Duo Roped In For The Best Of Causes

Twenty years ago tomorrow, albeit on a Saturday, Wolves were beaten 4-0 by Cardiff in a second-tier fixture at Ninian Park. 

The obscure ‘anniversary’ is unlikely to have registered with Mick McCarthy. Managers, in particular, seem to have a handy knack of airbrushing many of the unhappier days and nights from their football past.

Had he been aware of the dates, though, it might have been interesting to ask him how the feeling of that defeat compared with the moments just before he pushed back off the roof of the Billy Wright Stand on Saturday morning. Which was the worst?

‘Proper centre-half’, ‘proper manager’ and ‘proper bloke’ are some of the tags we often see or hear attached to the man who led the club to the Premier League as Championship title winners and to a three-year stay in the top flight.

And we should stress again that he performed brilliantly before and after that nightmare in South Wales 20 seasons ago to lead Wolves from a position of no-hopers in August to the promotion play-offs.

He was also a heroic World Cup finals captain of the Republic of Ireland, so no-one doubts – or would dare to doubt – that he was made of the sternest stuff.

But there was a hint that even Mick was a tad ruffled during the final briefing for the charity abseil he signed up for with broadcaster Suzi Perry.

“Actually coming down was a doddle….being given your instructions beforehand was a bit different,” he said.

This was a top effort by a top fella – and well done to Suzi for her daring, too, and for talking him into the adventure when they met at a Wolves Foundation event in the spring.

Both are committed supporters of the charity and needed no convincing to go the extra mile, even if the nature of their escapade was a test of their bottle – and their head for heights.

“Nice view of The Wrekin from up there,” Mick observed, adding that it was unusual to have that sort of sighting of the pitch as well.

About his involvement and the overall experience, he mused: “What else would I be doing on a Saturday anyway?”

John Richards and Geoff Palmer are among those who have similarly taken the plunge in the past for good causes and we commend all those who did so over two days at the weekend.

They included Wolves historian Peter Crump, Carl Ikeme, another former Wolves youngster, Marlon Walters, and Daniela Jimenez, who was watched by husband Raul.

It must literally be a massive leap of faith to push away and leave those expert instructors behind, looking down on helmeted heads and tense, descending frames.

Our readers can back Mick and Suzi by going to www.wolvesfoundation.enthuse.com and might have some follow-up daredevilry to look forward to from them.

The manager has never been lacking in the banter stakes and used the occasion to show that his competitive spirit is very much alive.

Suzi’s reward for literally roping him in for this stomach-churner was to be challenged to a ‘return meet’ some time in the future – in a setting of Mick’s choice. And that might just be on a parachute jump!