I never met Frank Munro nor was I old enough or lucky enough to have seen him play, so I’m hopelessly ill-equipped to pay tribute to the former Wolves defender, who sadly passed away yesterday evening, aged 63.
Thankfully, the statistics speak for themselves.
371 appearances spanning just under 10 years at the club.
18 goals, including one in each leg of the 1972 UEFA Cup semi final victory over Ferencváros.
A League Cup winner as part of the side that upset Manchester City in the 1974 final at Wembley.
A Scotland international, winning each of his 9 caps during his time at Wolves.
Of course these facts don’t even tell half the story about the contribution Frank Munro made to the history of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.
Hopefully those who saw the great man play will help fill in the gaps and do justice to a true Wolves legend.
Frank Munro (25/10/1947 – 16/08/2011)
Frank was one of the greatest Wolves defenders ever, who fittingly shared the same birthday date as Stan Cullis, and this was an added source of pride to Frank. I feel very privilegded to not only to have seen most of Frank’s games but to have had him as a friend for the last half dozen years. Not only a great player but a great person as well. I am pleased I got chance to say cherio to you yesterday in person, Frank. RIP.
Read more: http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2011/08/17/tributes-paid-to-wolves-legend-frank-munro/#ixzz1VH60L82B
martin says:
August 17, 2011 at 7:49 AM martin(Quote)
Really, really sad news especially as he was so young and had endured terrible health for so long.
Along with King John, Mike Bailley and Kenny Hibbitt, Frank was one of my all time favourites. Class, class, class. I loved everything about him, the way he looked, his stylish football, even his name, Frank Munro sounded like a film star to this impressionable teenager.
In those days your heros stayed with the club and so Frank was part of my youth and amazingly important to me at the time. A very sad day indeed.
Class, class, class. On a par with some of the best, a ball playing centre half that would have graced any team. I didnt see any of the other Wolves graet no 5,s like Wright, Slater etc but Frankie boy was the best i have seen up the Molineux, even Deano couldnt compare to him. Rest in Peace Frankie (Munro, Munro, Frankie Munro). Hope on Sunday that we give him a great good bye.
Another part of my youth bites the dust.
R.I.P Frank and thanks for the fantastic memories.
An understated star that was a colossus on the pitch. I have never seen a player with better timing or an ability to read the game so well, he made it appear so easy. A class act in the very good Wolves side that I grew up with. He will get an emotional and noisy send off on Sunday, RIP Frank and thankyou for the memories.
Sad news. I’ve been watching reglarly at Molineux since the mid-60’s and during that time Frank Munro was the most cultured defender I’ve seen in an old gold shirt. He also played as a wing-half and evan, on occasion, as a striker. I’m fairly sure he only switched to central deeence after being at Wolves for a while. He brought calmness and class to the position.
RIP Frank
God Bless You Frank.
A True Legend-A Class Act !! Lets Give Him A Very Noisy Send Off Sunday Lads.
Pop.
Extremely sad to see one of my heroes pass away.
Please give him the tribute he richly deserves on Sunday, especially for scoring one of the goals that stopped Leeds winning the double back in ’72.
Why do we wait until people die before we say how much we love them, for whatever reason?
Surely we can show our appreciation while they are still alive?
It might sound quite selfish, but I always feel quite envious when older fans get emotional when a player from years gone by passes away. I wonder who I will look back on when I’m an old fart.
The fact is, Bully apart, the modern Wolves players haven’t even come close to gracing the heights of Old Gold Heroes like Frank Munro.
I only hope, on a day like Sunday when Molineux shows it’s appreciation to Frank, that the current crop appreciate what a privileged position they are in. I hope they realise that they too could become part of folklore of a famous football club and in doing so gain the respect and admiration of Wolves fans around the World.
A lot has to do with loyalty. Us old farts, and by the way, we are not old, but youthfully challenged, remember when The Wolves was a desirable club to play for, because of it’s history and heritage, and thus attracted some excellent players. Once they signed, they seemed to stay for ever.
Dougan, 2 years max at most of his previous clubs, 8 with us.
Mike Bailey, Derek Parkin, Frank Munro, Waggy, Kenny Hibbit, John Richards, etc etc etc, all played the best part of their careers at The Mol, and we never thought about them moving on for more money, or to play in Europe.
,They tried to get into Europe (and did) with The Wolves, not some prawn sandwich club.
Fickle as we are, we appreciate loyalty to the club as much as anything, after all, we fans are loyal, so why not the players. Back then we paid their wages, not TV.
Bully is the only one who springs readily to mind as a recent loyalist, and he is right up there with the best of them, even though he insulted me on the golf course!!!
On a tangential note, I found out today that I have the same birthday as Stan Cullis and our late great center half, Frank Munro.
No, I am not fit to lace their heavenly boots. I hope my life has brought as much fun, in it’s own little way, to the people who love me, as those two great football luminaries did to us Wolves fans.
RIP FM
Bloody hell clive you had me wiping the tears from my cheeks after what
you wrote!!!.Frannk Munro what a great player we had the pleasure to have at our club in the sixties & seventies in a ten year spell.just the sort of player we could do with now,A no nonsense skillful player who could pass the ball out of danger.Fond memories frank R.I.P. All our sympathy
goes out to his family at his untimely departure. Let us all remember him
on sunday.
I thought this was a really love piece by John Lalley on the E&S site.
http://www.expressandstar.com/blogs/2011/08/18/a-personal-tribute-to-wolves-legend-frank-munro/?mh
A fitting tribute. The best I’ve seen.
Been a wolves fan since ’74 and to put it in simple terms Frank Munro was the most majestic player I’ve ever seen in gold n black. On the old North Bank one particularly frustrating game I remember one fan shouting up ” you’re on your own Frank ” , a reference to the great man’s ability, even when really up against it , to stand out above other lesser mortals . RIP. Truly a great .
Simply Frank was one of the best. Ive been going now since 1966 so the early 70s was my golden era and Frankie was a big part of that a true hard center half who could also play the ball if only we could find one like him now. Its a shame the north bank is not there tomorrow to pay a tribute to one of its true heroes RIP Frank thanks for the happiest of days and great memories