Wolves v Charlton Athletic, FA Cup 5th Round, 14th February 1976

Brief footage of two of the three goals scored by centre-forward John Richards in the 3-0 defeat of Charlton Athletic in the 5th Round of the FA Cup, 14th February 1976.

There were 32,301 in attendance at Molineux to see Richards, who had initially been selected as substitute by manager Bill McGarry, score his hat-trick to set up a quarter-final encounter with Manchester United (http://youtu.be/R-extKpMDoI). Wolves' cup run was a welcome distraction from their season-long battle to avoid relegation.

However, the 1975-76 season ended with Wolves relegated to the Second Division and with it came the inevitable dismissal of McGarry. A prime cause of Wolves' demise was that following the retirement of Derek Dougan at the end of the previous season, McGarry had been unable to find a strike partner to compliment Richards. Equally, the Wolves manager had been unable to suitably replace the creative wing play of Dave Wagstaffe. A profligate defence was a further significant factor in Wolves' relegation that season, with 68 goals conceded in total.

Ahead of their match at Molineux, Second Division Charlton were also concerned about the possibilty of relegation, although their 7 point margin above the drop and position of 15th offered cause for optimism. Indeed, a relatively solid finish to their season ensured a comfortable final position of 9th for manager Andy Nelson's team.

Originally broadcast by BBC Match of the Day with Tony Gubba commentating.

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