14 thoughts on “Wolverhampton Wanderers On Film”

1. I have been checking all references to the ‘Football friendlies’ at Wolves during the 1950s. My late father Fred Read of Willenhall, have checked this fact with the wolves! was the referee for the very first floodlight match. This was against South Africa, and of course Wolves won!! Is there anyone out there who has photos, film etc of this event. Would be much appreciated.

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   1. Hi Chris my son Ryan was checking this site the other day. I will check at Wolves to see if we have any photos or videos.

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      1. Hello, I can see that you answered my request re the Wolves v South Africa floodlight friendly. Have just come back to this site – purely by chance and wondered if you had any luck please.

   2. Hi Chris,

      I am researching all ref’s details – your father is one of the elusive ones in the 40s & 50s!
      Was your father a Fred or a Frederick?
      His year of birth would help too

      Regards,

      John (Treleven)

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      1. Good afternoon,
         What a pleasant surprise to hear from someone who may have further info. I can tell you that his ‘given’ name was Frederick, altho usually known as Fred. He was born in 1912, in Willenhall.
         Apparently he played for Willenhall Pickwicks as a young lad!
         Manys the time my older brother accompanied dad to various matches.

         Kind regards,
         Chris Read

      2. Hi Chris
         Thanks for your prompt reply
         Was your Dad just Frederick or did he have another initial
         as I cannot find a Fred to fit at the moment for a marriage
         I have a birth in the third quarter of 1912 in the
         Wolverhampton Registration District
         Regards
         John

      3. That was his only name. He was married in 1937, at St. Marys RC Church in Willenhall (two days prior to the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Wallace Simpson.
         Dads Birthday was July. The youngest of three brothers.
         Regards
         Chris

      4. Morning Chris,

         So Fred married Charlotte “Sue” Winter and you have brothers Patrick and Anthony

         I am assuming he is no longer with us – have you the date? (and his exact birth date in July 1912?)

         Looking at the British Newspaper Online Archive
         https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

         I can only find “F. Read Willenhall” references, not much detail on him so he did not cause
         any controversies, a good thing for a referee (no Fred or Frederick references). Mind you the search engine does not always pick up everything if it was not copied clearly originally

         The references (more may come in years to come as more papers are digitised)I found are nearly all in the Saturday night Birmingham Sports Argus with Fred reffing in the Birmingham Combination –

         22.10.49 City Transport v Wolverhampton Wanderers
         28.01.50 Bromsgrove Rovers v Tamworth
         18.02.50 Bromsgrove Rovers v Hinckley Athletic
         26.08.50 Sutton Town v Darlaston
         06.01.51 Bedworth Town v Atherstone Town
         05.01.52 Tamworth v Hinckley Athletic
         18.04.53 Sutton Town v Redditch
         12.02.55 Nuneaton Borough v Wellington (they are now Telford United)
         28.04.56 Brierley Hill v Burton Athletic

         There are two others –
         Banbury Advertiser Wed 12.04.50 re Easter Monday (10th) match
         Stafford Rangers v Banbury Spencer(Birmingham Combination)

         and Sheffield Star “Green Un” (Saturday night football edition)
         06.02.54 Notts County v Brentford in Division 2 (as it was, now the “Championship”)

         The Wolves v South Africa match is covered too but there is no mention of the officials

         Best wishes

         John

      5. John
         Yes I do. His birthdate was 9thJuly, 1912. The date he died was 28th February, 1978. He died of a heart attack .
         Regards,
         Chris Read

      6. Thank you Chris,
         Sad to say I have found that (pre war at least) not many referees made it to old age
         Best wishes,
         John

      7. John,
         With regard to the Wolves v South Africa, I got confirmation of dad refereeing the match from ‘Wolves Against the World’. My solicitor in Ireland is a lifelong supporter of Wolves. He actually
         contacted Wolves, cant remember the chaps name, who copied the piece from the book – since which I managed to obtain the book from ‘Ebay’!
         I’m afraid I didnt take too much interest in the football. I can remember being taken to Bristol for a match, and all three children went to Southport – where my younger brother fell into the sea – and had to go into the teams changing room to dry off!
         My elder brother was the one, along with his school master, who used to go to the matches with dad. Unfortunately, both he and my younger brother died in 2009.
         Best wishes
         Chris

      8. Thank you Chris, I did not doubt it, just that the match reports did not give that detail, thanks for all your help, regards, John

2. Hi Chris,been reading about the Floodlit Friendlies and Wolves of the 1950’s in General.There is a Programme from this Match on Ebay at this moment,with pictures of the inside pages.Your Dad is named as the Referee.The seller is ‘football-collectables’….Regards,Paul.

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   1. Thanks for that Paul. I have seen the short clips of the friendliest unfortunately haven’t found any of the match – Wolves v South Africa. My elder brother very often accompanied dad to many of these matches and had a huge number of programs from the matches. Unfortunately when he left home – after getting married the programs were all thrown out – as you do!!
      Chris

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