Archive for May, 2012

Happy Anniversary!

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

Memories Of A Great Day Out

Winning promotion in two successive seasons was more significant to Wolves' long-term health and prosperity but no game from the club's stay in the lower divisions is more fondly remembered than the one played 24 years ago today. Wolves and Burnley had contested the domestic game's biggest honour when they jousted for the League Championship in 1959-60, so their head-to-head in the final of the Sherpa Van Trophy might have appeared small beer to older fans.

Where Excellence Isn’t Enough

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

Wilshaw Goals Not Sufficient To Spare Him The Axe

There is a feeling that Peter Crouch might have been hard done by with his exclusion from Roy Hodgson's 23-man England squad. But the beanpole Stoke striker's admirable record of 22 goals in 42 international appearances does not compare with the ratio of a Wolves legend who had to be content with barely a quarter of those caps.

Shaw Not Ready For Easy Life

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Bernard Still Building A Big Future

Bernard Shaw hasn't been to a football match for over 20 years and reckons he hasn't spoken since well before that to any of the team-mates with whom he shared a dressing room in his 156-match Molineux career. But his life has moved on busily in other directions in the subsequent decades and his was certainly a clean break from the game.

Dear Diary, Entry Nine

Sunday, May 20th, 2012

Reunion: The Friendly Fall-Out Continues

No shortage of material for our monthly diary feature this time, with a nostalgic get-together, interview opportunities and meetings aplenty.....Wednesday, April 25: Having recently traced Terry Thompson through the Notts County Former Players Association, today got Gordon Roberts on board for the 'Last of the Cullis Cubs' reunion a week on Saturday. A letter to the South Wales Echo in Cardiff, where we knew him to be from, brought half a dozen positive responses and we eventually traced him - to Kidderminster!

Stars Were Rising In The East

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Quartet Who Hurt Wolves - And Then Joined Them

When Wolves lost at Ipswich on the opening day of the 1968-69 season, it was a peep into the future as far as those at Molineux were concerned. And not just because the newly-promoted East Anglians had Bill McGarry and Sammy Chung heading up their managerial team.

The Life Of Riley

Monday, May 14th, 2012

Spirit Intact Despite The Misfortune

I wonder how uncertain some of the younger players are feeling now at Molineux. Different managers come with different ideals, different opinions and there is a narrow window of opportunity in which to make an impression on a new gaffer. But imagine how hard that must be if you are on the injured list. That is what happened to Grenville Riley when the (for some) notorious Bill McGarry took the Wolves reins from Ronnie Allen in 1968. Yet, as we shall see, that ailment paled into insignificance when judged against the nightmare that Riley had to face in later decades; a traumatic experience that puts life into perspective.

Something’s Unto Ward!

Friday, May 11th, 2012

Popular Utility Man Next In Line

Stephen Ward is close to graduating to the Legends area of this website - but will have to wait until early next season to do so. Wolves' regular left-back has played every minute of their 2011-12 Barclays Premier League season, with only Sunday's trip to Wigan to come.

Memory Match: Wolves 2 Leeds 1

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Infamous Title Decider Was 40 Years Ago Tonight

Ordinarily, we wouldn't be back on line so soon after our weekend postings. But May 8 is no ordinary day in the Wolverhampton Wanderers story. It was on this date four decades ago, in one of Molineux's most notorious matches, that Bill McGarry's side prevailed against a double-chasing Leeds side in front of an enthralled 50,000-plus crowd.

Here’s To Our Past

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

And Another Get-Together MUCH Sooner Next Time!

Some of them made it big, some had decent careers elsewhere and some drifted quickly into non-League. But these somebodys certainly had something about them. For 50 years, they had been apart – at least in the group sense – but were reunited for several memorable hours yesterday to chew over old times.

That’s What You Call Team Spirit

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

Friends Reunited By Their Own Initiative

Football reunions are nothing new. Birmingham City's promotion squad from ten years ago will reconvene this summer, members of Wolves' two League Cup final winning sides were back together in March and even long-forgotten Third Lanark, Paddy Buckley and all, had a bash recently. But we think this one was extra special. It wasn't organised by commercial staff with the idea of giving corporate customers a night out. And there certainly won't be any profit shown. The only paying guests at this one were the players themselves.

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