Here's an article by Steve Menary, about Wolves history in the Olympics that features in his new book 'GB United? British Olympic football and the end of the amateur dream'
Now that the 2018 World Cup finals will go to Russia, the football at the 2012 Olympic Games in London will be the next big international football tournament staged in England for the foreseeable future.
The Olympic football tournament has been staged in England twice before and one of the stars of the original tournament in 1908, which was also the first international football competition, was a Wolves legend, who is featured in a new book on the history of the Olympic football team.
To play in the Olympics, players had to be amateur and the Reverend Reginald Gunnery Hunt was certainly that. He was also a prodigious exponent of the shoulder charge and in 1908 one of the key members of the Wolves’ team that lifted that year’s FA Cup.
A teacher, Hunt was known as the Footballing Parson and scored in that 3-1 win over Newcastle United, which almost guaranteed a place in the England amateur team that represented Great Britain at the 1908 Olympic football tournament.
Amateurs playing in the professional top leagues were entirely uncommon, Vivian Woodward of Spurs, Harold Hardman of Everton and Leicester Fosse keeper Horace Bailey, also played with Hunt as England/GB romped through the tournament before beating Denmark 2-0 at the final in White City n London - now known as the Westfield shopping centre.
| Hunt is top row, far left. (Credit to football association for picture) |
Hunt did not miss a game and, though he missed the 1912 Olympics, he returned in his mid-thirties as England/GB returned after World War One to defend their title at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp.
A weakened team were despatched 2-0 by Norway but that was not the last involvement by a Wolves’ player in the Olympic football tournament.
In 1952, a team comprised of 10 Englishmen and one Scotsman was humiliated 5-3 by Luxembourg at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. Captain that day was Bill Slater, then with Brentford but later to become a legendary captain of a Wolves team that dominated English football.
With the next Olympic tournament restricted to Under-23 players and following directly after Euro 2012, pressure on resources will be greater than ever. At present, the other Home Nations are not going to be involved and with promising young English players such as Jack Rodwell expected to go to the Ukraine and Poland with Fabio Capello, there may be a chance for another young Wolves‘ player to emulate the Footballing Parson in 2012.
Steve Menary is the author of 'GB United? British Olympic football and the end of the amateur dream', which is published by Pitch Publications.
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