Johnny Phillips: ‘Bombs’, blazes and bobbies for Wolves vs Boro

The fixture is eagerly anticipated by both camps. Wolves’ summer of change has been well-chronicled but these are exciting times too on Teesside.

The feeling among Boro fans last May was that, after so many years trying to get promotion, the players and management didn’t do themselves justice in the Premier League under Aitor Karanka.

Their football was characterised by a one dimensional system designed on keeping clean sheets and a pervading air of caution hung over the team.

Under Garry Monk’s new management and with the help of the ever-generous owner Steve Gibson there is more optimism now. Middlesbrough rightly go into the season as one of the promotion favourites.

But the circumstances on the last occasion I can remember such excitement around Middlesbrough visiting Molineux were completely different.

That day 25 years ago lives clearly in the memory despite the decades that have passed because it was played under an extraordinary backdrop.

On May 2, 1992 Lennie Lawrence brought his promotion-chasing Boro team to a Molineux that had fallen victim to an arson attack and a fake terrorist incident. Bomb squads and ‘SWAT’ teams patrolled the area and the match was in doubt right up until a few hours before the game.

Once the match was given the all-clear home supporters faced having to prove they were Wolves fans just to get onto the South Bank.

The final drama was reserved for the game itself, as a 10-man Boro side overcame the loss of a player to win the game and seal promotion in front of a huge and jubilant travelling support.

I was coming down to the game from Liverpool but woke in the morning to the news that a fire had ripped through part of the disused Waterloo Road stand at the South Bank end of the structure.

It hadn’t been in use for years by spectators but it was still home to the dressing room and club offices.

It was an arson attack but rumours quickly spread about why it was set alight. The stand was due for demolition at the end of the season and so speculation was rife about the motives behind the blaze.

Added to the fire drama, parts of the pitch had been dug up. Crude attempts at makeshift explosives had been planted in the ground and the local anti-terrorism division was on stand-by. Bomb disposal units were called in to inspect the pitch.

I travelled down by train unsure that the game would take place but on arrival at Molineux there was no doubt it was on. The only problem now was getting in. 5,000 Teessiders had travelled hoping for a promotion party and the away end was a sell-out. Yet the home section of the South Bank was still pay on the gate – a sign of the times.

Police were rightly worried about the presence of Boro fans in the home end, especially after some trouble in the town prior to kick-off between both sets of supporters, so fans were being quizzed on entering the turnstiles about where they were from.

For some reason, PC Plod decided I might pose a threat. On being asked where I came from I eschewed the opportunity to try out a Black Country accent and instead fessed up to coming from Liverpool.

“You’re not coming in then!” was the response. “But I am a Wolves fan, honestly!” I pleaded. “I can prove it, go on ask me the name of any player in the team.”

The policeman looked me up and down for a few seconds. “Go on then, who’s the keeper?” And with a confident “Mike Stowell”, I was in. He needn’t have bothered letting me through, mind you.

After taking the lead through Andy Mutch and then seeing Boro have a man sent off, it looked as if Wolves would at least end the season on a high.

No such luck, two late goals secured victory and promotion for Boro.

I’ll never forget the racket from those visiting supporters on the other side of the South Bank. A small pod of fans had found their way into the home end too – clearly they could put on better local accents than me – and were escorted out under a barrage of abuse from the home fans.

The patches of repaired ground from the ‘explosives’ were visible throughout the game, as was the significant fire damage to the Waterloo Road stand. They never did get to the bottom of what happened the previous night though, and as summer came and went so too did the old stand. Sir Jack Hayward’s stadium was taking shape.

It was one of the most bizarre ends to a season I can remember. There have been other visiting promotion parties at Molineux since.

Bradford’s back in 1999 sticks out with Paul Jewell running across the pitch at full-time to hug his players. And even last season, Huddersfield fans were celebrating merely qualifying for the play-offs.

Quite right too as it turned out, with David Wagner’s side finishing the job at Wembley a couple of weeks’ later. But never has there been a day quite like that one in May 1992.