Wolves' dazzling new jerseys left fans gasping in amazement

Wolves v Honved in Molineux, on December 13, 1954, in which the home team wore their luminous shirts. The original caption read: "Hungarian and Honved captain Ferenc Puskas showed his sportsmanship by shaking hands with Wolves fullback Eddie Stuart as the teams walked off the pitch, Wolves stunned by success, Honved stunned by defeat. Bert Williams (left) beamed happily under his Molineux mud cloak." — Wolves v Honved in Molineux, on December 13, 1954, in which the home team wore their luminous shirts. The original caption read: “Hungarian and Honved captain Ferenc Puskas displayed his sportsmanship through a handshake for Wolves fullback Eddie Stuart as the teams walked off the pitch, Wolves stunned by success , Honved stunned by defeat. Bert Williams (left) smiled happily beneath his Molineux mud cloak.”

Steve, a former sports editor for Express & Star who has been behind several books on aspects of Wolves history, was in touch to give chapter and verse after we told the story of how fluorescent gold jerseys were worn in the early days of artificial lighting at Molineux.

It turns out that the special jerseys had already been worn before the club installed the lighting, which opened in September 1953.

Molineux refurbished projectors in action for the first time in October 1957. They replaced the original 1953 lights.

Says Steve: “The famous Wolves fluorescent jerseys were not originally commissioned by Wolves for their illuminated games.

“The Wolves decided to experiment with ‘luminous’ gold T-shirts in the winter of 1951, aware that the old gold they wore in those days was not easily visible on dark winter evenings. At that time, spotlights were not allowed in the football league or FA Cup matches, so Wolves thought brighter shirts would be a good idea.

“They were first worn in the second half of the match against Charlton at Molineux on Saturday 24th November 1951. It was an ideal day to test the new shirts as the weather was overcast and it rained throughout the match.

“The shirts were supposed to be gold, but the Birmingham Gazette disagreed with that, reporting: ‘In the second half of the game against Charlton Wolves, the players tried a device to find each other in the gloom of a dark November day..They wore fluorescent yellow T-shirts and glowed like fireflies.’

“Under the heading ‘Lighter Side’ there was also a reference in the Daily Mirror: ‘There were gasps at Molineux on Saturday when Wolves boss Billy Wright brought his men out for the second half wearing light-coloured shirts. bright yellow. In the growing gloom, the Wolves players seemed to float like ghosts across the pitch.’

“It was intended as a device to help Wolves find each other more easily, but the shirts brought a bit of a drawback, as the Gazette explained: ‘As Wolves manager and England manager Mr AH Oakley pointed out, Charlton players They could see the Wolves.” better than the wolves could see them.

“Arthur Oakley added: ‘It was a good day to try them out and I think they were effective. I think fluorescent jerseys will surely come for the mid-winter games, but for full effect both sides should wear them.'”

According to Wolves boss Stan Cullis, the jerseys were made of some kind of nylon.

“We’ve had two sets for six weeks and we’ve tested them in practice games,” he added.

The Gazette’s match report was not overly impressed: “Had their game glowed like the fluorescent yellow jerseys they first wore in the second half of their home game against Charlton Athletic, Wolves could have claimed the game as their own.” the city’s motto ‘Out of the darkness comes the light.’ But it wasn’t to be, and the jerseys that tickled the crowd immensely, only brightened the darkness that hung over the pitch.”

The Fabulous Fifties… Billy Wright leads his team for Wolves v Dynamo Moscow at Molineux, Wednesday November 9, 1955.

The result of the match was a 2-2 draw and Steve says: “Wolves wore the shirts in the second half of their next two home games. They may have helped in the 4-0 win over Middlesbrough as they three of the goals came at the best moment”. jerseys, scored by Jesse Pye (56 and 86 minutes) and Swinbourne (80).

“However, the shirts did not have the same magical effect when Manchester City scored the only goal of the second half when they held Wolves to a 2-2 draw on December 15, 1951, former Molineux hero Dennis Westcott, He equalized after 62 minutes.” .

“The shirts were not used again in League matches. It is quite possible that the Football League decided that they did not conform to their rules. No one seems to know for sure why they were shelved.”

Wolves v Honved at Molineux, December 1954, in the luminous jerseys. The original caption read: “Hungarian and Honved skipper Ferenc Puskas displayed his sportsmanship through a handshake for Wolves fullback Eddie Stuart as the teams walked off the pitch, Wolves stunned by success , Honved stunned by defeat. Bert Williams (left) beamed happily under his Molineux mud cloak.

“It was almost two years before Wolves were wearing light-up jerseys again, for the first of their illuminated friendlies, against South Africa on 30 September 1953. The same jersey was also worn in the famous lights-up victories over Honvéd and Spartak .

“It was after winning the First Division title, as the top flight was known then, that the Wolves abandoned old gold as their official color and opted for gold. The new colour, gold, seen on the opening day of the 1954-5 season, was much brighter than the old gold, though not as vivid as the liners in the searchlights.