Thursday, February 26, 2009 THE BUGLE - 31
THIS WEEK the A-Z series continues with
Midland GOALKEEPERS, the playing
careers of former Albion and Blues stopper
TONY GODDEN, the Aston Villa midfielder
BRIAN GODFREY, ex-Villa and former Wal-
sall forward BILLY GOFFIN.
A good and capable GOALKEEPER is crucial
to a team . . . say no more. And over the years
each of our five major League clubs has had
excellent number ones, several of them of inter-
national standing.
Over the years ASTON VILLA football club
has been blessed with England stars Scott Car-
son (now with Albion), Billy George, Sam Har-
dy, David James, Ben Olney, Jimmy Rimmer
and Nigel Spink. Also there's Peter Enckleman
of Finland; Keith Jones of Wales and more
recently the Danish duo of Peter Schmeichel
and Thomas Sorensen, Gabor Kiraly of Hun-
gary and the American Brad Friedel. And we
have those who starred for club but not for
country, among them Jimmy Warner, Jimmy
Whitehouse and Harry Morton from years gone
by, Joe Rutherford, Nigel Sims, John Burridge,
John Dunn and Jim Cumbes, plus defender
Con Martin who kept goal for Villa over 30
times and also put the gloves on for the Repub-
lic of Ireland..
BIRMINGHAM CITY'S two most famous
`keepers were both England internationals -
Harry Hibbs from the 1920s/30s and Gil Merrick
who made a club record 551 appearances for
Blues. Other Blues number ones who have
been capped by their respective country include
Great Britain Olympic gold medalist Horace
Bailey, the Scottish trio of Jim Blyth, Jim Herriot
and Billy Robb, England's Chris Charsley who
was the first Blues' keeper to win a full cap, Jim
McDonagh (Republic of Ireland), Norway's Tho-
mas Myhre, David Seaman (remember him
playing for Blues?), Gary Sprake (Wales), Maik
Taylor (Northern Ireland) and England's Dan
Tremelling. And we have those who didn't win
honours � such as Ian Bennett, Paul Cooper,
Tony Godden (see separate entry), Roger
Hansbury, Dave Latchford, Jim Montgomery
(the man who won the FA Cup for Sunderland
in 1973), Johnny Schofield and Jeff Wealands
plus many more.
Perhaps WALSALL'S greatest goalkeeper
has been the long-serving HARRY WAIT who
made 275 appearances for the club in the
1920s/`30s. Also the Saddlers have been
blessed with the likes of Fred Barber, Fred Bid-
dlestone, who also had a brief spell with Villa,
Alan Boswell who was associated with Wolves,
Steve Cherry, John Christie, Joe Cunningham,
Ron Green, Roy John, who was capped by
Wales, former Wolves star Mick Kearns (Re-
public of Ireland), Jack Lewis, Peter McSevich,
Phil Parkes who went on to do well with QPR
and West Ham, Jimmy Walker, Bob Wesson
and even Bert Williams who, as we all know,
went on to give Wolves and, indeed, England
supreme service.
WEST BROMWICH ALBION'S first capped
player was goalkeeper Bob Roberts (v. Scot-
land in 1887). He was followed by another Eng-
land star, Joe Reader, and since then the Bag-
gies have been served between the posts by
many more quality `keepers, including George
Ashmore (England), Paul Bradshaw (ex-
Wolves), current number one Scott Carson
(England), Tony Godden, Mark Grew, Norman
Heath, Russell Hoult, Dean Kiely (Republic of
Ireland), Alan Miller, Tony Millington (Wales),
Stuart Naylor (who has made more appear-
ances than any other Albion `keeper - 355), FA
Cup winner John Osborne, the Tamworth duo
of Hubert Pearson and his son Harold (the lat-
ter was capped against Scotland in 1932 �
making him the last Baggies' `keeper to play for
England), Ray Potter, Jimmy Sanders, Jimmy
Stringer and Ike Webb. Among the others we
have Jimmy Adams, Fred Brown, Clive Jack-
man, Brian Jensen, Tony Lange, Peter Latch-
ford, Billy Light, Dick Sheppard and Jock
Wallace.
WOLVES' best goalkeeper (in my view by far)
has been Bert Williams who made 420 appear-
ances and gained 24 England caps (1949-55).
But the Molineux fans, over the years, have
also seen fine performances by Tom Baddeley
(England), Paul Bradshaw, John Burridge, Fred
Davies, Malcolm Finlayson, Tim Flowers, Noel
George, the late Mark Kendall, Tommy Lunn,
Dave MacLaren, Matt Murray, Michael Oakes,
Phil `Lofty' Parkes, Teddy Pears (Wales), Gary
Pierce, Billy Crispin Rose (England), Alex `Bob'
Scott, Mike Stowell (who has made the most
senior appearances for the club as a goal-
keeper - 448), Billy Tennant and Alf Tootill, plus
current first choice, Welsh international Wayne
Hennessey.
And from the very early days one can't forget
Jack Baynton and Ike Griffiths.
TONY GODDEN holds the record for most
consecutive appearances for Albion (at senior
level). The Gillingham-born goalkeeper had an
unbroken run of 228 League and Cup games
for the Baggies between August 1977 and
October 1981. A total of 180 of these appear-
ances came in the Football League, beating the
club's previous record of 171 set by his team-
mate Ally Robertson in the 1970s.
Tony, who had an unsuccessful trial with
Wolves in 1975, was signed by Johnny Giles
from Ashford Town, and made his Albion debut
(with Laurie Cunningham) in a 2-0 win at Tot-
tenham in March 1977. He stayed at The Haw-
thorns until August 1986 when he moved to
Chelsea, having had loan spells with Preston
North End, Luton Town, Walsall and the Lon-
don club in between times. He made 329 senior
appearances for Albion and played in the 1978
UEFA Cup quarter-final and 1982 League Cup
semi-final. Tony later assisted Birmingham City,
Bury, Sheffield Wednesday, Peterborough Unit-
ed, Leicester City, Wivenhoe Town, Colchester
United, Warboys Town, Torquay United before
venturing into management with March Town.
He is now a respected goalkeeping coach.
BRIAN GODFREY spent almost four years at
Villa Park. A hard-working midfielder, he had
trials with Chester, Tranmere Rovers and Wrex-
ham before starting his professional career with
Everton in 1958. From Goodison Park he
switched to Scunthorpe United and then to
Preston North End, teaming up with Aston Villa
in September 1967 and staying until May 1971
when he swapped clubs with Bristol Rovers'
winger Ray Graydon. Brian, who skipped Villa
several times, scored 25 goals in 160 first-team
matches for the club. He later played for New-
port County and Portland Timbers and also
managed Exeter City, Weymouth, Bath City,
Gloucester City and Cinderford Town. Born in
Flint, North Wales in 1940, he won one Under-
23 and three full caps for his country and made
over 600 appearances at club level in a playing
career that spanned almost 38 years.
BILLY GOFFIN was born in Amington, Tam-
worth in December 1920 and died in Septem-
ber 1987. A utility forward, he enjoyed playing
at centre-forward and joined Aston Villa from
Tamworth in August 1937, turning professional
four months later. Over the next seventeen
years, he proceeded to score 42 goals in 173
first-class appearances and another 45 goals in
86 Wartime games. He helped win the Football
League Cup (North) in 1944, playing in the first
leg of the final against Blackpool and during the
hostilities he appeared as a guest for his former
club Tamworth, Birmingham, Leicester City,
Nottingham Forest, Swansea Town and Wal-
sall. He left Villa Park in August 1955 to
become player-manager of Tamworth, retiring
as a manager in February 1958 but continued
to play until May 1959.
NEXT WEEK: The A-Z series rolls on with the
career of ARCHIE GOLDIE (ex-Blues), the sto-
ries of three former Wolves players, MICK
GOODING, DON GOODMAN (who also played
for Albion and Walsall) and FREDDIE GOOD-
WIN, plus the other FRED GOODWIN, who
was manager of Birmingham City during the
early 1970s.
A-Z of West
Midlands FootballCompiled by TONY MATTHEWS
When Brierley
Hill Alliance
took on `The
Shrews' in FA
Cup 2nd Round
WALL HEATH'S Terry
Church wonders how many
old supporters of Brierley
Hill Alliance F.C. recall the
proud occasion when they
took on Shrewsbury Town,
then of the old Third Divi-
sion, in the FA Cup? He still
has the programme for the
match, and recollections of
the Alliance as follows..
"The completion of the
new road connecting Level
Street and Mill Street, Brier-
ley Hill brings back memo-
ries of the now defunct Bri-
erley Hill Alliance Football
Club, whose ground in Cot-
tage Street was demolished
to make way for the Asda
store and car park. During
the 1950's and early part of
the 1960's the "Lions" were
one of the leading clubs in
non-league football.
"Unfortunately, what
appeared to be indecision by
the club and Dudley Council
regarding a possible alterna-
tive ground saw the decline
of this once great club, and
although they eventually re-
located to The Dell Stadium
the club inevitably folded.
"Obscurity would have
been a long way from the
thoughts of anyone associ-
ated with the club when on
Saturday 25th November
1961 the team and many
coaches of supporters trav-
elled to Gay Meadow to
take on the might of Third
Division Shrewsbury Town
in the FA Cup. Sadly, there
was to be no fairy tale end-
ing and the lads were beat-
en, but not disgraced, by
three goals to nil by their
full time professional oppo-
nents. As shown in the pro-
gramme for the game the
Lions team included several
local lads including Charlie
Marson and John Wood
from Brierley Hill, Johnny
Wolverson from Gornal,
Frank Dunn from Quarry
Bank, Ron Russon from
Stourbridge and Ron Plant
from Dudley who captained
the side".
Profiles
The following player pro-
files taken from the pro-
gramme give some idea of
the hard grafting jobs away
from football, of the Brier-
ley Hill players...
Charlie Marson (Goal). (Brick-
layer), lives at Brierley Hill.
Started at centre-half but quickly
converted to goal. He has
played for West Bromwich Albi-
on, Cradley Heath and Stour-
bridge. Well experienced in Bir-
mingham League football.
Ron Plant (Right Back). (Pack-
ing case maker), lived in Dudley
and joined the Alliance from
West Bromwich Albion. He has
been captain of the team for two
seasons.
Johnny Wood (Left Back). (In-
strument mechanic), lives in Bri-
erley Hill and is an ex Brierley
Hill schoolboy representative.
Short spell with West Bromwich
Albion. Joined Alliance from Lye
Town last season.
Frank Dunn (Right Half). (Fac-
tory worker), lives at Cradley
Heath and played for Stour-
bridge before joining the Alli-
ance. He has plenty of Birming-
ham League experience.
Ron Russon (Centre Half).
(Bricklayer), lives at Wordsley,
Stourbridge. Ex Wolves and
Walsall. He has seen service
with Hednesford and Stour-
bridge in the Birmingham
League.
Johnny Wolverson (Left Half).
(Toolmaker), lives at Gornal and
joined the Alliance from Wolves.
Apart from National Service, has
been a regular player in the Bir-
mingham League.
Son of W.G.
Bryan Richardson (Outside
Right). (Just finished National
Service), lives at West Brom-
wich and is the son of W.G.
Richardson of Albion fame. He
has seen service with West Bro-
mwich and Walsall before join-
ing the Alliance this season.
Frank Hinton (Inside Right).
(Green Grocer), lives at Oldbury.
Ex Worc. County schoolboy. He
was with Birmingham City prior
to last season when he joined
Hereford United. Linked up with
the Alliance this season.
Bobby Beach (Centre For-
ward). (Car Mechanic), lives at
Wolverhampton and joined the
Alliance from a Wolverhampton
Amateur Club. He has remained
an amateur but has had plenty
o f B i r m i n g h a m L e a g u e
experience.
Bryan Hart (Inside Left).
(Groundsman), lives at West
Bromwich. He was formerly with
Cambridge United as an ama-
teur, where he gained a youth
international cap. Joined West
Bromwich Albion as a pro. and
after two seasons he joined the
Alliance during the past close
season. He has remained on the
staff of West Bromwich Albion
as a groundsman.
Roger Thomas (Outside Left).
(Factory Worker), lives at Wol-
verhampton and played in the
Wolverhampton Works League.
After a spell with Moor Green he
joined the Alliance at the com-
mencement of this season. He
has remained an amateur.
How the teams lined up, just over 47 years ago.

Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15Page 16Page 17Page 18Page 19Page 20Page 21Page 22Page 23Page 24Page 25Page 26Page 27Page 28Page 29Page 30Page 31Page 32 Produced by PageSuite