Ipswich Town v Wolves, FA Cup 4th Round, 29th January 1977

A Portman Road crowd of 32,996 were present to see First Division Ipswich Town and Second Division Wolves contest an FA Cup 4th Round tie on 29th January 1977.

Sammy Chung's Wolves team faced an extremely difficult challenge in their match against Ipswich; Bobby Robson's team were then in second position in the First Division, just a single point behind eventual champions Liverpool, while Wolves were positioned fifth in the Second Division.

Despite their Second Division status, however, Wolves were still able to field players of considerable First Division experience and quality. The likes of Derek Parkin, Frank Munro, Kenny Hibbitt, John McAlle, Mike Bailey and John Richards had all been with the club since the 1960s and they would, with the exception of Bailey (who appeared just ten times that season), form the core of the Wolves team. In addition, Geoff Palmer, Steve Daley and Alan Sunderland were familiar faces from a few years or so previously, while Bobby Gould returned for a second spell at the club. Steve Kindon added further experience and midfielder Willie Carr had been signed by Chung's predecessor Bill McGarry in March 1975.

Wolves, with Gary Pierce an ever-present in goal, were statistically the second best defence in Division Two and leading scorers in the division with an impressive 84 goals for the season - largely shared out between top scorer Hibbitt, with 18 league goals, Sunderland (16), Richards (15), Daley (13) and Gould (10 goals in just 11 games).

Ipswich Town were one of the finest English teams of that particular era and their 3rd place finish in 1976-77 meant that a top six finish was achieved for an impressive fifth successive season. For Ipswich, the 1976-77 season had begun with the signing and subsequent debut of centre-forward Paul Mariner and he quickly formed a useful strike partnership with Trevor Whymark. A further threat of goals in the Ipswich team came from the versatile John Wark following his establishment in the first team that season. Also present against Wolves, and part of future Ipswich success, were goalkeeper Paul Cooper, central defender Allan Hunter and the full-back pairing of George Burley and Mick Mills.

Originally broadcast by Anglia Television with Gerry Harrison as commentator.