Bitten by Wolves

Johnny Phillips

Description

Bitten by Wolves takes us on a glorious yet tumultuous journey through the modern history of Wolverhampton Wanderers. From lifting league titles and pioneering European club competition to twice going bankrupt and languishing in the Fourth Division, Wolves have experienced extreme highs and lows. The author spent a year speaking to former players, staff, supporters and others who witnessed or played a part in some of the most successful, turbulent and defining moments in the club's recent history. Wolves have always been about much more than the results on the pitch. It's the club's place in the Wolverhampton community that underpins its identity. Today, Wolves are going through existential change under the ownership of a Chinese investment conglomerate. The author has gained behind-the-scenes insight into the current ownership and management while revealing how Wolves became the club it is today. Filled with fascinating untold stories and eye-witness accounts, Bitten by Wolves tells the definitive story of the club's evolution.

Sujets

• Warwickshire

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 17 octobre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785316234
• Langue: English

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2019
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Johnny Phillips, 2019
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 978-1-78531-614-2
eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-623-4
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Matt Murray
Introduction
The Historian
Devotion
Seventies Icon
The Bhattis
Moment of Truth
Bully
A Different Wembley Day
Airwolf 90
Taylor Made
The Secretary
The Landlady
Play-off Winners
Mick s Men
A Captain s Role
Family
Home and Away
A Coaching Revolution
Billy Wright
A Chinese Odyssey
Bibliography
URLs for book reference
For Mum and Dad, and Daniel
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THAT FIRST memory of Wolves is still a vivid one. After alighting at Rock Ferry railway station following a short journey from my home city, Liverpool, a British Rail football special train pulled up alongside the next platform and hordes of Wolves supporters disembarked. It was the crowds, the noise and the excitement in the air, walking down the platform, that left an indelible mark. We were off to an FA Cup third round match at Tranmere Rovers. It was January 1983, and a small child was hooked forever.
Writing this book has perhaps been a long time coming, then, but it needed the help of many people. All those who have spoken to me, not just the interviewees in these pages, have shed light on the Wolves story and I really appreciate their time. The many supporters, staff and former players and managers who I have chatted to down the years have helped paint a picture of this unique club too. Meeting other fans and listening to their stories is never a chore. Wolves has given me many lasting friendships down the years, I am thankful to every one of them, they know who they are.
At the Express and Star , I d like to thank my sports editor Russell Youll for offering me the opportunity to write a weekly column three years ago, which reinvigorated a passion for writing, and deputy sports editor Derek Bish who helped facilitate access to the newspaper s archive. I first wrote about the club as a student in the pages of A Load of Bull , the much-loved Wolves fanzine. To that end I owe founding editor Dave Worton and his successor Charles Ross my gratitude for the opportunity. Dave s good friend Simon Smith was great company during the many lifts he gave me to Molineux whilst living in Leeds throughout much of the 90s. Paul Berry, another former contributor to its pages and a brilliant Wolves writer, has been a source of advice over the past year.
The management and players of the Wolves All Stars, the club s former players charity team, have welcomed me into their fold. Apart from enjoying an occasional appearance as a ringer, it has been great to chat to so many ex-players from different eras.
I chose Matt Murray to write the foreword because, in many ways, his career is classic Wolves, marked by such highs and lows. In the space of two successive games in 2003 he went from the unadulterated elation of the playoff final success in Cardiff to a 5-1 defeat on his Premier League debut. There is nobody better placed to talk about the contrasting emotions of professional football at this club. Since his early retirement he has become a good friend and trusted colleague on Soccer Saturday .
I d like to thank my employer, Sky Sports, for giving me the creative freedom to cover the club so extensively. My interviews in this book with current Wolves players and management are extracts from original Sky Sports features and documentaries.
The Lych Gate pub kindly hosted our interviews with some of the stars of Airwolf 90 - many thanks to Dave and Hayley for their hospitality.
Mike Watkins is a long-standing family friend and Wolves fan who drove Dad and I to many a game in my youth, and he helped build a picture of the rich history of the club on those long car journeys from Liverpool to Molineux. As a kid, the Wolves talk over a (soft) drink in pubs pre-match with his friends Richard Preston, Bob Munn and George Murray was always a highlight of a matchday.
Closest to home, my parents, John and Terry, continue to be a fantastic support. Their proof-reading and editorial advice as each chapter was written was invaluable. My wife, Michelle, had to bear the brunt of the many evenings I was sat tapping away on the laptop neglecting family duties. I will be forever grateful for her sacrifices and patience.
FOREWORD Matt Murray
WOLVES IS a special club and Molineux is an amazing place. Every now and then, there has been a reminder of this when I least expected it. I remember one occasion a few years ago when I was on holiday with Robbie Keane, who was the superstar at the time playing for Liverpool. We were chatting to some football fans at a bar. They all knew who he was and which club he played for. One fan asked where I was playing, and his mate said, He only plays for Wolve s. And the other fan replied, Only? Wolves is massive. That drummed it in really. I knew anyway, but it brought it home to me just how important this club is.
I was nine years old when Wolves came into my life. I was training with Lichfield Colts. My manager, Don Astle, was a big Wolves fan who had experienced the worst times, the moments you wouldn t wish on any supporter. He donated his wages when Wolves almost went bust in the 1980s. He worked in a factory, he loved the club and he made donations of his wages to help save Wolves.
In 1990 a few of us were invited down to training one day, when Graham Turner was manager at the club. There was no centre of excellence then, it was before the academy had started. My friends at school were impressed, they were saying, Wolves are famous! We went down to a place called East Park and trained on the artificial turf. It was a four-week trial. I remember at training on the Monday nights you could hear sounds of the speedway from Monmore Green in the background. People like Rob Kelly and Tony Painter were developing the youth system, but it was just schoolboy stuff then. I got taken on for a year, and then each year after that I would be kept on again. There was myself and a boy called Claudio Coleman who stayed right to the end. He was a brilliant player of Italian heritage, a real talent.
Once we got taken on full time, we used to get two tickets left for us on a matchday, so I saw all the redevelopments happen in the early 90s. I remember the old standing terrace behind the goal, the South Bank, and the John Ireland Stand, as it was then, was such a long way from the pitch. Gradually they redeveloped the place. While they were building the Billy Wright Stand, there were Portakabins in the corner where the players would get changed, so my mate Gaz Astle and I would wait by the fence and if we were there at the right time we d see Stowelly [goalkeeper Mike Stowell] go out to do his warm-ups. We used to love watching him run out with all his goalkeeper gear. All I ever wanted to do was be a footballer.
I was lucky that the youth side I grew up with were a special bunch of lads. I was only 11 years old when I met Lee Naylor; he always had a hammer of a left foot even back then. Joleon Lescott came in a bit later; he was the year below me. We had Adam Proudlock and Keith Andrews too, they were really good prospects at the time. It was when we first went over to a tournament in Holland that I first met Robbie Keane. It was my GCSE year, Keano had just won the golden boot for the youth team and he was doing stuff in training that made us realise he was really special. He won player of the tournament; he tore up Ajax and Sampdoria on that trip. That was the last we saw of him as kids, he went straight into the first team the season after that.
Back then we all just lived in the moment. In some ways I wish that I could be back in those times, where we all just lived in the moment. We thought we could beat anyone as a youth team. I remember when we used to change at Molineux and then go down to the training ground, we had all just passed our driving tests, and so many of us signed professional terms for the first time, we just lived the life. We thought it would last forever, and we were all so proud of our mates when they broke through into the first team. Keano was the first to step up, then Joleon. There was no jealousy, everyone was so pleased for the team-mate who stepped up, and we pushed each other all the way. I was probably the last one to come through - everyone else had made their debuts, but even at a young age I d had a few injury problems that held me back.
The first-ever time I was named in the senior team was an unreal moment. It was for a Wimbledon away game on 31 August 2002. I d been at the club from the age of nine, and to actually stand there in the tunnel about to make a first-team debut, wow, what a feeling. It was strange because we had more fans in the ground than they did. The first home match was against Reading, and it was a really emotional moment. The fans were singing my name, and it was a case of taking it all in. I ll never forget that, even though we lost the game. The first win came in the next game at home to Preston North End, when I made a few saves, which meant a lot. The roar from the crowd whilst stood on the Molineux pitch