A-List Turn-Out On Sad Day

Tuesday, September 3: Caught up on the list of attendees at Craig Shakespeare’s funeral near Derby last week and was amazed to see all the star names…..Harry Maguire, Jack Grealish and Sam Allardyce from the England set-up, Steve Walsh, Nigel Pearson, Mike Stowell, Dean Smith and many others from Leicester, Carlton Palmer, and David Kelly and Peter Hart from Walsall to name but a few. It all underlines what a popular figure he was, both in the West Midlands and beyond. 

Wednesday, September 4: Yet another shout-out for the outstanding football nostalgia magazine Backpass. This latest issue contains a two-page feature on Wolves’ 1974 League Cup triumph, written by former Notts County player Dave McVay, with support from Molineux media area meeter and greeter David Harrison. All the results from that season’s competition are produced as part of the article, which, as a nod to the winners’ heroic keeper, carries the clever headline Pierce De Resistance.

Friday, September 6: Time for watching the podcast organised and overseen by Dean Edwards in the Molineux Museum in the hours leading up to kick-off in the Carabao Cup tie against Burnley nine days ago. It was nice to link up again on the mic with long-time media colleagues Paul Berry and Tim Nash and to share some tales from the press box and sports desk. A click on the link Facebook will provide access to this latest episode of the hit discussion forum kicked off earlier this year by the Devon-based trio of Edwards, Colin Lee and broadcasting celebrity Dave Fitzgerald. 

Wednesday, September 11: Drove to Telford Crematorium to attend the funeral of Malcolm Black, who is a relative (by marriage) and was also the grandson of David Black, the scorer of Wolves’ goal in their 1896 FA Cup final defeat against Sheffield Wednesday. Malcolm was a Molineux season ticket holder for decades as well as a keen collector of signed memorabilia and had three other figures from the sporting world at his send-off, cyclist Hugh Porter, swimmer Anita Lonsbrough and the former Walsall, Grimsby, Lincoln and Halifax keeper Malcolm White – a man who we wrote about some years ago because of his service to Los Angeles Wolves in 1968. 

Thursday, September 19: Mike Williamson, who played 11 games for Wolves shortly before the 2017 appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo, has been appointed as successor to Paul Simpson at Carlisle after a buy-out of his contract at MK Dons. The 40-year-old former central defender was born in Stoke but has spent much of his career up north, which presumably explains why he was keen to add a stop-off in Cumbria to a CV also containing lengthy stints at Newcastle and Gateshead.

Monday, September 23: Interesting to hear that Peter Williams, Wolves’ unofficial goalkeeper coach in the late 1980s, is working on his autobiography. A phone call today found him researching his career in a library near his home in North Wales. The 70-something also said he had recently had a meet-up near Preston with Billy Davies, David Kelly and Julian Darby, with whom he has worked in the dug-out at more than one club over the years.

Wednesday, September 25: Enjoyed reading the lengthy feature by former Express & Star sports reporter Neil Johnston about Jim Barron that appeared on the BBC website. Much was made in it of the age of the one-time Molineux keeper and assistant manager considering he is still in a tracksuit at a decent level of the game. It’s well worth a read for those who haven’t seen it yet FA Cup: Former goalkeeper Jim Barron who faced Pele still going strong at 80 – BBC Sport

Friday, September 27: Was delighted to help a member of the memorabilia fraternity meet up with Mick Kearns during a visit by the former Wolves keeper to Wolverhampton and add his signature to an item in his shirt collection. It’s difficult to believe that it’s over 43 years since the long-time Walsall man, who also played 19 times for the Republic of Ireland, made the last of his nine appearances while on the staff at Molineux.