Dear Diary Entry 128

Mark Of Appreciation For Nigel

Monday, May 2: Received a lovely follow-up to the long Nigel Vaughan interview that we posted in January. Michael Hickey from Conroe in Texas did some Googling, read Charles Bamforth’s piece with great interest and said in an email to us: “I just happened to come across your story about Nigel Vaughan. My son was lucky enough to be coached by him for a couple of years here. Nigel is one of the best coaches we have ever met.”

A Story With Spin

Late England Star’s Molineux Connection

Plenty of us, including Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, are addicted to Wordle, the on-line game in which you have the challenge of guessing a five-letter word within six attempts. It is part of the New York Times suite of challenges but was invented by a Welshman by the name of Josh Wardle. He is not the first prominent J. Wardle.

How Billy Would Have Been Bemused By Whole New World

Qatar Calls, A Lull For The League

And now, with the dust beginning to settle on the regular 2021-22 League season, we start the countdown to something altogether different…..For ages, clubs had to suck it up and bring in reinforcements from the reserves if international matches clashed with their domestic fixtures.

Making Headlines, Making Waves

Island Hoppers Packed ‘Em In

What big news Wolves were when their season went into extraordinary overdrive in their last summer under the managership of Stan Cullis. The bewildering round of matches they played against Chelsea and others on a lengthy Caribbean tour was deemed too insignificant (or maybe too expensive) for the Express & Star to despatch their long-time Molineux correspondent Phil Morgan.

Haven’t We Been Here Before?

Last Day, Loads To Play For

It will, after all, be another of those last-day Liverpool-Wolves showdowns that we have become so used to over the decades. It isn’t a cliffhanger for Bruno Lage’s men, apart from wanting to nail down an eighth-place finish, but it has the potential to be huge for their hosts if another Lancashire v West Midlands meeting at the same time goes in their favour.

Write Back To Where He Once Was

JR In Familiar Inside-Track Role

John Richards has used a first post-lockdown visit to Australia to make a return to his writing days of four and five decades ago. Following more than one cancelled trip during the covid years, Richards and wife Pam have finally been able to spend some quality time in the Melbourne area and around the Great Barrier Reef with eldest daughter Kim and her family.

Wow, That Was Some Day And Evening!

Reflecting On Match Night And The Stories It Threw Up

Nothing like football to shock, inspire and inflame, is there?
On the day we witnessed a sensational 23-minute hat-trick from a midfielder who used his ‘wrong’ foot on all three occasions, we also learned of a high-profile appointment tinged with strong Molineux connections.

Hurrying Back…..It’s Jimmy Mac

Another UEFA Cup Tour For Stand-In Skipper

Jim McCalliog is making another visit to Molineux at the weekend to help mark one of several major anniversary milestones in Wolves’ proud history. It was 50 years yesterday since the Glaswegian played in the notorious 2-1 home win over Leeds that denied his first professional club a League and FA Cup double.

Dear Diary Entry 127

Reflecting On Danny’s Posthumous Award

Wednesday, April 6: Have been alerted by a contact in East Anglia to the fact that Danny Hegan (and another former Wolves player, Ray Crawford, for that matter) has a place in Ipswich’s hall of fame. The high-maintenance midfielder was inducted to this elite Portman Road group in 2016, along with Tony Mowbray and others, the year after he passed away.

A Fond Farewell

‘Heart of Old Gold’ And A Legacy That’s Going Very Strong

John Richards, Mel Eves and former Wolves secretary Richard Skirrow were among those paying their respects today at the funeral of Peter Creed. They were joined at St Michael and All Angels Church in Tettenhall by past and present representatives of the Express & Star and other institutions in the city, including a high-level delegation from Wolves Speedway.