Fondly Remembered: Tom Phillipson

Mayor Tom – A Star In Gold And In Office

Anniversaries pop up on a weekly basis at a football club. We are frequently told it is so many years to the day since a famous win, since the debut of a player who became a legend or since the very day of an icon’s birth. Tomorrow is a special landmark in this context. It marks exactly 120 years since the arrival in this world of a man who remains unique in Wolverhampton folklore.

A Welcome Show Of Mercy

Heroics Drew Softer Side From Iron-Man Boss

Bill McGarry’s disciplinary ways are legendary among those who knew him and had to suffer his temper. What is not as well known is the occasional leniency he also exercised. On a 1969 autumn day on which winter reared its head even more significantly than it has this weekend, Phil Parkes initially fell foul of the elements and his manager. Then a welcome change of fortunes saw him emerge as hero of the day – and very much forgiven.

May 12: A Red-Letter Day

Scot Relishing Thought Of Wolves’ Anfield Trip

Ian Ross is gearing up for another big football night out – and hoping that the early momentum he has witnessed leads all the way to a joyous last-day game against Wolves in six and a half months’ time. The former Molineux player-coach remains a regular at his first English club, Liverpool, where we had the good fortune to meet him outside the main entrance during a false-alarm evacuation straight after a game five years ago.

A Day Of Huge Molineux Pride

Keepers In A Unique National Spotlight

No longer is it a rarity to see two international keepers on duty in the same match – indeed, it happened as recently as yesterday with Rui Patricio and Ben Foster at opposite ends of the Molineux pitch. But two keepers from one club in the same major meeting of countries…..that is altogether more unusual and it was virtually unheard of until Wolves provided Bert Williams and Cyril Sidlow for an England v Wales clash more than 70 years ago.

Fondly Remembered: Jesse Pye

Record Buy A Prize Guy Who Helped Wolves Fly

Oh that Jesse Pye was still around today. Not just for his terrific record as a goal-scoring Wolves forward but for much, much more. There is perhaps a collective guilt around the fact we didn’t question these legends further when we had the chance. Pye played junior football in South Yorkshire, became a £12,000 record signing at Molineux, scored a hat-trick on his Wanderers debut and netted twice in becoming an FA Cup final hero in 1949.

Oh What A Night!

Another Triumph, Another Bumper Donation

More than ever, Wolves favourites have had the opportunity to mingle with each other off the field in 2018; at dinners, at golf days and increasingly, as we discovered on Friday night, at book launches. Seven former players, this time with Carl Ikeme and Paul Butler among them, were present in Molineux’s WV1 corporate area for a reminder of the quite magnificent charity work going on around the club at present.

A Grand Old Age

Racing Along At 90-Plus

Many supporters can probably take a good guess at naming Wolves’ oldest living former player – but how many can correctly identify their longest-surviving ex-manager? Our thanks go to The Times for this week reminding us that a man who sat in the boss’s chair in the 1980s turned 90 in the spring.

Double Dutch – And A Deutsch Derby

Away Days With A Difference

By way of a slight change and as a means of reflecting a busy extended weekend’s driving on the autobahns of mainland Europe, David Instone presents a travel blog; an account of how he and long-standing Express & Star contributor John Lalley have just taken in three top-flight games on the Continent in the space of just over 24 hours. Quiet and relaxing, it certainly wasn’t.

Typically Les

Loads Of Effort, Not A Penny Piece In Return!

Les Wilson has shunned convention and is turning the imminent release of the story of his football career into a characteristic show of generosity. The Vancouver-based former Wolves utility man is within a few weeks of taking delivery of the huge hard-back publication detailing his decades in the game.

Dear Diary Entry 84

A Saturday Out With Mel And Mike – The Motorway Miles Just Sped By

Saturday, September 1: Enjoyed the company of Mel Eves and BBC WM reporter Mike Taylor on the M1 and M11 as we took in Wolves’ first visit to West Ham’s spectacular and still newish home. A lovely, convivial day was brightened further by Adama Traore’s last-gasp winner – savoured also by Andy Thompson a few rows in front of us in the press box.