Big Step That Makes Island-Hopping Easier

First Knotty Ash with Ken Dodd as the family’s coalman, then Wolverhampton and surrounds, now Devon.

John McAlle, who knows a thing or two about loyalty to an area and to a football club, has uprooted close to the coast with his wife, Jill.

The big move – sprung on his team-mates early this summer to their general surprise – has taken place this month. So why the southern migration and why now?

“We’ve been going to Devon for a long, long time and decided about five years ago that we’d like to live there,” ‘Scouse’ said.

“We started house-hunting soon after that but didn’t find anything suitable until seeing this place and setting the wheels in motion.

“We had hoped to be there a few weeks earlier but these things can often take longer than expected.

“We go to Jersey as often as we can to see our daughter, Zoe, who lives over there, and the place we are living in is only a few minutes’ drive from Exeter Airport. So that will make it a much easier trip for us when we are going to see her. 

“We’re also only a few minutes from the sea, which appeals to us, but we know leaving this area is a big step. I have been here since Wolves took me on at the age of 15 and Jill is a West Midlands lady.”

The couple, both keen gardeners, have moved from near Brewood and we hope that Derek Parkin might be on their visitor list in the next few months.

‘Squeak’ was particularly close to his fellow defender going right back to their playing days together more than 40 years ago and the two have remained good social friends.

Any meeting that Wolves Heroes’ David Instone might have by the seaside with the McAlles in the future would not quite be a first.

He and his wife bumped into the couple eight years ago during a stay in a Lyme Regis hotel, at which they realised they were in neighbouring rooms!

John had his send-off from his contemporaries late last month at the latest of the former players’ lunches, at which Barry Powell, Bob Hazell and, for the first time, Fred Kemp, joined those who regularly attend.