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A tribute to great players
from the period 1965/66 to 1979/80, particularly highlighting their appearance
in football cards. For more see the Player Pages Index. John Holsgrove A list of all of the appearances of this player in football cards in the period 1965/66 to 1979/80 appears at the foot of this page. | ||
 1968/69 FKS Publishers Wonderful World of Soccer Stars, No. 319  1969/70 A&BC Chewing Gum Footballers (Green backs), No. 109  1970/71 A&BC Chewing Gum Footballers (Orange backs), No. 80 |
John Holsgrove, born in Southwark, London in
September 1945, was a tall, lean defender who made his name with Wolves and
Sheffield Wednesday. Holsgrove began as an amateur, signing professional for Crystal Palace as an 18-year old in February 1964. At this time Holsgrove was England youth team skipper. In May 1965 Holsgrove transferred to Wolverhampton Wanderers. At the time Palace were in the Second Division, and Wolves had just been relegated from the First Division to join them. Writing in the 1971 Shoot Annual Holsgrove himself notes 'when I first moved from London to Wolverhampton I was worried, not about the club, but about moving to a 'strange' town. For some particular reason many northerners come south but, in soccer especially, only a few make the journey up the M1 to try their fortunes'.... 'When I joined Wolves things weren't exactly bubbling. They had just been relegated and, as you can imagine, critics were predicting a bleak outlook'. In his first season with Wolves they finished 6th in the Second Division, but then won promotion with a strong second place finish in 1967. The 1968/69 FKS album notes 'Lanky, long-striding solid defensive half-back who was at Selhurst Park as an amateur before turning professional in February 1964. Took a while to settle but now a consistent choice'. In 1969 Holsgrove moved from his traditional left-half role into the centre of defence. In his own words 'It happened at the beginning of 1969 when injuries to the team forced me to "move across". The 1969/70 A&BC Chewing Gum green-back card notes '...he has been at Molineux for several seasons where his height and power have given strength to the Wolves' defence. A contender for international honours his headings from corners and free kicks make him a valuable extra member of the Wolves' forward line'. The FKS 1970/71 album notes 'Lanky, defensive half-back who cost a £18,000 fee when signed from Crystal Palace....Had been on the books of Arsenal and Spurs turning professional at Selhurst Park'. At the end of the 1970/71 season Holsgrove transferred to Second Division Sheffield Wednesday, primarily because Francis Munro and John McAlle had taken his place in the Wolves team. He had made a total of 178 League appearances for the Wanderers. The 1971/72 A&BC Chewing Gum purple-back card records that John still plays for Wolves, perhaps suggesting that they missed the June 1971 transfer. The card notes 'One of Wolves most consistent players, Holsgrove has been at the heart of their defence for the past few seasons, and is now approaching 200 appearances for the Molineux club'. At Wednesday he made 36 League appearances in 1971/72 (14th place finish), 32 the following season (10th), and then 16 in 1973/74 (19th, narrowly missing relegation). In 1974/75 he made 19 League appearances, mostly at the start of a miserable season for Wednesday which saw them finish in last place by an 11-point margin and relegated to the Third Division. The relegation saw a mass clearing out of Wednesday players, Holsgrove included. In the 1975 off-season he was transferred to Fourth Division Stockport County. He had made a total of 103 League appearances for the Owls. He stayed with Stockport County for one season, making 9 League appearances, his last being in a 2-2 draw at Barnsley on November 15, 1975. John Holsgrove started out as a very promising youngster, and enjoyed a successful, though not stellar football career. In 1971 he reported to Shoot that 'Football can give a player so much these days... Not so long ago a footballer was taking home very little in his pay packet but now the rewards are far bigger... Not only has soccer given me many comforts, it has also enabled me to see places that people only read about. I've been to the United States twice for summer tours and almost regard America as my second home'. Less than five years later his League playing career was over. John Holsgrove's sons, Paul, Lee and Peter, all tried out for football league careers, with varying degrees of success. |
 1969/70 FKS Publishers Wonderful World of Soccer Stars, No. 321  1970/71 FKS Publishers Wonderful World of Soccer Stars, No. 321  1971/72 A&BC Chewing Gum Footballers (Purple backs), No. 95 |
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Football cards issued in the period 1965/66 to 1979/80 (note: this is an incomplete list, and will updated as new information is obtained). |
| Season | Maker | Set | Team | Card ref. |
| 1967/68 | FKS Publishers | The Wonderful World of Soccer Stars | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 324 of 330 |
| 1968/69 | FKS Publishers | The Wonderful World of Soccer Stars | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 319 of 330 |
| 1969/70 | A&BC chewing gum (English) | Football Facts, Green backs, Series 2 (065-117) | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 109 of 117 |
| 1969/70 | FKS Publishers | The Wonderful World of Soccer Stars | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 321 of 330 |
| 1970/71 | A&BC chewing gum (English) | Footballers, Orange backs, Series 1 (001- 084) | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 18 of 84 |
| 1970/71 | FKS Publishers | The Wonderful World of Soccer Stars | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 321 of 420 |
| 1970/71 | Thomson, D.C. | Stand-up football (Hotspur) | Wolverhampton Wanderers | |
| 1971/72 | A&BC chewing gum (English) | Footballers, Purple backs, Series 1 (001- 109) | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 95 of 109 |
| 1971/72 | FKS Publishers | The Wonderful World of Soccer Stars | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 322 of 330 |
| 1972/73 | Top Sellers | Football 72 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 348 of 420 |