Wolves FA Cup 6th Round, Semi-final and Final 1960

British Pathé footage of the FA Cup 6th Round between Wolves and Leicester City at Filbert Street on 12th March 1960, coverage of the subsequent FA Cup Semi-final on 26th March between Wolves and Aston Villa at The Hawthorns and the ensuing FA Cup Final between Wolves and Blackburn Rovers at Wembley Stadium on 7th May 1960.

Throughout Stan Cullis' tenure as manager, Wolves were noted for their fast and direct attacking football. They were a particularly potent team in attack during the late-1950s, scoring over 100 league goals in 1959-60 for the third consecutive season. Centre-forward Jimmy Murray debuted for Wolves in 1955 and subsequently proved to be a prolific goal scorer. Murray, who scored 34 league and cup goals in 1959-60, had established an excellent rapport with the inside-forward pairing of Bobby Mason and the experienced Peter Broadbent. Winger Norman Deeley had appeared sporadically for Wolves following his debut in 1951 but after establishing his position in the team in the 1957-58 season, scored consistently thereafter and earned a couple of England caps in 1959.

Following the retirement of the legendary Billy Wright in 1959, Wolves had been captained with great distinction by Wright's replacement at centre-half, England international and 1959-60 Footballer of the Year, Bill Slater. Cullis' team were further bolstered by the half-back pairing of Eddie Clamp and Ron Flowers and goalkeeper Malcolm Finlayson had proven to be a very worthy replacement to his highly esteemed predecessor Bert Williams.

For their quarter-final match at Leicester, Geoff Sidebottom replaced the injured Finlayson and with Jimmy Murray also injured, Barry Stobart was selected as his replacement at centre-forward. South African Des Horne was selected for his usual left-wing role while another South African, Eddie Stuart, had lost his right-back position to George Showell at the beginning of 1960. At left-back, the reliable Gerry Harris had been a virtual ever-present for Wolves from the moment he replaced Bill Shorthouse in 1956.

For the semi-final against the Second Division leaders, Joe Mercer's Aston Villa, at The Hawthorns, Finlayson replaced Sidebottom in goal, Murray returned to centre-forward ahead of Stobart and 20-year-old Gerry Mannion, who had played only three league games prior to the semi-final, was drafted into the team to replace the injured Horne.

The FA Cup Final between Wolves and Blackburn Rovers was played in searing heat on 7th May 1960. Rovers had beaten Sheffield Wednesday in their semi-final with two goals from a certain Derek Dougan. 'The Doog' later achieved iconic status for Wolves following his transfer to Molineux in March 1967, but on the morning of the final itself caused some consternation to the Rovers board with a transfer request!

There were two changes to the Wolves side that had beaten Villa in the semi-final; inside-forward Barry Stobart had been included in the team for the final league match, a 5-1 win at Chelsea, and he was retained for the final instead of Bobby Mason - who had played in every round prior to Wembley. In addition, left-winger Des Horne regained his place ahead of Gerry Mannion.