Paddy Power Fondly Remembered
From The North East To The West Midlands…..A Popular Figure
Paddy Rickerby’s name is one our keener readers might recall from several years back, probably from when it was used in close proximity to that of Jim Barron. The two were team-mates and good mates in the north-east and stayed that way here in the West Midlands when both were signed as teenagers by Wolves.
Grounds, Gongs And Grilled At Gunpoint
Writer’s Personal Recollections Of Three Decades With Wolves
More than 30 years of Molineux ups and downs are set to come under the microscope in a new book by David Instone. The Wolves Heroes co-owner will bring out the publication next season but has yet to finalise the title. “I planned to go to press last year as a way of marking the 30th anniversary of the start of my long spell covering the club for the Express & Star,” he said.
McGarry…….A Man Not To Be Messed With
Reporter’s Insight Into Fiery Manager
It is as far removed as you can imagine from the game we now see dominated by press conferences, social media soundbites and live screenings…….
Football and the people in it were once much more accessible to those who wrote or broadcasted about it, as relationships with Bill McGarry clearly indicate.
A Class Apart – When 100 Caps Meant Much More
Billy Stood Out BIG Time Among his Peers
Many a springtime contains a significant anniversary from Billy Wright’s majestic playing career but we are now on the eve of one of the biggest of the lot. It is 58 years tomorrow since the skipper of club and country made history across the globe by becoming the first man in the world to win 100 international caps.
Salt Of The Earth – And The Seas!
A Caller Like No Other
Sir Jack Hayward’s remarkable down-to-earth nature has been underlined in a new book written by a veteran of the Midlands media circuit. Tom Ross has gone into print in celebration of his 35 years on the radio airwaves and uses the sections on Wolves to tell us a little more about the much-loved and much-missed former Molineux benefactor.
Move Over, Budgie!
How Flowers Sprang Up Gloriously – Twice
From their Wolves days together, John Burridge knew through painful experience that Tim Flowers posed a huge threat to his first-team prospects. The duo’s subsequent presence side by side at Southampton merely underlined the fact. The young pretender’s rich potential had played its part in the senior campaigner’s departure from Molineux in 1984 and was a strong contributory factor behind both his and Peter Shilton’s farewell to The Dell in the following years.
Dear Diary Entry 66
Familiar Faces At Derby Day
Tuesday, March 7: Enjoyed meeting up with former Wolves Fans Parliament member James Fielden and Running With Wolves author and former Times sports-writer Peter Lansley at a media training day at Derby University. The consensus was that relegation will be avoided but the side need at least a point at Ipswich tonight and, without doubt, three at home to Rotherham on Saturday.
Filling In Some Gaps On Giant Keeper
Tall And Promising – But No Way Through For ‘No Chance’!
“Big, tall lad, dark hair.” Such was the initial response of Fred Davies, Jim Barron and Phil Parkes to my mention of the name, ‘Bob Knight’. They were three of the other keepers at Molineux at the same time and it is not surprising they didn’t have too many memories of him.
Different World, Different Outcome
When Billy Laboured Against Opponents From The East
Lithuania wasn’t even recognised as a nation, in football or otherwise, when Billy Wright was immaculately plying his trade and making friends across the world. Nor did England play matches in March. And the thought of the captaincy being passed around like it now is…….well, it just didn’t happen.
Fondly Remembered: Mickey Lill
Title Winner Who Appeared Under Cloak Of Secrecy
Sixty years ago next week, Wolves played – and, of course, beat – Borussia Dortmund, the club who hosted last night’s Germany v England international. Curiously, the press write-ups of the 1957 Molineux friendly contained considerable criticism of the fact there were no announcements about the substitutes Stan Cullis used, one Fleet Street reporter, David Williams, kicking off his piece off by revealing that the ‘numberless inside-right who finished this thriller was 20-year-old Michael Lill.’