Wolves throwback: Shock Anfield win tops victory over Manchester City

Their 1-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield on January 14, 1984, ranked among the biggest upsets of the decade.

Though City are undoubtedly a fine team, Pep Guardiola’s men remain some way short of the levels achieved by the all-conquering outfit that was Liverpool during the first half of the 1980s.

Between 1980 and 1986, the Reds won five league titles, two European Cups, an FA Cup and the League Cup four times in a row. They were about as close to untouchable as it is possible to get.

Wolves, by contrast, were increasingly in something of a mess, a club on the brink of the rapid and painful decline which would see them plummet from the First Division right through to the Fourth.

The 1983/84 season would end in relegation from the top tier and deliver only six league wins.

It is all the more remarkable one of those triumphs came at the home of a Liverpool team on course for their third title in a row, particularly when you throw in the fact Wolves were without a win at Anfield for 33 years.

"I suspect we ruined a few betting coupons that day," laughs Geoff Palmer, part of the Wolves defence which kept the champions at bay for 90 minutes.

"It was backs to the wall. Nobody expected us to win.

"The one thing I remember is watching Football Focus after we had our pre-match meal.

"Ray Wilkins, who was with Manchester United at the time, was doing the predictions and when it came to our game he said: 'Well that is definitely a home win'.

"Jim Barron, our assistant boss, turned round and said: 'Well there's your team talk. You'll have to go out and beat them now!'. And we did!

Arguably the most incredible aspect is the story behind the man who scored the only goal of the match.

Birmingham-born Steve Mardenborough, then aged only 19, had made only seven first-team appearances prior to the trip to Anfield. His goal was the first and only one he ever netted for Wolves. Mardenborough didn’t even know he was playing until the morning of the game, only being drafted in as a late replacement for Mel Eves.

“I was training with the reserves a couple of days before and I was called into the first-team squad. Mel had tweaked his knee. The decision to play me was taken at the last minute,” Mardenborough recalled in an interview several years later.

“I can remember walking on to the pitch before kick-off and thinking: ‘This is great!’”

His big moment arrived after just 10 minutes. Danny Crainie delivered a cross which hit Mardenborough on his head, before glancing off his shoulder and spinning out of Liverpool keeper Bruce Grobbelaar’s reach.

With still 80 minutes still remaining, there seemed little reason for the home team to panic.

Yet with Wolves sticking to the rigid gameplan set out by manager Graham Hawkins, a Liverpool attack spearheaded by Ian Rush could find no way through.

It wasn’t until the final 10 minutes Rush had a decent strike at goal and even then it was saved by John Burridge, as he had done so earlier to deny Steve Nicol.

"I wouldn't say the plan was particularly different to what we normally tried to do," recalls Palmer.

"During training in the week we had been working with two banks of four. You knew if you lost the ball at Anfield you might not get it back again for quite some time.

"They could be mesmerising and we just wanted to stay organised. We knew they were going to come at us. It was the kind of place you could very easily become over-awed.

"Our back four actually had quite a bit of experience and we had John Burridge in goal. In the rest of the team there were quite a few young lads, including Steve.

"I remember the goal coming off his shoulder and we had a bit of luck. But that is what you needed, if you were going to win there."

Wolves left the pitch to a respectful ovation from home supporters, having achieved a victory which gave them fresh hope of avoiding relegation.

The win was actually the third in four matches for Hawkins’ team, who had gone 16 league and cup games before recording their first of the campaign. Though Wolves remained bottom of the table, the gap to survival was cut to just six points.

Alas, it proved to be a false dawn. Wolves did not win again until early March and only once more after that as they finished rock bottom of the standings. Liverpool went on to beat Southampton to the title, as well as winning the European Cup and League Cup for good measure.

Mardenborough, meanwhile, would make only one more first-team appearance for Wolves before joining Cambridge United on loan.

At the end of the season he joined Swansea on a permanent deal, beginning a nomadic career which saw him play for a further 20 clubs, including a brief stint back in the Midlands with Stafford Rangers.

“I’ve scored better goals but none more memorable,” Mardenborough said when speaking about the goal years later.

“Graeme Souness and Craig Johnston both shook my hand and congratulated me at the final whistle.”