Wolves mourn death of FA Cup hero Barry Stobart
Wolves were today a club in mourning for the second time this month following the death of FA Cup final winner Barry Stobart at the age of 75.
Stobart, who was written into the club's legend as a surprise selection for the club's 1960 FA Cup final win over Blackburn, had been ill for several years with vascular dementia.
He leaves two sons Sean and Loy just days after his widow Maureen was present at the funeral of former winger Dave Wagstaffe last Thursday.
In a touching salute to his role in the Wolves legend, former team mate Peter Knowles was one of his last visitors before he passed away.
Stobart was a late starter in Stan Cullis's first team before going on to serve Manchester City, Aston Villa, Shrewsbury and Willenhall Town, whom he led to the FA Vase final at Wembley.
But it was Stobart's appearance in the 1960 final which etched him into Molineux legend as he replaced the more established Bobby Mason and played a key role in Wolves 3-0 victory.
He made the opening goal that day leaving Maureen to recall how the couple left the celebration banquet at a top restaurant in London to share coffee in an all-night café:.
"We just kept taking Barry's winner's medal out of its box and looking at it," she said.
Stobart had made a memorable debut that same seaon for Wolves as a 21-year-old at Old Trafford scoring in a 2–0 win over Manchester United.
But the Doncaster-born forward never built on that memorable start to his Wolves career and his first-team appearances were constrained, save for an extended run in the 1962–3 season in which he scored 14 goals in 24 League and Cup games that season.
After 54 games and 22 goals for Wolves, Stobart left for Manchester City for whom he made 14 appearances and played alongside future Molineux legend Wagstaffe, fellow Wolves Cup-winner Jimmy Murray and former Albion and England striker Derek Kevan.
Then came a spell with Aston Villa which saw Stobart in the team which won 1–0 at Molineux on the day Wagstaffe made his debut for Wolves onBoxing Day, 1964.
At Villa, he made 53 League and cup appearances and scored 20 goals before moving to Shrewsbury Town (43 games, 9 goals) before Stobart headed for South Africa where he played for Durban Spurs.
Back in England he later managed Willenhall Town and returned to Wembley as a manager when they reached the FA Vase final in 1981, losing 3–2 to Whickham in extra time.
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