One Artist Paying Tribute To Another

Tuesday, May 1: Have been marvelling, like many others, at the fabulous work of Louise Cobbold, a Suffolk-based artist who has quickly become well known in Wolves circles for her depiction of Reuben Neves, Conor Coady, Ivan Cavaleiro and various other players on canvas. Her wonderful painting has also had a generous charity angle, with a sizeable donation on the way from her to Cure Leukaemia. See more at www.sportspersonalities.org and start to understand why she has already been featured on BBC TV.

Friday, May 4: Have been digesting a follow-up to the slightly tongue-in-cheek story we posted in April about managers running on to the pitch at the final whistle to celebrate with their players. With the Neil Warnock outburst at Nuno still fairly fresh in the mind, businessman Geoff Jones delved into his numerous years as a Wolves fan to say in an email to us: “I thought you wrote a really good piece and hopefully it gets out to a wide audience. One thing has occurred to me, though: “Warnock has three times spurned the chance of shaking a Wolves manager’s hand at the end of 90 minutes. In fairness, it would have been difficult, though. He was sitting in the stand at the time after being sent there for displaying ‘class’ antics towards the officials.”

Monday, May 7: What can we add about the fabulous scenes surrounding the open-top bus tour through the city centre streets today? We were there, not far from the corner of Victoria Street near the entrance to what we still know as Beatties, as the vehicles rolled slowly past. This was one hot and happy Wolverhampton day, enjoyed by tens of thousands and by similar numbers in West Park.

Tuesday, May 15: Time for a trip down the M6 to speak to members of Nuneaton Wolves, the supporters club of which I am vice-president. Over the years, this group have welcomed Mike Stowell, Dave Jones, Steve Froggatt, Iwan Roberts and media representatives Richard Wilford, Paul Franks and Steve Marshall, so it is never a chore to link up with them. A time for convivial chat, much joy, considerable optimism and sensible refueling.

Wednesday, May 23: Couldn’t help but be struck by the huge reconstruction going on at Molineux as we assembled tonight for a special Fans’ Parliament meeting in the Hayward Suite. As well as work on the pitch, improvements are under-way to the dressing rooms and press room. And, we are told, any number of alterations are also being effected at the training ground. Busy, exciting times….  

Friday, May 25: Have had cause to speak to Dave Woodfield and marvelled again at how the hard-man former Wolves centre-half is now only a phone call away near Cambridge, rather than in other Continents and time zones, as he was for decades. Like so many, the 74-year-old is hugely impressed at the massive lift-off in Molineux fortunes after he and various family members dropped in for the less convincing home victory over Aston Villa around 18 months ago.

Tuesday, May 29: Is there still time, at the age of 35, for Roger Johnson’s fortunes to turn round? Having suffered successive relegations in his desperately unhappy spell with Wolves and then gone down from the Championship with Charlton as well, he has just discovered that football life gets little better. He enjoyed a fine run with Bromley in the FA Trophy, only to score a last-minute own goal in a Wembley final in which Brackley eventually prevailed on penalties.