From the Battle of Wrexham to wunderkind Woodburn’s audacious entrance: a brief history of Wales v Austria (part two)

When Wales welcome Austria to the Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday evening for a vital World Cup play-off semi-final, it will be the 11th instalment in an intermittent rivalry that has produced some memorable moments dating back to the first meeting in 1954.

Late collapse sours Smith’s opening salvo

Unsurprisingly, Wales and Austria did not rush to confront each other again after the two bruising battles between the two nations in the mid-1950s. Indeed, they would not resume acquaintances until they were drawn together in the same qualifying group for the 1976 European Championship.

Wales would open the campaign with a trip to Vienna in September 1974 – two decades after John Charles and company had lost 2–0 at the same venue, simultaneously sowing the seeds of discontent that culminated in the Battle of Wrexham. 

The match would be a milestone for Mike Smith, recently installed as Wales’ first full-time manager in a move that was criticised by at least one prominent member of the press.

‘I cannot see what is to be gained from appointing a full-time manager,’ wrote Clive Phillips in the Western Mail in May 1974. ‘Wales are just desperately short of talent – especially strikers.’

The role had initially been offered to Smith’s immediate predecessor, Dave Bowen, who had been employed on a part-time basis since 1964.

The disappointments of Bowen’s decade in the hot seat – arguably the most fallow period in the history of the national side – did not deter the Football Association of Wales (FAW) from offering him the full-time post. However, he opted to remain as general manager of Northampton Town as the paltry £5,000 salary on offer failed to entice him. 

After being rejected by Bowen, the conservative choice, the FAW turned to a man who had been quietly working behind the scenes to develop Welsh football at grass-roots level since 1968. 

Smith, the FAW’s little-known 37-year-old director of coaching, was far from a conservative choice. There were two reasons for this, which were demonstrated in the opening paragraph of the Western Mail article by Gareth Jones that announced the news: ‘Mike Smith, an Englishman who has never played professional football, is the man who has been given the job of putting Welsh soccer on the map.’

Smith’s nationality and the fact that he had never progressed beyond the amateur ranks as a player as he pursued a career in teaching were perceived as significant drawbacks. 

The new Wales boss inherited a side that had found the net only four times in 15 outings dating back three years. They had endured a barren run of six matches before Wrexham striker Dave Smallman’s winner on his club ground overcame Northern Ireland 1–0 in their most recent fixture in May 1974.

Despite that goal and his undoubted promise, Smallman, 21, was reduced to bench duty in Vienna as Smith plumped for John Toshack, who had not represented his country for over a year after being bedevilled by injuries. The Liverpool striker would be flanked by 32-year-old Gil Reece and rising star Leighton James up front. 

If the return of Toshack was a welcome boost for the new manager, the withdrawal of both first-choice full-backs, Rod Thomas and Malcolm Page, was a serious blow. 

In their absence, Smith was forced to field a makeshift back four of Portsmouth’s Phil Roberts, who had only one cap to his name, on the right, Leighton Phillips, a midfielder or sweeper by trade, on the left, and John Roberts and Dave Roberts in the middle. John Roberts, the skipper, was the only experienced international in their midst. 

Behind the improbable defensive quartet of Roberts, Roberts, Roberts and Phillips, Gary Sprake, a veteran of the entire Bowen era, was still the best goalkeeper available to Wales and was favoured ahead of John Phillips of Chelsea. 

Sprake had won his first cap as long ago as 1963 but was still only 29 – four years younger than the man Smith reinstated to the international ranks alongside Terry Yorath and John Mahoney in midfield. 

Apart from an unhappy sojourn at Arsenal in the early 1960s, Arfon Griffiths had spent his entire career in the bottom two tiers of the Football League with Wrexham, his local club. He was regarded with awe at the Racecourse, but at international level he had been overlooked since his cameo as a substitute against Czechoslovakia in April 1971.

More than three years later, the diminutive Griffiths stole the show as he put Wales in front 10 minutes before the break. 

‘Having waited 16 years for his first full international,’ wrote Peter Jackson in the South Wales Echo, ‘Griffiths struck with an absurd simplicity which convinced every Welsh player that now at last would be a victory to set alongside those of the 1958 World Cup.’

The midfielder had the precious gift of being able to drift into space in the penalty area, ready to swoop on any defensive mistakes. That is what occurred in Vienna when James crossed from the right and a misunderstanding between the keeper, Herbert Rettensteiner, and Walter Kreiger presented Griffiths with the easiest possible chance to open his international account at the far post.

Wales could have doubled their lead by half-time, but Rettensteiner partially atoned for his error with a one-handed save from Toshack’s header. He then foiled Reece’s raid.

These were key moments as Wales failed to sufficiently capitalise on their period of superiority. They would eventually be punished for their lack of killer instinct, although they were in control until Helmut Köglberger was thrust into the action on the hour.

Within a couple of minutes of the substitute’s arrival, Austria were on level terms as Willy Kreuz converted a cross from the left. Wales had probably done enough in the first half to warrant a share of the spoils, but they would be denied even that by Hans Krankl after a chaotic goalmouth scramble. 

Jackson reported: ‘Disorganised and confused for the first time, Wales were in a shocking mess when Krankl scored the 76th-minute match winner.’ 

After being in such a strong position, the 2–1 defeat was a cruel setback for the visitors, but it would prove to be a temporary blip. They would shortly embark on a startling run of four straight victories to propel them to the top of the table prior to Austria’s first visit to the Racecourse, or anywhere else in Wales, since the Battle of Wrexham.