Mike Back In Town, Alone And Then In The Best Of Company

Mike Stowell is lined up for two nostalgic returns to Wolverhampton in the closing weeks of the season – with landmark birthdays in the air.

The long-time former Molineux keeper turns 60 on April 19 and will be in the city a couple of weeks later to honour a team-mate who reaches the same milestone before he does.

He and Steve Bull were born only 22 days apart in the spring of 1965 and will be back together for Bully’s Big Night Out – a celebration that is raising funds for Wolves Foundation.

Andy Mutch and Robbie Dennison reached the same age in 2023 and two others due to be in attendance at the Wulfrun Hall, University of Wolverhampton on Thursday, May 1, Andy Thompson and Don Goodman, will have their turn in the next couple of years.

Theatre shows have become a regular part of the landscape for Wolves supporters in recent years, among them several tributes to the stars of the 1970s who won those League Cups, and a 2003 play-off final anniversary event held at the city’s Grand Theatre in 2023.

This spectacular is also under the Wolves Icons banner and a ‘unique’ stage show is said to be in production. It is Sky Sports presenter Johnny Phillips’s first collaboration with Bully since their ‘Evening With’ tour before the pandemic and has a cast list impressive enough to tick so many boxes.

Of the former team-mates joining the main man on stage to share their stories, Thompson signed for Wolves on the same late-1986 day as his big mate, Dennison and Stowell played hundreds of games at his side, making, scoring or preventing numerous goals in the process, and Goodman’s four-year Molineux stay contained a famous FA Cup quarter-final winner at Leeds.

Not forgetting Mutch, who was the other half of a strike force for the ages. Over two glorious seasons, he and Bull plundered 168 goals between them to help Graham Turner’s side to two promotions and the 1987-88 Sherpa Van Trophy triumph.

Much footage of the centre-forward’s 306-goal Wolves career will also be played to the audience, who are promised a couple of surprise appearances and who can buy tickets here https://www.thehallswolverhampton.co.uk/events/johnny-phillips-presents-bullys-bi9-night-out/ for £25 plus booking fee. The admission price will include one entry into a raffle to win a limited-edition retro shirt signed by Steve.

Stowell, who arrived on loan from Everton near the end of the second of those back-to-back seasons as division winners, has another date in the Wolverhampton spotlight before the group reunion.

He is the main attraction of the Jason Guy-promoted ‘Gloves Are Off’ night at The Mount Hotel in Tettenhall Wood on Thursday, March 6 when his good friend, Matt Murray, will be posing the questions.

Stowell’s part in Leicester’s incredible Premier League title and FA Cup triumphs will no doubt be explored in addition to his long, record-breaking Molineux career and his championship-winning season with Robbie Keane in Israeli top-flight football in 2023-24.

Tickets are selling fast but a few remain at £45 by ringing 07956-625890, with four organisations set to benefit out of the proceeds – Breast Cancer Now, Royal Wolverhampton Trust NHS, Acorns Hospice and 1P36 Family Trust.