Honour For Our Latest Q & A Man

Right-back or left-back, Allen or McGarry, Wembley 74 or Wembley 80 – and why the nickname ‘Squeak’?

These and many other talking points will have a full airing when John Richards presents his Q & A with Derek Parkin in the next few days.

Wolves Heroes’ co-owner has now conducted his promised interview with his long-term team-mate and will be publishing the results by next weekend.

“With Derek being the club’s record appearance-maker, there was a lot to cover,” Richards said.

“There was no shortage of questions from our readers, so working our way through them was not a five-minute job.

“I’m sure those who know him will realise he has never been a guy to boast about his many achievements in the game but I found his thoughts on a lot of different subjects very interesting.

“As well as I knew him for so long, I also surprised myself by finding out one or two new bits about him!”

Our spotlight will, naturally enough, fall mainly on Parkin’s phenomenal 609-game Molineux career but our latest subject was pleased when JR kicked off their chat by passing on complimentary news about his time as a young defender in West Yorkshire.

Readers of the Huddersfield Examiner have just voted Parkin their club’s best right-back of the 1960s – a poll in which he received 74% of the votes.

The paper are selecting, via supporters, the Terriers’ top 11 from the decade and added him to a line-up already containing keeper Terry Poole and England World Cup-winning left-back Ray Wilson.

One reader commented: “He was a good tackler and had excellent distribution.” And another said: “He had a very similar style to Ray Wilson and was the same build, with excellent distribution.”

Former Albion man Dennis Clarke was another nominated in Parkin’s position.