Wolves v Nottingham Forest, FA Cup 4th Round, 29th January 1927 (Earliest Existing Film of Molineux)

British Pathé footage of an FA Cup 4th Round tie between Wolves and Nottingham Forest on 29th January 1927.

Although there's very little filmed of the match itself, the footage is of some interest in that it appears to be the earliest archive film of Molineux and shows the ground before its main development in the early 1930s.

Against a backdrop of the Waterloo Road Stand the film opens with footage of the pre-match community singing that was organised by local newspaper the Express and Star. The Waterloo Stand represented the first major stand that was built at Molineux. Completed during the latter part of 1924 and officially opened by John McKenna, President of the Football League, on 29th August 1925, the Waterloo Road Stand seated 2,600 with a standing capacity for 4,000 spectators. It served as Wolves' main stand until its enforced closure in 1985 and its subsequent demolition in July 1992.

During the Waterloo Road Stand's construction the roof from the previous stand was transferred to the opposing Molineux Street but, on Sunday 4th January 1925, gale force winds permanently removed the 200 feet structure. The open Molineux Street terrace therefore forms the backdrop to the handshake and coin toss from the respective captains and the brief action between the two teams, while the footage also captures part of the 41,112 crowd packed into the Molineux Street terrace and also the South Bank corner terrace.

In 1932 the Molineux Street Stand was built at a cost of £20,487 and originally seated 3,400 spectators with 4,500 standing. With its highly distinctive multi-span roof, with a clock mounted in the centre gable, the Molineux Street Stand proved to be an iconic sight at Molineux until its sad demise in 1979. During the late 1930s the North and South Bank terracing at both ends of the ground were covered and soon Molineux hosted crowds of over 60,000 in two successive seasons with a record attendance of 61,315 set against Liverpool in an FA Cup fifth round tie on 11th February 1939.

Although they reached an FA Cup Final in 1921, the 1920s were generally a poor period for Wolves with relegation to the Third Division in 1923 a particular low point. However, the era did see one of the finest centre forwards to don Wolves colours in Tom Phillipson. In 159 league and cup appearances between 1923-28, Phillipson scored an impressive 111 goals that included a club record 5 in a match against Bradford City – part of a unique run of scoring in 13 successive League games.

Phillipson scored against Forest in a 2-0 victory as Wolves advanced to a fifth round encounter against Hull City. A then record gate at Molineux of 48,949 saw Wolves defeat Hull 1-0 to set up a quarter-final tie at Arsenal. However, despite another Phillipson goal for Wolves, Fred Scotchbrook's team were beaten 2-1 (https://youtu.be/QhQ4lcnf-0Q).

Видео Wolves v Nottingham Forest, FA Cup 4th Round, 29th January 1927 (Earliest Existing Film of Molineux) канала Mercian1969