Skipper Lined Up For Tough Pre-Christmas Trip

Alistair Robertson is booked in for a turn at a Wolves away-day – on a visit to face opponents he helped bring down three and a half decades ago.

The Scot has been invited to join supporters on the coaches to Manchester City during the second weekend of December and might just allow himself the indulgence of reflecting on a meeting of the same two clubs in September, 1987.

On a Tuesday evening at City’s traditional Maine Road home, he was part of a Wolves side who bridged a two-division gap by winning 2-1 in the Littlewoods Cup.

Not surprisingly, Steve Bull was among the scorers but his equaliser followed by a late Robbie Dennison winner came to little when City won 2-0 in the second leg at Molineux.

Robertson was alongside Floyd Streete at the other end of the field for those two games and had no hesitation in accepting the invitation to be part of the travelling entourage on Saturday, December 11.

“I don’t know whether any of my former team-mates will be going as well, although I think I am with Robbie Dennison and Jackie Gallagher for a game against Burnley later in the season,” he said.

“It’s always good to have a meet-up and it’s obviously an attractive match against the champions, so I am looking forward to it a lot.”

Wolves’ inspirational lower-division skipper has more time on his hands these days after retiring from the job he had held for decades in various BMW dealerships, the last of them in Wolverhampton.

He does still work part-time – three days a week for a kitchen company ‘to give my missus a break from me’ and because he can no longer play golf.

“I have a bit of a back problem and some trouble with my knees, otherwise I’d be on the course three times a week,” he added. “I can’t do nothing, though, so here I am in a different line of work, answering some calls and welcoming customers.

“I was with BMW for 25 years until 18 months ago and even went back to do a part-time driving job with them after I had left but that came to an end because of the pandemic.”

Robertson, now 69, was saddened to hear of Keith Downing’s weekend exit from Bristol City, having been asked for advice by his one-time Molineux colleague at the time the job was offered a year and a half ago.

Talk of the central defender and the club Wolves beat to win the 1988 Sherpa Van Trophy final under his captaincy brings us on to one of football’s bizarre facts….

As a teenager at Albion in the late 1960s, he faced Burnley in his second and fifth League games, one at home and one away. He then didn’t face the East Lancashire club in his other 624 Baggies matches but who should his Wolves debut in September, 1986 be at home to? None other than Burnley!