Said With Flowers – In Church And At The Match

“A more self-effacing man you couldn’t have hoped to meet. He was blessed with a wonderful talent and learned to play the game well and was rewarded for it.

“The fame that followed, he carried lightly. He was possessed of a cool, calm judgement and inspired loyalty. He found his niche, accomplished his tasks and won the respect of his fellow man.”

So said Glen Flowers about his father Ron at the remembrance service to the former Wolves and England wing-half yesterday.

The lovely words were part of a 25-minute public tribute at the city’s St Peter’s Collegiate Church a couple of hours before kick-off at Molineux. So how appropriate it was that Wolves then went out and performed well against West Ham in banking three more Premier League points.

Among those present were John Richards, Steve Bull, Robert Plant, long-time club secretary Richard Skirrow and, from the present-day set-up, directors John Gough and John Bowater and general manager for marketing and commercial growth Russell Jones.

Plant, who appeared on The One Show on BBC1 during the week, and Bully are club vice-presidents, as was Flowers, who also held the role of president with the Wolves Former Players Association.

Those three legends are further united by the fact they have all received honours, MBEs in the case of the two ex-players and a CBE for the Led Zeppelin lead singer.

The Reverend Prebendary David Wright was another in attendance at both venues yesterday and, in his welcome at the church, spoke of Ron’s dignity and simplicity.

“He was a man of great talent and achievement but also of great humility,” he said. “He let his ability do the speaking for him and the world is a poorer place for his absence.”

He also reminded us of the time the 49-times-capped gave up and then bought back the blazer he wore on the afternoon he watched the 1966 World Cup final along with other non-playing reserves.

Having had the long-neglected item thrown out by his wife Yvonne, he subsequently saw it in a charity shop window, took a liking to it and purchased it!

A minute’s applause for him was held just before kick-off yesterday and rival captains Conor Coady and Declan Rice laid flowers in his memory at the side of the Molineux pitch in front of the Steve Bull Stand.