Remembering An Important Engagement

Thursday, June 7: Enjoyed following the likes of Phil Parkes, John McAlle, Geoff Palmer and Steve Daley and going to speak to the Molineux Memories dementia group at the stadium. Having decided months ago I wanted to support this very worthy cause, I enjoyed my hour or so with more than a dozen fans in one of the Billy Wright Stand executive boxes. Football has such a part to play in the fight against this distressing illness and Wolves aren’t the only club doing their bit.

Saturday, June 9: Spent the best part of an hour on the phone to Brian Caswell after meeting him at Graham Lovett’s funeral earlier this week – and was surprised to be reminded that his Wolves career was restricted to a single first-team appearance. I used to get on well with Brian when we saw plenty of each other at Walsall and know he would love to have made more of the opportunity thrown to him by his loan move from Leeds to Molineux in early 1987. A big turn-out of former Express & Star personnel, including Barry Stobart’s widow, Maureen, were present to honour our mutual friend, who held a senior position in the paper’s advertising department for many years.

Thursday, June 14: Lovely to see so many former Wolves directors, including John Richards, John Harris and of course Jonathan Hayward, at this morning’s unveiling of the Sir Jack Hayward statue. A happy occasion, underpinned by nostalgia, even if many of the faces were from only a decade or two ago. Wow, three statues at one club – Wolves know how to celebrate their heroes!

Sunday, June 24: Was pleased to see and hear Ron Flowers widely name-checked as the last man, prior to Harry Kane, to score in the opening two matches of a World Cup finals for England. The Molineux legend achieved the feat against Hungary and Argentina in the 1962 tournament in Chile, both of his strikes coming from the penalty spot. Walter Winterbottom’s side made it out of their group but then lost 3-1 to eventual champions Brazil in Vina del Mar, with the Wolves man again in the line-up.

Monday, June 25: A satisfactory World Cup for Wolves midfielder Romain Saiss ended when he played in the 2-2 draw with Spain today that left Morocco bottom of Group B. He also played against Iran in the opener but not in the defeat against Portugal in between.

Thursday, June 28: Was sent an obituary of Ernie Hunt, written by Coventry historian Jim Brown, and was amused to see how the Sky Blues legend had described his move into the pub trade. “It was like giving a match to an arsonist,” he apparently said. There was also a mention in the piece about how the second half to a game at the Ricoh Arena in fairly recent times had been held up because the acclaim for Ernie during a walk-on by former players had been so prolonged – and so well milked! Perimeter parades by the old favourites were banned as a result.

Saturday, June 30: Was disappointed to miss out on a meet-up with Dean Edwards on his recent visit back to Wolverhampton. Have had several brief exchanges on social media with the 1980s Molineux striker, whose forthcoming autobiography promises to be a very lively read.

Monday July 2: In 1986, Glenn Hoddle was part of the England side cheated by the Hand of God goal. On this day 20 years later, he quit as manager of Wolves, to be replaced by another man with a World Cup playing background, Mick McCarthy.