Cult Heroes: The Launch!

Halfords Lane and the Brummie Road were their usual bustling selves with thousands of fans walking, or staggering, towards the Hawthorns. The gait and speed depending on the number of pints downed in those pubs whose advert in the Albion News, had persuaded them to buy ?Mitchells & Butlers? ?The Good Honest Beer.?

Anticipation was high. They expected nothing less than 90 minutes of drama and high passion. They?d laboured hard and long all week and expected, no demanded, their Sporting heroes matched their efforts. ?Fighting? tooth and nail. Ensuring their Saturday afternoon ritual would be worth the standing prices of 1/3 or 1/6. Even more so if they held down a well-paid job. After all 3/6 was a lot of money to pay for a seat in the Halfords Lane Stand.

But a win and two points would make it all worthwhile. A draw and one point OK, it?d be better than nothing. But defeat? Unthinkable. None more so than on March 4th 1950. The era that saw the older generation dressed in traditional working class style. A seething mass of heads invariably wearing the ?obligatory? flat cap and, if they?d also been ?persuaded? to part with money via another advertising blurb there was a fair chance they they?d be decked top to toe in clothes supplied by ?Foster Brothers?, the store that supplied ?every Man?s clothing and outfitting needs.?

But what was so special about this particular day? Only that the Baggies opponents were that lot ?from down the road? at Wolverhampton. And as an added bonus, fans were curious to catch their first glimpse of a young player who?d just been signed from Port Vale.

They?d shortly be hurling natural defiance and far from complimentary advice (masquerading under the name of banter) at the opposition. Opposition that before the introduction of segregation ensured the latest ?battle? between the Black Country giants would see the Smethwick End terracing split it in almost 50/50 proportions.

That new player travelled to the ground by bus. He listened to a conversation between two Albion supporters seated in front of him and his wife. ?Do you think they might score a few goals for us today?? one asked. ?I hope so,? replied the other. ?I can?t remember when Albion last scored at home?

As they went on arguing about just how long it was since an Albion forward had scored, Ronnie began to feel a bit concerned. ?Surely they were not expecting to see a Stanley Matthews on the rightwing?? Little did he know that for the next decade Baggies supporters would be anticipating, and expecting, even more wondrous exploits than even the ?Wizard of Dribble? had provided!

A week after his headline-generating start for Albion, Port Vale drew 1-1 at Newport. The Staffordshire Weekly Sentinel commented ?Without Ron Allen who was transferred to West Bromwich Albion last week for a record fee, the front line did not find its smooth rhythm of recent weeks.? Vale now had money, but no goalscorer. They used the proceeds from his sale to fund their new ground at Burslem. As Ronnie himself explained ?The fee was ?20,000 which equalled the UK record but then they added another ?50 to break the record.? Two weeks later, John Morris went from Derby to Manchester United for ?21,000.

As with any player moving to a new club, it would take time to develop friends and acquaintances. Peter George was a young professional at the Hawthorns, ?Ronnie didn?t have any close friends among the squad in his early days. Unlike many of his team-mates, he didn?t smoke. Neither in his early days at least, was he ever seen drinking, anything other than a mug of tea at Ted Sandford?s caf?. By contrast the Irish lads, (Vernon, Walsh, and Ryan) often enjoyed the Guinness in the Hawthorns or Woodman pubs?. Perhaps being newly-wed, Ronnie had other priorities? He and wife Connie were allocated ?digs? by the club that he described as being ?lovely?. The landlord and his wife were extremely supportive, and couldn?t do enough for the couple, even offering Ronnie the use of their bike to commute to the Hawthorns.

The newcomer was startled by some of the practices which went on at a top club. One of his team-mates always took an empty suitcase with him when the team were staying overnight. If he saw any ?unwanted knick-knacks? lying around the hotel they were promptly deposited in the case and taken home for resale on a local market stall a few days later. Ronnie roomed with the individual, and was concerned that he might be perceived as an accomplice.