Bereavements Cause A Rethink

John Holsgrove is planning visits to old friends in both the West Midlands and on Canada’s west coast after admitting the recent loss of close Wolves pals has given him a new outlook on life.

He and his wife Jan are already plotting a stay at the home of Lois and Les Wilson in Vancouver next summer as well as fitting in a trip to Sedgley this year to see Bobby Thomson’s widow, Jan.

“Jan and I were upset at not being able to go to Bobby’s funeral a few weeks ago because of my work commitments in Surrey,” he said.

“We’ve said we’ll pop up to see her as soon as we can because we were always very close. We used to live in Bantock Gardens and the Thomsons were on Penn Common and our wives would be at each others’ houses until the early hours if we were coming back from matches.

“We wrote to Jan the moment we heard the news about Bobby and I have to admit that  recent events have made us look at things differently.

“Two and a half years ago, all five of the tea-set members were around. Then The Doog died and now we’ve lost Bobby and Dave Burnside very close together.

“It’s all very sad and makes you want to fit everything you can into whatever time you have.”

The Holsgroves and Wilsons spent time together at Burnside’s funeral in Bristol last Wednesday and are planning to reunite in Vancouver next August.

Not that it will be the first visit the 64-year-old former defender has made to Canada.

“I was lucky enough to go with ‘Burny’ to Eastern Canada and Bermuda when we were team-mates at Crystal Palace,” he added.

“I had only been at the club a few months and was fortunate to be in the tour squad because I hadn’t played in the first team then.

“I even had an aunt in Bermuda who I was able to see and I remember us being interviewed by a radio station and the presenter asking David all about his ball-juggling skills.”