Landmark, Walks And VIP Invites

Life has been busy, as ever, at Wolves Heroes over the last four or five weeks. And it’s time to once more open our window for a look at events behind the scenes here.

Sat, Jan 21: The statto in me has unearthed an obscure fact. The home match against Aston Villa today means Mick McCarthy has now been in charge for exactly 100 more Wolves games than John Barnwell was. The respective figures are 267 and 167.

Wed, Jan 25: Was absolutely thrilled to hear that the Daily Telegraph’s Henry Winter, who has the small matter of 256,000 followers on Twitter, has tweeted that the latest issue of Backpass was ‘a belting read’ and gave a particular mention to the extended feature on Tommy Docherty.

Sat, Jan 28: Looked at my Just Giving account ahead of the March to Molineux and was delighted to see that Clive Ford had pledged £20. He has lived up in Cumbria for decades and has next to no contact with the club he played a handful of games for in the mid-1960s, so that’s a lovely, unexpected gesture.

Tues, Jan 31: Had the pleasant task of ringing George Berry to say he was invited to a reunion on March 16 of Wolves’ League Cup winners. He was made up and said he had every intention of being there. Also tried to ring Paul Bradshaw for the same reason and ended up sending him a text.

Mon, Feb 6: Bumped into Andy Thompson in the Molineux foyer this afternoon. He was doing a piece with Sky and was disappointed that a half-term trip to Scotland was going to keep him away from the Black Country derby. Greg Whelan, the pitch-side reporter conducting the interview, was on to me last week, asking for the images of Steve Bull’s first Wolves contract.

Thurs, Feb 9: Dropped in at Compton today and picked up the ball for the Wolves v Albion game on behalf of the organisers of  the Acorns Children’s Hospice walk. We’re carrying it among us along the route. Also spotted Andy Sinton in the reception area – he had been watching training. I congratulated him on his success at AFC Telford and was surprised he was so self-deprecating in reminding me that life was proving tough for the club in the higher division. 

Sun, Feb 12: Unlike the game itself, the walk went brilliantly. Bobby Gould ran the 10.6 miles (having driven up from Portishead at 7am to take part) and subjected me to one of the low points of my career when he had me standing guard as he showered in a cubicle positioned in one of the ladies’ toilets at Molineux. It was a task I failed in. One of the secretaries burst in while he was trouserless. As well as Gouldy and fellow walk supporters Mel Eves and Cyrille Regis, I saw Tim Flowers, Don Goodman and Matt Murray at the game today – all of them on media duty.

Tues, Feb 14: Sent a good-luck text to Paul Cook this morning after his appointment as manager of Accrington Stanley.  He has been close to one or two jobs in Scotland and has been doing great work at Sligo Rovers. His love for football is unconditional, so best wishes to him.