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. Also in attendance to address the students was the media officer from Burton Albion, Nigel Powlson, who had to depart in early afternoon ready for his club’s game at Sheffield Wednesday this evening.

Friday, March 10: Had an email exchange with John Richards after an enquiry from Liverpool-based Wolves fan Phil McCrudden raised the question of whether the striker had ever played for Skelmersdale. We were tempted to say ‘no’ but this website’s co-owner replied: “Yes, I played for them once in an FA Youth Cup game when I was 18. We lost at Tranmere and I scored. It was a one-off game. They were struggling for players, so my pal and I went for a trial and were picked. In those days, you could play for a number of teams. I used to play for my school on a Saturday morning, a youth team in the afternoon and a Sunday league side the following morning. Happy days!”

Monday, March 13: This is proving to be a busy month for putting fans and other interested parties in touch with Wolves favourites. A request has come in from FourFourTwo magazine to speak to Hugh Curran about Peter Knowles’ decision to turn his back on the game. Hugh was on the golf course when we reached him but kindly agreed to take a call from the magazine’s reporter at a more convenient time.

Friday, March 17: Enjoyed being part of the major Wolves send-off to Richard Skirrow at a city centre pub tonight. Staff members past and present including Matt Grayson, Stuart Cain, Paul Berry, Lorraine Hennessy, Peter Pridmore, Lynne O’Riordan, Chris Evans, Steve Sutton, Paul Richards and Alison Matthews, plus director John Gough, were present. In the form of their secretary for the last 20 years or so, the club are losing a very accomplished operator.

Tuesday, March 21: Am trying, within the boundaries of confidentiality and privacy that we adhere to on this website, to connect a Liverpool fan with ‘the great Alun Evans’. The supporter read our in-depth interview with the Melbourne-based former striker from several years ago and hopes he might succeed on an autograph-seeking mission if he is over in the UK – Kidderminster, to be more precise – as normal, in the spring.

Friday, March 24: No sooner had we posted our latest ‘fondly remembered’ item than we received this gratitude from Keith Garner, a fan since way back in the early 1950s: “Thanks for the Micky Lill article, it brought back memories – I was at Deepdale for the goal you mentioned, scored almost casually from a very narrow angle, as I remember it. It was also good to read about his subsequent career and life. In those days, you tended to lose sight of former players unless they went on to really hit the heights – which, after Wolves, was quite difficult!”

Wednesday, March 29: Am looking forward to meeting up over the next few days with the always friendly Alfred Camilleri and hopefully other Malta Wolves members. He has made contact to say his annual visit is fast approaching – he is here for the home games against Cardiff and Nottingham Forest in the next week.

Saturday, April 1: The injured Carl Ikeme wasn’t the only new Wolves face in our midst at this afternoon’s victory over Cardiff. Big Iwan Roberts was present in the press box, too, and had a friendly catch-up with Andy Thompson before they embarked on their respective radio duties. One other man worthy of mention as being in attendance was Everton representative Jim Barron, the scouts’ seats and our own being very adjacent these days.