Legendary striker from Birmingham City given dressing room honour

The Bob Hatton dressing room was unveiled by the great man himself last weekend at Cortonwood Miners’ Welfare in Brampton, between Rotherham and Barnsley.

Though from Hull, Hatton travelled to South Yorkshire for the best part of two seasons in the early 1960s to play for Wolves’s feeder team ran by their legendary scout, Mark Crook.

Hatton used to make the journeys alongside Gerry Taylor who also became a professional at Wolves.

Crook discovered an astonishing 114 players who went on to have professional careers including the likes of World Cup winner Ron Flowers, England internationals Cyril Knowles and Terry Cooper and FA Cup winning heroes in George Robledo and Alan Sunderland.

Of all the players to come through Crook’s system, Hatton made the most appearances with an incredible 729 and 258 goals.

A decent chunk of them came in a blue shirt.

Hatton attended the unveiling alongside his grandson, Thomas, last weekend.

He was raised a Birmingham fan in tribute to his granddad.

Bob said: “It pulled at the old heartstrings.

“It makes you think of all the good times. Those good times were hard times because you were trying to make it.

“I was a bit of a rolling stone in football, moving around from club to club, which suited me. Everybody’s different.

“You get the one club men and I respect them for playing hundreds of games for one team but I liked the challenge of moving and winning over the supporters and trying to score a few goals.

“I always used to try and get on with the fans. That was important and I never got booed – which is something – I must have done something right!”

A year-long project has been run by South Yorkshire football historian Chris Brook and Barnsley Chronicle journalist Ashley Ball to pay tribute to Crook, who died in 1977.

The first part was to place a blue plaque at the ground to commemorate Crook, the second was the unveiling of the dressing rooms, and the third is a forthcoming book called Feeding The Wolves.

Hatton credits Crook with launching his career which incredibly started with him playing on the wing before Crook, a former winger with Blackpool and Wolves himself, turned him into a frontman.

The other dressing room was named in honour of World Cup winner Flowers.

Ashley said: “When it came to naming the dressing rooms, they were both obvious choices.

“Ron’s achievements in the game speak for themselves. He was the golden boy at Wolves, one of their finest ever players and the man Crook’s reputation was built on.

“Bob’s story was a slightly different one. It was one of perseverance and hard work.

“Incredibly both he and Flowers had their positions switched by Crook and the rest was history.

“It’s hard to imagine now but Hatton was initially a winger until Crook saw something in him to transform him into the dependable centre-forward that he was for so many clubs.

“There are more than 50 interviews in the book but Bob’s was the first I did and I think one of the best because he had vivid memories of Crook and how he altered the course of his life and career.

“He talks candidly about making the trips over alongside another future pro in Gerry and how they were put in digs overnight with a widow and fed very well before matches in the tough old Northern Intermediate League.

“Mark’s contribution still means a lot to Bob to this day and to many other players who were helped into pro football by him.

“I know Mark kept in touch with Bob and frequently wrote to him.”

A fellow Birmingham hero in Dick Neal Jnr was also discovered by Crook.

Neal also played for England Under 23s while on the books at Birmingham.

The book remains available at the earlybird price of £15 (including postage) by visiting: https://dondearneschoolfootball.wordpress.com/mark-crooks-wath-wolves/

People who order before that date can also add their name and hometown into the book for free.

All profits from the book are heading to Brampton United FC and The Wolves Foundation who do incredible outreach work in Wolverhampton.