Training with Wolves: The untold story of Wolverhampton Wanderers trainer Jack Davies

By Merv Davies and Tim Gibbons

In the history of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club there are many great players and managers, but the two that achieved the most in club honours, and by putting Wolves on the world football map, are Billy Wright and Stan Cullis. Now imagine if both of these players had never graced the famous Molineux pitch...

Well, had it not been for Jack Davies neither of these two club legends would have played for Wolves!

Jack Davies joined Wolves in 1920 and went on to serve the club for 58 years. Training with Wolves' is the incredible story of one of the most important people in the history of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, a man that almost no-one has heard of.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Geoffrey Publications
• Release date: Apr 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9781999671938

Book preview

TRAINING WITH WOLVES

The story of Jack Davies

TRAINING WITH WOLVES

By Merv Davies and Tim Gibbons

First published in Great Britain in 2019 by

Geoffrey Publications, Kingswinford, West Midlands.

ISBN 978-1-9996719-3-8

C:\Users\Clive\Pictures\gppub.jpg

Cover design by Elaine Holland and illustration by Tim Buckle.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievable system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission, in writing, of the authors.

Please note: We have endeavoured to obtain copyright permission for usage of all photographs contained within this publication. However, some of the images are up to 100 years old and it has been not possible to establish copyright. The publisher would like to hear from anyone whose copyright has been unintentionally infringed to avoid any further infringement in subsequent publications.

Printed and bound by T. J. International Ltd.,

Trecerus Industrial Estate,

Padstow, Cornwall. UK. PL28 8RW.

© Merv Davies and Tim Gibbons, 2019

Dedicated to Jack’s Granddaughter, Louise Woodward.

Prologue

It is July 1939, sitting behind a large oak desk in Molineux’s Waterloo Road stand is the domineering figure of Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Frank Buckley. He is known to everyone at the club as Major Buckley, in recognition of his service in the British Army.

In the corridor waiting for his name to be called is a young apprentice. His six-month trial at the club is about to finish and today he will learn his fate. The boy, aged 15, is short in height and slender in appearance. His distinguishing feature is his blond hair for which he has earned the nickname Snowy.

The Major, who is renowned for his preference for players who are tall and of muscular build in order that they can handle the physical demands of England’s First Division, summons the boy into his office.

Major Buckley is straight to the point and, in a firm but gentle voice, delivers the words that the apprentice is dreading, I’m afraid you can’t stay at Molineux any longer, sonny, I’m sending you home. The young player runs out of the room, along the corridor and into the referee’s room, where he sits and cries as his dreams of making it as a professional footballer have just been shattered.

A common enough story of many a young hopeful player’s career that is finished before it has even started, but this is no ordinary player the club has just released. The player’s name is William Ambrose Wright. The club had just released the player that would go on to captain Wolves and England, a player who will wear the famous Wolves colours on 490 occasions in the First Division and go on to make 105 England appearances, as well as winning three First Division titles and one FA Cup.

So, who changed the Major’s mind? That man was Jack Davies. The Wolves trainer witnessed the events unfold, went into the Major’s office and told him that whilst Billy might have a small frame, he had a giant heart. The Major valued the opinion of his first team trainer and the rest, as they say, is history.

Introduction To The Authors

Tim Gibbons (left) with Merv Davies at Molineux

Ask the most ardent of Wolves supporters and even those who study the history of the club, Who was Jack Davies? What was his contribution to the success of Wolves? The chances are that they won’t have a clue. He seems to be the forgotten man in the history of this famous club. His name is only briefly mentioned in almost every publication about Wolves or their players. I set about collating these snippets of information in order to paint a true picture of the man and his achievements.

My name is Mervyn Davies, and Jack was my grandad. In 2011, I wrote an article which Dr Carl Chinn published in his weekly column in the Express & Star newspaper. It highlighted Jack’s important part in the rise of Wolves from a Second Division club to one of the best sides in Europe. Carl introduced the article with the superbly apt title of, ‘From Gloom to Glory’. Friends and family who read it said it was a fascinating story and suggested that it might make an interesting book.

The article that started it all.

I found writing the book easier said than done. During its initial composition, I became acutely aware that many of the witnesses to the glory days of the club were getting quite old, and that their experiences needed recording quickly before they were lost forever. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with the late, great Bert Williams. I was introduced to him by his friend Glyne Whetton who asked him to write the foreword to this book. Bert told me he thought that the backroom staff had never received the recognition they deserved, and happily agreed to do it. Sadly, it proved to be his last contribution to the history of his beloved Wolves.

Whilst researching the book I became good friends with Graham Hughes, who is in charge of the display of trophies in the foyer at Wolves. He has lovingly cared for and preserved most of the artefacts and publications that are now displayed in the new museum. In our chats over a cuppa or two Graham provided me with an insight into the characters of Joe Gardiner and Jack Dowen, the two men who took over from Jack. There were of course many others who contributed to the success of coaching the famous teams at Molineux, including the great Bill Shorthouse.

Five years later this is my third and, hopefully, final attempt to write this book. Having no experience in either writing or publishing a book, I began to realise the difficulty of the task I had set myself. In July 2015, I appealed to readers of the Black Country Bugle for more information as I was really beginning to doubt that the book would ever be completed. The response was limited to just one kind person so at that point I think I subconsciously gave up.

Imagine my surprise, when a few months later I was contacted by Tim Gibbons. This truly was an example of the Wolverhampton motto ‘Out of Darkness Cometh Light’. Tim is a regular contributor to the Bugle and has written his own book entitled ‘Wembley Wolves’, which tells the story of the club’s Sherpa Van Trophy success in 1988. Tim had been reading some back copies of the Bugle and had come across my letter. He offered to help, so we spoke at length on the phone and agreed to meet. At this point I think it would be best to let Tim take up this fascinating story from his point of view.

To pick up from Mervyn’s story, I need to go back some twenty or so years. Back in the early 1990s, my dad used to take my brother Tom and me to every home game at Molineux, where we enjoyed at close quarters the goal-scoring exploits of Bull and Mutch. Prior to the game, it was customary to have a walk around the shops in Wolverhampton. On one occasion, just by chance, we walked past the shop window of a jeweller and within the display was a small trophy and accompanying football medal which had caught my dad’s eye. Both items were engraved with the name of Jack Davies, trainer. My Dad bought both and they have remained in the family as treasured items of Wolves memorabilia.

Little did I expect that all these years later I would be co-writing a book on the man himself. I often wondered about Jack’s story and now I have had the chance to find out about a man who joined the club as assistant trainer in 1920 and worked at the club in his final years as a dressing room attendant until his death in 1978.

‘Training with Wolves’ aims to provide a fitting tribute to Jack Davies, using his hand-written notes, interviews with former players, and archive research. This book will ensure that Jack’s role in the great history of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is acknowledged and never forgotten.

Foreword by Bert Williams MBE

When I joined Wolves from Walsall in 1945 Jack Davies was already part and parcel of the club. It was very difficult to learn about Jack's background but he did say he had been born in the last century. We knew he had served in World War I and that he had come to Wolves as assistant trainer in 1920. Many of the older players told me about the 1939 FA Cup final at Wembley when the Wolves unexpectedly lost to Portsmouth. They said that Jack had tried to persuade Major Buckley to take the team down to London before the Saturday to prepare for the game. But his judgement was over-ruled and Wolves lost. Who knows what the outcome might have been had Jack's advice been heeded.

Jack lived very close to Molineux – in Dunkley Street – until his death. He was the club physio on Friday afternoons before the games on Saturdays. The whole team would receive a massage from Jack and he used his own rubbing mixture which he had made up himself and it smelled foul. If we players complained, Jack would simply say, This liniment will make sure you are in tip-top condition tomorrow afternoon, it is so good it will cure trench foot. That was obviously a reference to when he served in World War I and we might occasionally hear snippets from him of that dreadful war. I remember Jesse Pye saying to Jack one day, But Jack, I haven't got trench foot! Jack's rubbing lotion burnt but the worst part of it was the smell.

I was afraid to get on the bus to go home after one of Jack's massages. The conductress would ask me what that vile smell was and tell me to go upstairs. If I went upstairs everyone else went downstairs.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club would not have been the same without Jack. He trained us in the old-fashioned way - he believed in hard running over short distances. No job was too great or too small for Jack. One minute he was taking full responsibility for getting us in top condition for the Saturday games, then the next he was collecting the kit after training and taking the towels down to the drying room to air. His heart and soul were in the club. He worked until all hours at night, time never seemed to matter to him. His love of the club was obvious for all to see. Men like Jack Davies do not come along very often.

Contents

Prologue

Introduction To The Authors

Foreword by Bert Williams MBE

Introduction to Jack Davies                                  1

Chapter 1 – Coals To Goals                                  2-13

Chapter 2 – The Turbulent Twenties                    14-43

Chapter 3 – From Gloom To Glory                          44-61

Chapter 4 – The 1939 FA Cup Final                          62-78

Chapter 5 – The War Years                                        79-94

Chapter 6 – Land Of Hope And Glory                        95-116

Chapter 7 – The Golden Years                                    117-127

Chapter 8 – We’re On Our Way To Wembley                  128-142

Chapter 9 – A Storm In A Tea Cup                                  143-155

Chapter 10 – Jack’s Legacy                                            156-157

Epilogue – The Two That Nearly Got Away                        158-169

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club Team Photographs 170-181

Acknowledgements                                                                                              182-184

Bibliography 185-186

Subscribers 187-188

Jack Davies, Royal Welch Fusilier, He was awarded the 1914 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his role in the First World War.

Illustration by Tim Buckle.

Introduction to Jack Davies

Jack Davies served under every Wolves manager between 1920 and 1978. His role of trainer was very different from the modern game’s trainer, being split between coach and physiotherapist.

Jack’s career was not solely focused on football, serving his country proudly in the First World War and also being a highly skilled amateur boxer. His fine physiotherapy skills even saw him called upon by Wolverhampton Hippodrome. His overtime work at the theatre saw him treat some of the world’s most famous stars, such as comedian Norman Wisdom. He needed regular treatment from Jack as a result of an over-exuberant act that involved throwing himself around the stage with great enthusiasm.

But Jack should be remembered for his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, where he played a key role in helping to make them one of the best teams in the world. As the longest-serving member of staff at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Jack Davies does not feature significantly in the club’s history books. However, without him the fortunes of the great Wolves team that dominated world club football in the 1950s would have been very different. This is Jack’s story…

Chapter 1

From Coals To Goals

‘Left Coals for Goals! Jack Davies joined as reserve trainer 1920, served in army in war years. A good athlete’. Caption to accompany cartoon illustration from the Birmingham Gazette newspaper 1920 (see page 12).

John Henry Davies was born on the 2nd June 1892. He was always known as Jack by friends, family and work colleagues. Jack was the second child to William and Jessie Davies – they would have eight in all. There was Jack’s eldest sister Emily, then came Florence followed by, Stanley, Jessie, Albert, Violet, and finally William (after whom Merv’s dad