‘Lovely Man, Great Player’

There’s still shock this morning among the Molineux fraternity following the news yesterday of Dave Wagstaffe’s passing.

Wolves Heroes co-owner John Richards has today written the following words.

“I will always remember Waggy, in addition to being the best left winger of his generation, as being a very thoughtful person. He always made an effort to chat to us youngsters when we were trying to make our way into the first team. He would go out of his way to make you feel comfortable and at ease.

“Although from the north west, like myself, Wolverhampton was certainly his home and I know the fans and local people took him to their hearts. He made an effort to become involved with the local community and was always prepared to put himself out for local causes. Only a few months ago, he joined Willie Carr and myself at a fund-raising event for the working men’s club in Pattingham. As ever, he was forthright and entertaining, and clearly very much respected by the people who turned out to see him.

“The Wolves fans will have their own special memories of Waggy – some dazzling runs, some great tussles with full-backs, inch-perfect passes and some sensational goals. I remember him as Waggy, the quiet unassuming winger who popped into the toilet to have a cigarette (to calm his nerves) just before the kick-off, who controlled and ran with the ball in such a way that the rest of us could only watch and admire.

“He was a lovely man, a great player, a good friend, and he will be sadly missed.”

John interviewed Waggy at length 13 months ago for the popular Player Q & A feature on this site, so now might be a good chance to look back at the contents of that article.

We will also be posting a long piece today in the area we dread visiting – the Obituaries section – so please try to take another look later.