My favourite player: #3 Frank Munro

Here's an article sent to me by Steve Gelder, on Frank Munro.

Not as easy as it sounds picking a favourite player as I enter my 47th year as a Wolves fan.

I was too young to appreciate the latter stages of players like Peter Broadbent or Ron Flowers but I was fortunate to witness the genius of Peter Knowles who left the game when I was 14: Knocker's antics on the pitch were pure theatre combined with flair, arrogance and a likeability factor (not dissimilar to George Best - my favourite all time player and a Wolves fan!). The 70's are where my fondest memories lie, not just because of the relative success achieved but it also accorded with a period in my life where I had the resources: time and money - to follow the Wolves all over the country. This was a fertile period to select a favourite player from (Kenny Hibbitt, Waggy, John Richards the Doog), all forward thinking players you notice. It is therefore surprising that my choice for favourite player is the mercurial Frank Munro.

Big Frank was signed as an inside forward from Aberdeen having scored a hat trick against Wolves in the final of a cup competition in America and was regarded as one of the most skillful players in that position. His move to centre back was genius, his ball control, dribbling ability and creative thinking, aligned to the natural qualities required of a 'brick wall stopper' created a player that was…….well……… like an e-type jaguar inside a Sherpa tank. People talk of Beckenbaur, or Rio Ferdinand as the ultimate footballing centre half but Frank was much better. Maybe not as lean……………………….ok…… numerous pints in the Mermaid would suggest “solid” but any player possessed with that type of audacious talent and confidence creates more time and space than most “run of the mills” This was even more impressive in a centre back position, we never knew what to expect (that included John Mcalle and Phil Parkes).

As indicated earlier, Frank was Scottish and liked a wee dram or two, he also possessed toughness as Peter Osgood found out once at Molineux. Frank had done his trademark dummy to let the ball run out for a goal kick, Ossie, so frustrated, pushed Frank into the moat that used to surround the pitch. It was about the centre circle when Frank caught up with Ossie and gave him one of those Glasgow kisses. Such was my appreciation for this entertainer I remember drawing, in black felt pen, a number 5 on the back of my Wolves shirt.

An old friend of mine: Robbie Kennedy Bennett has written a series of successful poems that reflect his Scottish ancestry and his love of the Black Country one of them relates to his visit to Broughty Ferry (birthplace of Frank Munro) and his own appreciation of this cultured wolves icon.

“Munro o’ Broughty Ferry,
He made the faithful merry,
Th’ Dons o’Pittodrie to Molineux
Francis, your service I am thanking you\"

Me too

If you would like to get involved, get in touch through the 'contact me' page.