Wolverhampton had faced a number of foreign opposition under the new £30,000 Molineux floodlights in the 14 months before playing Honvéd; a South Africa national team were defeated 3–1, Scottish team Celtic lost 2–0, Argentine team Racing Club were beaten 3–1, before Austrian team First Vienna became the only team in the series to avoid defeat, drawing 0–0. Wolverhampton rebounded with a 10–0 win against Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv, followed by a high-profile 4–0 victory over Spartak Moscow, with all goals coming in the final 10 minutes.[3][8]
Match
Summary
Wolverhampton struggled in the opening stages to control Budapest Honvéd's "deceptive, constantly changing tactics", which ranged from attacking via the wings, to hitting the ball long, then changing to short passing, with Wolverhampton goalkeeper Bert Williams withstanding the pressure.[3] Honvéd were 2–0 in front after 14 minutes; first, Sándor Kocsis headed in a Ferenc Puskás free-kick given for a foul by Ron Flowers, and the second came after a ball played down the right wing found Kocsis, who played in Ferenc Machos for a "cleverly placed shot". Wolverhampton had a series of chances through Flowers, Dennis Wilshaw, Peter Broadbent, Roy Swinbourne, and Les Smith, but Honvéd goalkeeper Lajos Faragó was able to keep the ball out.[3]
At half-time, Wolverhampton manager Stan Cullis requested club staff and apprentices, including Ron Atkinson, to water the pitch in an attempt to make the pitch boggy so Honvéd would be unable to play their "delightful" football.[1] After being fouled by János Kovács,[3]Johnny Hancocks scored a penalty four minutes after half-time to make the score 2–1. Wolverhampton's "incessant pressure" was beginning to pay off,[3] when Swinbourne scored a two-minute double salvo to win the game for Wolverhampton; he scored a header in the 76th minute, and in the 78th provided the finish to a well-worked move, with both assists coming from Wilshaw.[9] Atkinson thought Cullis' half-time instructions not only helped Wolverhampton's long-ball tactics work, but scuppered Honvéd's momentum and stopped a possible 10–0 thrashing.[1]
Wolverhampton goalscorer Roy Swinbourne said afterwards that "Wolves never played a match in which there was so much pride involved",[10] while his manager Stan Cullis and sections of the English press declared his team as "champions of the world",[3] and that Wolves had proven that English football was "the genuine, original, unbeatable article... still the best of its kind in the world",[1][11] statements which journalist Willy Meisl disagreed with, calling the Molineux pitch a "quagmire", and citing a recent Honvéd defeat to Crvena Zvezda.[12] Another journalist, Gabriel Hanot, also disagreed with the viewpoint put forth, claiming that Wolverhampton were inferior to Spanish team Real Madrid and Italian team A.C. Milan, suggesting "a European championship be organised between clubs" to give clubs the opportunity to prove they were the greatest.[13][14]
Writing in L'Équipe a few days later, Hanot's colleague Jacques de Ryswick wrote a proposal of the format of a tournament to crown such a team.[14][15] The following year, the first-ever European Cup began,[16] although it was the eventual 1954–55 First Division champions Chelsea rather than Wolverhampton who were invited to represent England. Chelsea withdrew at the behest of the Football League, which feared that midweek European ties would adversely affect attendances in domestic fixtures.[17] Cullis himself said of the prospect of live televised football against continental teams that the "whole future of football in Britain depends on our ability to face the challenge from abroad" and "although I am in a minority I am sure we would be wise to have more games screened live. Television offers an opportunity not seen in all soccer's history, a whole new source of revenue, a vast sum which must make a considerable impact on the game".[18]
Wolves played two low key friendlies with Honved home and away in 1962 and 1963 respectively. The two teams met for a fourth time in December 1993 in a match to celebrate the opening of the three redeveloped stands at Molineux. Ferenc Puskás and Billy Wright were in attendance on a night that was filled with nostalgia. A sign of the respect that Wright and Puskas had for each other was obvious to all who were there. [19]
Following the death of Wolves' legendary manager Stan Cullis in 2001, club figure Peter Creed said that Cullis had made them "the most famous club in the world during the 1950s",[20] while The FA said "the famous 'floodlit friendlies' against sides such as Honvéd of Hungary are ingrained in the traditions of English football".[21]
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