Star-Maker Eric

Man Of Steele Handed Huge Task

As the man charged with the responsibility of helping find Edwin Van Der Sar’s replacement at Manchester United, Eric Steele inhabits a high-powered world. Results were distinctly mixed amid the pursuit of a worthy successor to the club’s last goalkeeping great, Peter Schmeichel, and it’s unlikely Sir Alex Ferguson would take kindly to again making do with men of the standard of Fabien Barthez, Roy Carroll and Massimo Taibi.

Taylor’s Post-England Blues

Karren’s Call Came Before Wolves Summons

Graham Taylor has today revealed in an opinion piece about Andy Gray that he could have gone to a West Midlands club other than Wolves following his departure from the England job. Taylor moved in at Molineux in succession to Graham Turner in March, 1994, but used his regular Daily Express column this morning to let on that he first received an approach from elsewhere on the patch.

Lofty Half Right In Memory Game

A Hit And A Miss In Keeper’s Recollections

Phil Parkes was right on one score and wrong on another when talking over old times with us last week. We approached Lofty to ask why he had been absent from the 1970 trip to Yugoslavia that we will be featuring in our Tours Are Us section very soon.

Molinews: Part Eight

Ominous Sign For Kevin

Our piece on Jim McCalliog in the autumn prompted an interesting response from within our readership. We told the story in mid-October of how we had lost contact with Jim for a year or two after he had called time on his long service in the pub trade.

Evans Sent – But It Didn’t Last

Welsh Legend Missed Out At Molineux

Mickey Evans was born in the very week Stan Cullis played his last game for Wolverhampton Wanderers and had good reason to revere him. Alas, the lad who supported Wolves, regularly travelled to watch them from his home in mid-Wales and then signed for them became one of the many talented reserves who ultimately had to seek a first-team career elsewhere – something he did with eye-catching results.

Out Before A Ball Was Bowled!

Barry Up And Away From Down Under

Barry Powell has returned to the Midlands after bailing out of an extended break in Australia just before England’s cricketers got their hands on the Ashes urn. The former Molineux midfielder immediately followed up his latest coaching trip back to Hong Kong with several weeks Down Under either side of Christmas.

Play That One Again!

Cup Cliffhangers That Went The Extra Mile

Unwelcome though Wolves’ second FA Cup meeting with Doncaster initially appeared to be, it can be seen as a good omen. Some of the club’s most exciting FA Cup journeys have been laden with replays, some of them heavily.

Nostalgia Day For Waggy

High-Scoring Draw Is Winger’s Wish

Dave Wagstaffe has told the nation of his mixed feelings as he makes his way to Wolves’ game at Manchester City today. The 67-year-old has genuine legendary status at Molineux following his 404 Wanderers appearances in League and cups and remains a frequent watcher of home matches.

How Wolves Copped It From Old Pal

Cup KO Thanks To John

Following on from our Memory Match feature earlier this week, we have caught up again with the man who finally ended Wolves’ powerful mid-season surge of 39 years ago – none other than John Farrington. The winger was still a well-known face around Molineux when he returned in the colours of Leicester for an FA Cup third-round tie on January 15, 1972.

Gerry Still So Down To Earth

Full-Back From The Farm Who Scaled The Heights

Wolves didn’t quite call Gerry Harris in from the green fields of Shropshire to play 300 games for them, win a couple of League Championships and an FA Cup and then send him back to work the land. But that synopsis isn’t too far from the truth. “My dad was a farm worker and so were my three brothers,” says the former full-back from his ‘patch’ just outside Bridgnorth.