Daley Back On Familiar Territory

Saturday, August 6: Was surprised to bump into Steve Daley in the press room before Wolves’ historic game at Rotherham this afternoon. New owners, new head coach, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson revealed as the 1,000th man to play League football for the club – but there was also a nod to the past as Andy Thompson and Daley found themselves on radio summarising duty while Mel Eves was among the travelling masses behind the goal where the Icelander struck a fine second-half equaliser.

Monday, August 8: Had the pleasure of being hailed by Gerry Taylor on Newport high street this morning as he and his wife Sylvia enjoyed a few hours over in our town from their Perton home. Was interested to hear from him that the Wolves team coach apparently used to chug along this very road en route for Everton, Liverpool and other destinations in the days before the M6 was fully constructed.

Tuesday, August 9: Heard from Charles Bamforth in California that a former Wolves striker had signed for Sacramento. Namely, Carlton Cole, who had a loan spell at Molineux in the 2002-03 promotion-winning season.

Monday, August 15: Received a message out of the blue from Clive Ford in Cumbria and was pleased to hear that the mid-1960s Molineux reserve had been to Australia twice in the last year or so. Can’t believe it’s already five and a half years since we met the one-time forward – used only twice in Wolves’ first team – when he was attending a wedding in Ironbridge.

Tuesday, August 16: Sat just in front of Jim Barron at Wolves’ draw with Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich tonight and spoke with him about his memories of Dalian Atkinson, whose death at 48 shocked the football world yesterday. Jim, a former keeper and much later a coach at Molineux, was no 2 to Ron Atkinson at Aston Villa at the time the striker scored in the 1994 League Cup final victory over Manchester United.

Thursday, August 25: Have had follow-up telephone contact with former Wolves physio Paul Darby after our chance meeting last month. We plan to get together, possibly at a golf venue, in the very near future and have little excuse to let things drag on…..we found out we now live only a few hundred yards apart. 

Tuesday, August 30: Spoke to a member of Paul Cook’s backroom team at Portsmouth, kit-man Barry Harris, before ringing the naval city to tell Pat Neil, now 78, of his new special place in Wolves’ history. The recount we had several weeks ago installed him, almost 60 years on from the first of his four League outings in the Molineux first team, as the 500th man to have played League football for the club.

Thursday, September 1: Two end-of-the-window surprises…….Richard Stearman’s return to Wolves from Fulham on loan and the news today that Tim Nash, who has had two lengthy stints as the Express & Star’s Molineux correspondent, is leaving the company for pastures new.