Saturday’s vital win over Blackpool was accomplished against a backdrop of great sadness following the death of our former defender Dean Richards.
It goes without saying that any loss of life is a tragedy but as Mark Lawrenson pointed out on Match of the Day, ’36 is no age’.
We weren’t disappointed.
Not only could this tall, rangy young lad dominate in the air, but he had the pace and footballing brain to effortlessly steal possession and glide forward from defence. His ability was staggering, particularly when compared to the more ‘agricultural’ personnel he had playing alongside him at the time.
I still have the glossy poster, given away free with the matchday edition of the Express & Star, emblazoned with the simple headline of ‘DEANO’ and commemorating his debut in a 1-0 away win at Southend.
Sadly, despite his imperious presence in our back four, that season ended in disappointment with defeat against Bolton in the semi-final of the play-offs. And despite a £1.8 million permanent deal being agreed in the summer that followed, his involvement in a serious car accident restricted his appearances in a gold shirt over the next two years.
However, just prior to those lengthy injury problems, Deano produced the performance that I will always remember him for.
The match was Birmingham City at home and Wolves were 2-1 down heading into the final five minutes. Cue a trademark Deano surge into the box and an obvious trip. No penalty said the ref. Ridiculous. But wait. Still lying on the floor, Deano flicks the ball up and with the most audacious of overhead kicks, cannons the ball against the arm of the bemused defender. Penalty! Genius. Deano you beauty.
Thommo did the rest.
And we know what happened next.
A pinpoint Osborn ball over the top. Bully racing through. He can’t score from there. He has scored from there. Elation. A glorious derby win.
But prior to Bully’s magic, prior to Osborn’s sublime pass, who was it that rose highest to keep Wolves on the front foot? Deano of course.
See for yourselves:
We all know about the injury problems, the famous comeback, the goal against the Albion, the torrid afternoon against Dele Adebola, the bosman transfer and the big money move to Spurs, but more than all of those things, whenever I think of Dean Richards, I’ll remember that wonderful day.
Thank you Deano. Thank you for the memory.
Rest in peace.
* I just stumbled across this tribute video and had to tag it to the bottom. There’s some excellent footage of Deano in action for Wolves, scoring some memorable goals against Derby, Barnsley and of course the Albion.
Wonderful clip Thomas – spine tingling stuff especially given the circumstances.
I’m 36, just starting a family and looking forward to those great family years. I’d hate to think that it could all end now. Makes you appreciate those little things.
God bless Deano and as you say Thomas, thank you.
PS – On a lighter note – How fat was the ref in that game!!?
Puts things sharply into perspective mate.
I know what you mean about the fat ref.
Still, he was in the perfect position to see Kevin Francis kick thin air, yet somehow deemed it worthy of a penalty.
No wonder Stowell went ape shit.
Thank god for Deano’s brilliance hey or we might well still be lamenting one of the most unjust derby defeats of all time.
How big a statto am I that I know the ref was called John Kirby?! Pretty sad eh?!
I remember him from another useless performance with the whistle, when a fan next to me shouted: ‘Kirby, are you f**king blind’. The fat idiot turned to the crowd and yelled ‘NO!.’
Deano oozed class and his performance at Spurs in the FA Cup always stood out for me. He was effortlessly brilliant, keeping Sheringham and Armstrong at bay without looking like he was trying.
Villa away was similarly awesome.
The fact he still commanded an £8 million fee after such an horrific car crash tells its own story about his ability.
A wonderful player who would be in my best ever XI without question.
God bless you Deano.
It sure does Thomas.
I’ve just read Paul Jewells comments. He said he was the best player who he played with at Bradford “A real Rolls Royce”.
I’ve heard the phrase before, but never so fitting.
a real sad loss.
deano was a class defender, i think he would have played at the very top if it wasnt for that car crash.
one of my fondest memories of his though is when he ended up in goal in a 4-1 home defeat to stoke. he was useless and let 2 soft goals in, but it made me like him even more.
im looking forward to the game on sunday and hope it is marked appropriately.
I was at that game too – I consider it one of my worst experiences as a fan, hated Stoke (and especially Delilah) ever since!
(add play off defeats to Palace, Bolton & Albi*n!)
It was such a shock to hear of Dean’s passing. He was truley a giant of a man. Thanks for sharing those clips, I watched them with misty eyes. RIP Dean.
In my time as a fan Deano was the best centre half I have ever seen in a Wolves shirt.
Before I get ripped to pieces by Clive on older players this one please take into consideration that I am only (only – ha,ha,ha!) 36 and have been watching wolves since I was 14!
I remember seeing him flash up on Cefax as a signing on transfer deadline day and moaning “who”, “some bloke from Bradford I’ve never heard of”!!! Turns out he was class – so it shows what I know. I still remember his forward runs, beating player after player, like it was yesterday – he made the game look so easy. I also remember him going in goal against Stoke one very miserable Saturday afternoon after we had used all our subs and Delilah rang all around the Mol!!!
I was really disappointed when he left Wolves for nothing – especially after we had paid his wages through a lengthy spell on the treatment table. I bumped into him in Moneypenny’s in Birmingham after he signed for Spurs and he seemed like a really nice down to earth bloke.
News of his death was really sad – how we could have done with a signing of his quality in his position in January.
I’ve been watching Wolves for nearly as long as Clive, Stourbridge and i would put Deano on a par with any of them, and Frank Munro is one of my all time favourites. I’d forgotten as well how many goals he scored. He had it all really. Whe you look back on the Graham Taylor era, he did sign a heck of a lot of good players. Deano, Keane, Froggatt, Daley, Thomas were all his i think. If we’d had less bad luck with injuries, things could have turned out very differently for us and maybe Deano as well.
I know what you mean about Taylors team, with Bully too its amazing we never managed to reach the “promised land” of the premier league.
Like you say though – too many injuries. Daley especially – in the half season he played regularly he was electric and created lots of assists when you watch the season review.
I remember thinking “this is it” when we signed Geoff Thomas – I was sure our time was coming! How wrong I was!!!
Well, for once, you lot have me beaten.
I have been over here for 21 years, so I have no recollection of actually seeing him play.
However, I put that in the same category as some of you youngsters never having seen the players from when I was a lad, and that from all the tributes, he was some player.
The really sad part though, is that the poor guy was only 36, and no one deserves to die that young, I don’t care who they are.
We are all mortal, and our sympathies must be for his family, and let’s hope he is in a better place, watching us from that great stand in the sky.
Thanks for the memories, Deano, you made a lot of Wolves fans very happy.
God Bless.
Here, here Mr Ince – totally agree…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/notts_county/9409127.stm
Quality! I agree with every single word.
That Chamakh bloke was wearing a snood when he came on for Arsenal on Sunday and looked a complete bafoon! It must have been about 10 degrees! Bbrrrrrrrrrr bloody freezing that is! Dick head!
Simply the best centre half I have had the fortune to watch in a Wolves shirt. RIP Deano, thanks for the memories.
FANTASTIC TRIBUTE THOMAS,
WHAT MORE CAN BE SAID ABOUT A TRUE ARTISAN OF THE NOBLE ART
OF FOOTBALL..HE WAS A CLEAN BUT ASSERTIVE PLAYER WHO GAVE HIS
ALL WHO EVER HE PLAYED FOR..A REAL GENTLEMAN…
.CAULD DO WITH FEW MORE LIKE HIM IN THE PREMIERSHIP. R.I.P.
Great tribute! What a great player he was! I remember that Birmingham game so well. I was sat on the back row of the Billy Wright and remember hoards of (so called) Wolves fans leaving before the final whistle. Trying to beat the traffic I guess? It had never crossed my mind to leave before the game was over. (What’s 5-10 minutes when you’ve got a 3-4 hour journey home!)
Anyway, it was like the carnival had come to town in Waterloo Road afterwards and I loved it.
That overhead kick by Richards whilst lying on the deck was ingenious! R.I.P.
On a completely different subject(if you’ll excuse me Deano), Garth Crooks team of the week on BBC website has two Wolves players, Richard Stearman and Jamie O’hara. He reckons also that Wolves have won 38% of the games Stearman has played in and only 13% without him which is quite a revealing stat. I have to hold my hands up because i was very critical at one time only because i thought he was too weakin the air to play CH. However, i think he has been superb lately and i think he and Berra complement each other well. As long as he keeps you-know- who out of left back i think our defence will be fairly solid for the run in.
So well done Crooks for picking two Wolves boys but i see you showed your true colours with your description of O’hara. ‘What he lacks in ability, he makes up in effort.’ What is he on! The bloke’s a twat.
Truly emotional stuff, what a player and by all accounts a great man too. Thoughts with his family at times like these.
Fantastic footage of the blues game, still made me punch the air when Bully scored!!
Great stuff
God bless Deano