Together Again – For The Best Of Reasons
Annual Gathering Lifts Spirits
When they weren’t actually out paying their respects, they were receiving too many phone calls from John Richards telling them of the loss of former colleagues. The year started with the loss of Terry Wharton and has continued in recent weeks with the passing-away, in awfully quick succession, of Fred Kemp, John Farley, Phil Parkes, Mike Bailey and Hugh Curran.
RIP Hugh Curran
Scottish Striker Passes Away
The Wolves family have been hit by yet another bereavement, with news of the death of Hugh Curran. The Scottish international striker was 82 and had been in poor health for several years.
One Of The Very Best
A Full House For The Last Goodbye
“Being a friend of Phil Parkes was an honour. I feel privileged to have known him.” The words were spoken by West Midlands musician Kenny Craig but could have come from any of the hundreds of guests in St Peter’s Collegiate Church.
The Godfather to the Parkes’s son, Greg, also spoke in 2010 at wife Maureen’s funeral and was one of those invited out to Vancouver to spend time with the family during their Whitecaps years. They were all very close.
Dear Diary Entry 179
Kindo Striking A Nostalgic Note
Tuesday, August 4: Enjoyed reconnecting Steve Kindon with a figure from his Wolves past. Harvey Andrews is not only a well-known name from the music scene but was also the first manager of Wolves’ old club shop – that small, long-gone structure behind the North Bank.
Our Tribute To Mike
Skipper Supreme Who Led By Example
‘Shivery’ was how Mike Bailey described his proudest moment as Wolves skipper – that point in time when he raised the League Cup aloft to the celebrating masses at the gold and black end of Wembley. He used the word in the presence of the camera crew filming the interview I was conducting at his golf club in South London for the Official History of Wolves dvd.
Looking Up Old Friends
A Meal Invite To Cap Them All
It was my good fortune that a speaking engagement at a brewing meeting in Seattle enabled me to pay a visit across the water to Bellevue to see my friend, Alan Hinton. The former Wolves and Derby winger was in fine form when I joined he and his regular companions at his favourite pub, Angelo’s.
A Nicer Man You Couldn’t Hope To Meet
Fondest Of Farewells To Fred
It says much about Fred Kemp that one former Molineux team-mate travelled up from Cornwall for his funeral and another journeyed from Berkshire. From much closer to home, Peter Knowles put in an appearance and the nicely filled St Andrew’s Church in Weston Park also contained John Cross, a tangerine-clad liaison man from the Blackpool Former Players Association.
In Praise Of Billy
Yesteryear Arsenal Glories Were Based On The Wright Way
Further reminders of the positives of Billy Wright’s easily dismissed career in football management have come to light as Arsenal prepare to launch the defence of their Premier League title this weekend. The Gunners’ crowning as champions – in the spring in which Wolves finished bottom of the top flight – sparked nostalgic North London talk of past title triumphs, including the one in 1970-71 that formed part of their memorable double under Bertie Mee.
Lifting The Roof Off
Molineux – But Not As We Know It
Imagine, next time you attend a Wolves home game, a main stand that backs on to Waterloo Road but has no roof. Spectators in seats on that traditional showpiece side of the ground will be open to the elements until a cover can be financed and added. But the directors will be spared. They will be in the fully covered stand opposite.
The Hunt Is On – Any Leeds?
Rare Photo And An Elland Road Victory
It’s not often that we publish picture-led stories on this site. Then again, it’s not often that we stumble across a photo from a Wolves away game in the old Central League. We believe we know which particular fixture this Yorkshire Evening Post image is from and will briefly prolong the guessing game while our readers might try to work it out for themselves.