Second half highlights of the FA Cup 4th Round match between Newcastle United and Wolves at St James' Park on 27th January 1979.
John Barnwell was appointed Wolves manager in November 1978 following a dismal run of 11 defeats in 14 matches that led to the dismissal of Sammy Chung. It was the beginning of a brief successful period for Wolves; the slide towards relegation from the First Division was ultimately reversed late in the season and, in addition, Wolves appeared in two FA Cup semi-finals during Barnwell's tenure (both defeats) and won the League Cup on 15th March 1980.
A prime reason for the alarming run of results at the start of the 1978-79 season was due to the absence of striker John Richards who underwent an operation on his right knee in October 1978. Prior to that, Richards had appeared just twice earlier in the season, but his return to the team brought instant rewards for John Barnwell with the winning goal away to Arsenal on 24th February 1979. There followed a further 8 goals in 16 games for Richards as Wolves finally pulled clear of relegation for good with a 2-1 win at Chelsea on 24th March 1979, with another all-important goal scored by Richards.
The Wolves line-up for the match against Newcastle had a familiar look to it with Kenny Hibbitt, Geoff Palmer, Derek Parkin, John McAlle, Willie Carr and Steve Daley - all players that figured prominently in Wolves teams from earlier in the decade. Added to that were more recent introductions; George Berry made his Wolves debut in the penultimate match of the 1976-77 season while Peter Daniel and goalkeeper Paul Bradshaw were signed by Sammy Chung. Daniel and Bradshaw, in particular, served Wolves admirably during their time at Wolves and were, along with Berry, key members of Barnwell's League Cup winning team.
Newcastle had been relegated from the First Division at the end of the 1977-78 season and were led by former Wolves manager Bill McGarry, who had been appointed Newcastle manager in November 1977 but had been unable to halt Newcastle's relegation to the Second Division. Other past and future Wolves connections were included in the Newcastle team for the match against Wolves; substitute Mark McGhee was manager at Molineux from December 1995 to November 1998, while centre-forward Peter Withe briefly played for McGarry at Wolves during the mid-1970s. Also present in the Newcastle team, in his second spell at the club, was midfielder Terry Hibbitt, but it was younger brother Kenny who earned a replay at Molineux with an equaliser just five minutes from time. In the Molineux replay almost a month later, Wolves striker Norman Bell scored the only goal of the game to set up a 5th Round tie at Crystal Palace.
Original footage from Yorkshire TV with commentary by Martin Tyler.