in a way. A low key goal celebration which made his sniping even more brutal! In an era of all sorts of characters, goal celebrations and haircuts, he was just a lovely contrast.
 
Big Saft Kid

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Like I said in an earlier post, he was on the fringes of the first team for about 18 months, then when he took off in October 71, there was no stopping him. By Christmas 71 he was irreplaceable and had really gelled with the Doog. I remember going up to Old Trafford in January 72 when they were top of the league. We ripped them to pieces and won 3-1 with JR and the Doog scoring one each and Jimmy Mac got the other from a penalty. He and doog were unstoppable that day. It's on Youtube if you do a search.
 
Frank Lincoln

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Big Saft Kid said:
Like I said in an earlier post, he was on the fringes of the first team for about 18 months, then when he took off in October 71, there was no stopping him. By Christmas 71 he was irreplaceable and had really gelled with the Doog. I remember going up to Old Trafford in January 72 when they were top of the league. We ripped them to pieces and won 3-1 with JR and the Doog scoring one each and Jimmy Mac got the other from a penalty. He and doog were unstoppable that day. It's on Youtube if you do a search.
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I went to that game with my Father. Manchester United didn’t know what hit them that day. King John and the Doog were unplayable.
 
Big Saft Kid

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Frank Lincoln said:
I went to that game with my Father. Manchester United didn’t know what hit them that day. King John and the Doog were unplayable.
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One odd thing I remember about that game is that George Best was picked to play but never turned up! He was in his AWOL mode and left United soon after under a cloud. Utd fell apart after we beat them and eventually finished 8th. Two seasons later they were relegated.
 
Frank Lincoln

Frank Lincoln

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Big Saft Kid said:
One odd thing I remember about that game is that George Best was picked to play but never turned up! He was in his AWOL mode and left United soon after under a cloud. Utd fell apart after we beat them and eventually finished 8th. Two seasons later they were relegated.
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I had forgotten about that. Brilliant as he was, George Best became more and more unreliable during his time at Old Trafford. Though on that particular day, maybe he just didn’t fancy playing against Wolves.. :)
 
WickedWolfie

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Stourport wolf said:
I can still remember and visualiise the tabloid print in thick bold letters, KING JOHN. It was almost a weekly event. What a brilliant player he was for Wolves.
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Agreed. Slightly sad that, like Doog, his efforts in the management weren't so great....
 
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Norman Bell

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I remember a few seasons back when as per usual the Sky hype machine was going at the speed of the Starship Enterprise because Mo Salah had come as a sub and scored a second half hat-trick. Of course it was if it had never been done before. Those of us who were around before Sky invented football knew the truth ! There was the 1976 FA Cup 5th Round tie versus Charlton when King John scored 3 from off the bench !!!!
 
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