Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City 1965/66

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 2 CITY 4

League Division 2

30th August 1965

attendance 22,799

Scorers City Murray(6), Crossan(9), Harris(31 og), Doyle(89) Wolves Wagstaffe(5), Woodruff(85)

Ref Mr D W Brady

City Dowd, Bacuzzi, Sear, Doyle, Oakes, Kennedy, Summerbee, Crossan, Murray, Pardoe - Sub Cheetham(24)

Wolves MacLaren, Thomson, Harris, Flowers, Woodfield, Miller, Wharton, Woodruff, McIlmoyle, Knowles, Wagstaffe

A Wolves defender uncermoniously barged Mike Summerbee off the pitch and into the stand where he collided head first with a metal post. He was led off the field looking like a stunt man in a Sam Peckinpah film with blood spurting in a fountain from a deep cut in the top of his head. Ten rows back a woman was three months pregnant was so traumatised by the sight that she suffered a miscarriage. Informed about it later, Mike took the trouble to send her flowers. ...The doctor inserted seventeen stitches into Mike's head pulling them through with a pair of metal pliers. Roy Cheetham trotted out to take Mike's place in a slightly rearranged City side and thereby made history by becoming the first substitute ever to be used by Manchester City. Of more relevance to everyone else was the fact that City left Molyneaux with a 4-2 victory. ADAPTED FROM FATHERS, SONS AND FOOTBALL BY COLIN SHINDLER 

  from BLUE BLOOD THE MIKE DOYLE STORY

The year we were going for the championship of the second division we were playing Wolves at Molyneux. They were in a challenging position too, so a win was effectively worth four points.... Wolves were beating us 2-1 and then we equalised. [Mike seems to have maybe had rose tinted specs on here as City were 3-2 up at this time] There were about ten minutes to go and it looked as if we would both have to be satisfied with a share of the points, when I saw an opening and went in a run that took me through Wolverhampton's defence. We were pushing up and I raced thirty yards from the back, as Johnny Crossan played a great ball over their defence. I ran on to the through ball just onside and took it towards goal. As the goalkeeper advanced I hit the ball over his head and into the net. That goal gave us a 3-2 victory and naturally we were all delighted, especially me. Joe was smiling too, but he collared me on the coach going back to Manchester "You took that goal well, you young devil, but you should never have been in that position in the first place, leaving us open at the back". It was a complement, but a backhanded one all the same.