110 years ago today, Dai Richards the famous Merthyr footballer was born. To mark the occasion here is another piece courtesy of John Simkin.
David (Dai) Richards was born in Abercanaid on 31 October 1908. He played football for Merthyr Town before being signed by Major Frank Buckley, the manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers, in 1927. Richards, who played at left-half, established himself in a first-team that included Noel George, Reg Hollingsworth, Billy Wrigglesworth, Tom Galley, Billy Hartill, Billy Barraclough, Tom Smalley and Charlie Phillips.
In the 1929-30 season Billy Hartill scored 33 goals in 36 games. Despite these goals Wolves could only finish in 9th place in the league. The following season Wolves finished 4th in the Second Division. Once again Hartill was again top scorer with 30 goals in 39 appearances. Richards was in great form and was selected to play for Wales. It was the first of 21 international caps for his country.
Billy Hartill scored 30 goals with hat-tricks against Plymouth Argyle, Bristol City, Southampton and Oldham Athletic, in the 1931-32 season and helped the club win the Second Division championship. Charlie Phillips was also in great form adding 18. The club scored 118 goals that season.
In August, 1933, Frank Buckley purchased Bryn Jones from Aberaman for a fee of £1,500. In his first season at Wolves he scored 10 goals in 27 appearances. Although very popular with the fans, Jones was unable to immediately turn Wolves into a successful side. Billy Hartill remained in good form scoring 33 goals. In the 1933-34 season they finished in 15th place in the First Division.
Richards was sold to Brentford in 1935. He had scored 5 goals in 219 games for Wolverhampton Wanderers. Over the next two seasons he played 55 games for his new club. He also played for Birmingham City (1936-38) and Walsall (1939).
Dai Richards died in 1969.
To read more of John Simkin’s excellent essays, please visit:
http://spartacus-educational.com