He’s Here, He’s There….And On The Move Again

Sunday, July 6: Good luck to Alex Rae in his new role as assistant head coach to Partick. The 55-year-old will be working at the Scottish second-tier club under Mark Wilson and it’s appropriate that news of his recent appointment was relayed to us by Glasgow-based Wolves fanatic Gwilym Machin. Rae is one of his favourite Molineux players of recent decades and Thistle are the team he looks out for most enthusiastically in his adopted country.

Tuesday, July 9: Thank-you to Steve Gordos for informing us that the appearance total of Wolves hall of fame inductee Jackery Jones might require adjustment. Detailed research has led him to decide that the record books wrongly have the full-back down as completing a fourth ever-present season out of five by playing in all 38 League games of 1906-07. In a Black Country Bugle article, the former Express & Star sports editor revealed instead that a bizarre Friday-night shooting accident in Shropshire cost Jones his place in the final Second Division home game of the season against Barnsley the next day. And agreement with his theory is at hand because we had previously been contacted on this issue by Scott Pritchard, creator of the magnificent www.wolvescompletehistory.co.uk website. Scott had pointed out some possible confusion over names, with a J Jones and a J H Jones on the Molineux books at the same time. Both historians believe Jackery’s total of games for the club is now below that of Lee Naylor, who they say should stand alone in 28th place on the all-time appearance-makers’ list on 334, with Jackery 29th. Jackery was posthumously named in 2009 among the first batch of inductees into Wolves’ hall of fame.

Monday, July 14: Enjoyed being interviewed on the Wolves Legacy podcast by John Woodward and Dave Rowley – my second visit to the Mount Hotel for such purposes in the space of a few weeks. Clicking here or copying and pasting this link https://open.spotify.com/episode/7Hi1c9ZRrp3GKKrYyLElbn?si=ESaNDVpHSSa-U4Lt2n0giA should secure access to our chat.

Friday, July 25: Sat a few rows back from where Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson was patrolling his technical area during the 2-2 friendly draw at Colchester tonight. It’s the small matter of 39 years since I saw Wolves lose 3-0 in another Friday evening fixture in this garrison city and it’s impossible to argue that this newish ground isn’t much better than the old Layer Road version. On a personal level, that’s another previously unvisited venue ticked off and there will be more crossing-off at Bromley tomorrow.

Saturday, July 26: An hour or two on from our memorable meet-up with Mick McCarthy, enjoyed the sight of Luke Cundle playing for Millwall in their friendly victory at Bromley this afternoon. The midfielder from up in John Richards/Steve Kindon country played only a handful of games in his years at Wolves but followed up substantial loan spells with Swansea, Plymouth and Stoke by securing a permanent move to South London last season. As Cundle aims to make a big impact at The New Den, another former Molineux midfielder, George Saville, is settling in at Luton following more than 240 appearances for The Lions and a move just up the M1.

Tuesday, July 29: Sad news about early 1960s Wolves winger Mark Lazarus, who has passed away at the age of 86. The Londoner moved to Molineux in 1961 on the back of impressing for QPR but clashed here with Stan Cullis and was on his way out following only nine first-team appearances. He returned to Loftus Road and became a hero all over again, especially when scoring the winner in the 1967 League Cup final against Albion.

Friday, August 1: As if Wrexham haven’t written enough exciting headlines in the last couple of years, they have now signed Conor Coady! The 32-year-old has moved to North Wales on a two-year contract for a fee believed to be around £2m and said: “I’m over the moon. It’s a special day.” It’s already more than three years since the England international played the last of his 317 games for Wolves.