Some Quality Summer Reading

Several former members of the Molineux staff are featured in the start-of-season issue of the flourishing football retro magazine Backpass.

The publication is now four years and 18 issues old and is generally on sale at two match-day outlets at Molineux – from Mick Harper’s car near the corner of Waterloo Road and Newhampton Road, and at the stand operated by Kelvin Weatherer near the subway.

And Wolves fans will find articles on four men they are probably familiar with from their club’s past.

Wolves Heroes’ David Instone visited Bob Hatton to profile the long and varied career of one of football’s true journeymen.

And he spoke again to Bobby Gould for a low-down on the players who helped his unfashionable and controversial Wimbledon side lift the FA Cup in 1988.

There is also a detailed look, partly through the eyes of former Wath Wanderer and Molineux utility man Ken Knighton, at a long, pioneering summer tour to Rhodesia and Malawi – by Oldham Athletic of all clubs.

One other article with a touch of gold and black is provided by a lengthy at-home interview with John Trollope. The Swindon Town legend holds the record for playing the most matches for one club in the sport’s history and squeezed in a couple of years working in the Wolves academy before opting for a quieter life.

Backpass, which is now on sale bi-monthly, concentrates largely on the game in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Other men featured in the new issue are Pat Jennings, Ken Beamish, John Bond, Bob Latchford, Jan Molby and Dennis Rofe. There is also a nostalgic look back at Brighton’s Goldstone Ground, a spotlight on a tiring world tour by Scotland in 1967 and Halifax Town’s day of fame in the Watney Cup.

Backpass costs £3.80 and is on sale at many branches of WH Smith and, from August 4 to September 4, in most Sainsbury’s outlets.

It can be bought post-free if ordered directly through the publishers at http://www.backpassmagazine.co.uk/ – back copies also available.