While watching a particularly turgid home game last season (Wigan Athletic I think) I asked the old boys around me what their best ever Wolves XI would be, in a desperate attempt to avert their poor eyes.
It was the best thing I could have done, as the previously inanimate, lifeless souls sprang into action like Steve Kindon on a heart defibrillator.
The weathered, hard suffering onlookers were like rabid dogs around a packet of Tangtastic Haribos, salivating and slobbering away for a good 60 minutes.
It was a Boxing Day treat for me and was one abiding memory to genuinely treasure. Kind of put it all into perspective somehow.
So on that Boxing Day theme, I have spoken to my Dad, my Uncle Ben, my ever decreasing circle of friends and those passionate old boys in the row in front of me, who always make my season ticket worthwhile.
So here it is. The Wolves Blog’s all time Wolves XI.
What do you think? This team below is something of a 3-5-2 system, but more a case of 11 fine men in a team together!
Bert Williams
Never has one player made a Pathe newsreel look so modern.
Daring, athletic and a quite remarkable spring in his step, Bert Williams was one of the world’s greatest keepers in the early 1950s, and one that high definition television was surely made for.
Bert served for the RAF during the Second World War and when hostilities ended, he joined Wolves for £3,500 in September 1945.
On his retirement in 1957, Bert had a grand and glorious total of 420 league and cup matches under his belt, plus an FA Cup winner’s medal (1949), a League Championship medal (1954) and 24 England caps.
Frank Munro
A name synonymous with the Wanderers’ number 5 shirt, Frank was a proper footballer.
The closest player we had to Bobby Moore, who could read the game with unerring ease before starting so many of our attacks from the back.
Frank was a fine, fine footballer who was equally adept on either foot, who never appeared to be breaking sweat.
He gave Wolves great service for eight years, appearing in 371 games and scoring 18 goals – some of them vital – while starring in the 1972 UEFA Cup and 1974 League Cup finals.
Billy Wright CBE
Words simply don’t do justice to Billy Wright, who was arguably the greatest player to ever wear the Old Gold shirt.
A picture of his proud statue outside the stand that bears his name paints a thousand words better than these.
Billy was the first player in the world to win 100 caps, but perhaps Wolves fans will remember him best for winning three League Championships and an FA Cup.
In between lifting the title in 1958 and 1959, he also helped Wolves destroy Honved, Spartak, Moscow Dynamo and the cream of Europe who searched for glory on an English football pitch.
Not bad for a kid once turned away for being too small!
Bill Slater OBE
A true gentleman on the pitch, whose induction into the Wolves Hall of Fame in 2010 featured an anecdote about telling off an opponent for using foul language!
Never a full-time pro, he gained an FA Cup winner’s medal in 1960 against Blackburn Rovers, shackling a certain young Derek Dougan at Wembley.
Bill was always calm under pressure and in possession, elegant in movement and style, and confident when starting attacks.
He helped us to three titles, 12 England caps and 339 appearances, all while working as a lecturer at Birmingham University. A class act.
Johnny Hancocks
Johnny’s name will forever be associated with the great Stan Cullis team of the 1950s, belting 168 goals in 378 matches.
Shropshire lad Johnny was only 5ft 4ins and wore size 2 boots, but by god could he hit a ball!
He could unleash a quite stunning shot – particularly from dead balls – and must go down as one of the best pieces of business in Wolves history, costing £4,000.
Johnny acted as the perfect foil for his co-partner on the opposite flank, Jimmy Mullen, both of whom played huge roles in our most golden of eras.
Peter Broadbent
If a more skilful, intelligent or naturally gifted player has ever worn the Wolves shirt than Broadbent then we’d love to have seen him.
The inside forward was the player George Best admired most, whose ability to create in midfield and score in attack was almost unprecedented.
Dad told me he’d walk to Molineux just to watch Broadbent, because he ‘did things that no other player ever did.’
Peter won three League Championship medals, one FA Cup and scored 145 goals in 497 games.
Peter Knowles
Maybe we did see that player to rival Broadbent after all, for an all too brief moment.
Never mind mercurial, Peter Knowles was ethereal, boasting more skill to suggest he was from another planet, let alone league.
He played only 191 games for Wolves, scoring 64 goals, before shocking the football world by turning his back on the game in 1970, becoming a Jehovah’s Witness.
We retained his registration for many years afterwards, hoping he would change his mind, but he sadly never did.
Ron Flowers
When asked about the secret of Wolves’ all conquering side of the 1950s, left back Gerry Harris simply said: “They were all fine young men.”
None more so than Ron Flowers, whose striking blond hair, powerful legs and phenomenal stamina was a sight to behold.
Ron was an attacking wing half and played in well over 500 games for Wolves, scoring 32 times.
He has three league titles to his name, an FA Cup winners medal in 1960, and most recently, a belated 1966 World Cup winners medal for his place in England’s triumphant squad, where he nearly replaced an injury threatened Jack Charlton in the final.
Mike Bailey
A true leader of men, ‘Skipper Mike Bailey’ was at the heart of all things memorable during the 1970s, playing a huge part in our long awaited revival.
Mike’s finest hour was leading us to the 1974 League Cup against a star studded Manchester City side boasting Summerbee, Marsh, Bell and Lee.
His barrel chest and teak tough demeanour made the biggest impression that day, not to mention on 436 other days besides.
Cantona might have called Mike Bailey something of a ‘water carrier.’ We all call him a legend whose induction into the Wolves Hall of Fame in 2010 came not a moment too soon.
Steve Bull MBE
Quite easily the best signing in the history of Wolverhampton Wanderers, when arch rivals WBA gave him away for £65,000.
Not only is Bully our 306 goal record goalscorer, but he an icon and role model who continues to define a generation.
Under the stewardship of manager Graham Turner and alongside Andy Mutch, Bully dragged our withered club kicking and screaming out of divisions four and three and into the world which we are now accustomed.
‘Make the most of Bully’ my father would always tell me. ‘There will never be another one like him.’
I really wish I’d have listened, because those blistering goals and barnstorming battles will never be replicated.
Nor will 13 caps for England as a third division player.
He could have scored for the best teams in Europe. On behalf of every Wolves fan that has ever lived, thank you so much for not choosing to Bully.
John Richards
John Richards’s 194 goals was a record that few would thought would ever be beaten, until a certain Steve Bull came along.
King John really is one of the all time Wolves legends, winning two League Cups, a UEFA Cup runner-up medal and a Second Division title, to boot.
He was well remembered for a wonderful partnership with Derek Dougan, which became the envy of many top flight clubs for the majority of the 1970s.
A gentleman on and off the pitch and not just a great goalscorer, but a scorer of great goals too.
I’d be hard pressed to argue with that from what I know of our history, but I think what would be interesting since the ages on here vary, would be best XIs since you’ve been watching. As I’ve been watching for less than 15 years mine will look poor comparison. It would go something like:
Murray, Irwin, Craddock, Lescott, Naylor, Kightly, Ince, Rae, Jarvis, Bull/Ebanks-Blake, Keane/Miller
I’ve offered alternate strikers as I don’t really feel worthy of putting Bull and Keane as I was very young, though I was present for Bully’s last goal
I was thinking about a blog along those lines mate. This was one that I put together following a request from 4-4-2 magazine, but they didn’t want to go with it in the end, as they wanted Championship / lower league club entries.
Wouldn’t have been so bad if we’d have gone down…this might have seen the light of day in 442!!! 😉
Not a bad team, here’s mine
Murray, Foley, Lescott, Stearman, Naylor, Kightly, Rae, O’Hara, Jarvis, Doyle, Ndah
Completely forgot about Doyle, he’d probably go in front of Miller. Bit too early for Fletcher to be a contender
hang on, i’ve taken a bit of flak for omitting dean richards and paul cook, but at least i had bully in there. wtf are doyle and ndah doing in there ahead of the tipton terror?
It’s from when I’ve started watching Wolves, I never got to see God play
Always a problem to compare accross the years. You have many of my boyhood hero’s in you list.
Yeah, its a tough one isn’t it? I got my knuckles rapped for not putting Eddie Clamp in there. Far easier doing my all time worst XI!! (Mind you, we probably had more contenders for that one!!)
this is very similar to an all star wolves team i created on pro evo in my student days!
Since I started watching in the late 80s this is my team:
Stowell – maybe not as naturally gifted as Murray, but I had his name on the back of my goalie shirt when i was a nipper and that counts for a lot.
irwin – best full back we’ve had since i started watching, and his legs had even gone by the time he signed. positional play par excellence!
lescott – the best player to come through our academy. still feel proud everytime he pulls on an england jersey
breen – had a great season when he first signed. he’s in the team purely so we can sing “number 9, stevie bull, number 10, gary breen”
muscat – most entertaining player ever. when my cousin and i used to sit in the family enclosure as kids he’d be the closest player to us for half the match. we used to love shouting things like “break his legs muscat” and “use your elbows!” – he usually obliged.
dennison – all heart this guy, was a tough call to exclude paul cook from the line up, but the goal robbie scored against stoke (see north bank memories) was good enough to get him in there. also another of my fave chants “oooooh robbie robbie….”
ince – the guvnor. his screamer against west ham is one of my favourite moments ever as a wolves fan. all together now “paul ince, there’s only one paul ince…”
kightly – the first truly electrifying talent at wolves for many a long year, i’ve put him at the head of the diamond here based on the season when he played like pele and got us promoted. still have high hopes that he will return to form this season and tear up the prem.
jarvis – as kightly’s star waned, so jarvis’ waxed and he became another player it is a joy to behold. again, watching him play for England was a truly proud moment, highlight of the game was when he won a corner, and then the look on his face when he realised he was going to have to take it, at wembley, for england! put in a lovely cross from the dead ball though
bull – the only player to have a signed picture in my lounge. the mrs despairs but at least it’s not above the bed like when she first moved in. nuff said.
keane – what a talent, those few precious seasons when he broke into the 1st team and was up front with bully were phenomenal. why the fudge mark magoo chose to leave bully and keano on the bench for the arsenal semi final is still a painful mystery.
Wot no Cookie?!
couldn’t leave out jarvo or kightly, and dennison has a better chant. as we’re probably not gonna win anything significant in my lifetime, having good songs to sing about players is a big part of the matchday experience for me. but it was a close call!
No Dean Richards Sleachy???
PS I quite liked Muscat (for the same reasons) too!
deano was a legend, and he had the old “boom boom boom let me hear you say deano” song, but it’s not a patch on “we all dream of a team of gary breens”.
yes on purely football grounds alone it would be richards every time, but after a couple of pints i get this uncontrollable urge to sing about wolves players and so have made my list with this in mind.
I was always a fan of Keith Curle too! Cant remember any of his songs though!
keith curle was a fantastic player, but he scored an own goal for the a****n so he’s not allowed in an all time great team.
True, and my mate bumped into him on a train once (smoking cigars) and he had a rant about us (please read in your best Mancunian accent)…
“You Wolves fans think you are a big club, but you’re not a big club! Man City is a big club”
And he got done for bullying when he was a manager – obviously a complete tw@t.
Does anyone else remember us signing Guy Whittingham on loan from the Villa? The best natural finisher I have seen in a Wolves shirt (apart from Bully). 8 goals in 13 appearances according to Wikipedia and we didn’t even sign him!
Dean Sturridge probably the best natural finisher I’ve seen mate (obviously discounting Bully) Sturridge had a repertoire of finishes that I hadn’t seen before. Could dink them, smash them, round the keeper, sidefoot them.
I LOVED him and refused to admit he was finished, even when he rocked up at Kidderminster Harriers!
Super guy the solider was class!!
You forgot Elton John, he is still really talented ( in many ways, it is rumoured!!) and he played for Wolves, once, in a friendly exhibition thingy way back when your Dad had hair.
Last out of the showers too I heard!
Well, I’ve only been a Wolves fan since midway through the 2010/2011 season so it’s good to have a reference to some Wolves legends here!
In truth, Bully was the only one that I’d heard of from this list (and I call myself a fan? :P)
My team for recent ish years murry muscat de wolf Richards lescott Jarvis ince Rae Ndah bully doyle. Loved mo camara just a shame he was no good!!!
If you are talking All-Time you must include Stan Cullis (a really great centre half) and Dennis Westcott.
This is my team in 4-4-2 formation:
Bert Williams;
Derek Parkin, Stan Cullis, Billy Wright, Bobby Thomson;
Johnnie Hancocks, Peter Broadbent, Ron Flowers, Jimmy Mullen;
Strikers -the hardest to pick as we have had so many good ones. I would love to pick Bully but logic says Denis Westcott and John Richards.
Westcott had the best goals to match record of anyone (and all in the top division) and John was not only a great striker but a terrific player.
Nemo, being a sad git, I have a few Wolves books and was reading about Billy Hartill. Phenomenal striker by all accounts and a staggering goal ratio.
More recently, Ted Farmer’s story gets me. A prolific marksman but got injured all too regularly, otherwise could have been one of the first names on the sheet. Apparently fell out with Stan Cullis big time too.
He once said he was coughing up blood at half time and couldn’t play on. Cullis sent him out for the 2nd half and told him he wouldn’t be coming off until he starting coughing blood out of his arse. Well, something like that!
Cullis would be the manager too, and there was a description that I meant to tag in the blog. Apologies.
Sturridge got 28 goals in 75 games for us – for some reason I cant really remember him that much (did he spend a lot of time on the treatment table?)
Whittingham went back just as we signed Don Goodnman from memory.
It’s purely for the second half of 01/02 Stourbridge. He banged in 20 goals from christmas. Class act just for that brief period. Where were you?!
I wish he’d have left then really. After that it was injuries and mainly sub appearances
It must be a mental block Rich – I remember him playing, (as I can see a picture of him in my favourite ever Wolves kit) but dont really have any fond memories for some reason.
As you know from my views on Kightly (I’m a hard man to please!!!! ha,ha,ha)
I once had a 2nd hand book on Major Frank Buckley, who apparently fed the team amphetamines at half time. It was suggested, this policy continued under Cullis.
I’d have McCalliog in my team and Wagstaffe.
Though I guess Wagstaffe, really no better than Jarvis and McCalliog, no better than Doyle.
I guess it’s down to life’s youthful era.
Personally, to keep in the present, think we might get Johnson, will get O’Hara and could get Koncheski.
Good additions.
Waggy performed week in and week out for many seasons, Jarvis has only partially performed for one season. No contest in my opinion.
Glad someone mentioned Parkin, best left back we’ve had………until Ward came along!!!!!!
Had to get a dig in somewhere!!!
Yes, Phil Parkin right now, would slot comfortably into Wolves’s team!
Anybody remember a right back called Joe Wilson? is that right? He was hopeless but whole hearted, nobody minded because he was English, and didn`t have a big nose that was permanently stuck up the managers backside.
He only played for a short while as someone realised his limitations and moved him on.
These old fashioned management skills like playing players in their correct position, if they are shite give`em a free transfer, and saying sorry son you are just not good enough at this level, apparently only applies to five years worth of academy graduates and not failed Irish league strikers.
Thanks for reminding me Clive that while there are no matches being played right now, Ward is one of the players the above management disciplines should be applied to.
Waggy for me as I saw him play, can you imagine Ward trying to defend against him? God help us.
Can’t argue much about the proposed (excellent) selection, though would have liked to find a place for the likes of Dougan and Hibbitt.
By the way, off topic, but if there are any chess players among you Wolves fans, there is a new chess group formed on chess.com called “Wolverhampton Wanderers Fans”. Only has 2 members so far … surely we can do better than that 🙂 Join us!
2 check mates! I like it but unfortunately I.am worse than John Paskin
I’m a chess player, but I don’t play on chess.com – I’m on another chess site called gameknot.com
I will see if I can find it though!
Great! Hope to see you there Hamlet! The more the merrier …
What about top tv commentators of all time?
Obviously Coleman is up there with his “colemanballs”, starting at the Olympics with “Juanterina opened his legs and showed his class”
Murray Walker, with all his dropped bollocks,
Barry Davies, for me immortal with the commentary on the Germans in the hockey world cup final “Where was the German defense….and who cares???”
But for me it was the ITV commentator with the massive mitts…”Hugh Johns”
It was always “Dougan on the jump” and our three named captain “Skipper Mike Bailey’
Any memories, chaps??
How about John Motson commenting on a Germany game, along the lines….’Bierhoff only has a very short time to impress after replacing the two substitutes who have just been taken off. Kuntz’ See it on Youtube.
Well ben, what a great squad of wolves players you’v put together,got to agree with your selection’s.Never saw peter Broadbent play but heard a
few stories about him,one springs to mind when he beat several players
and then sat on the ball and said come and get it,loved to have seen that.
Another one i did have the privilege to see on many occasion was peter
Knowles,what a master,he had great skill and balance could use both feet
well.To me he was the next best player to george Best thats how good he was what a pity he gave it all up, but it was what he wanted so i hope he’s
been happy with his life.
You saw him though John. Dad reckons he was the most talented player he ever saw. It was out of him and hibbitt for a spot in the team going on all the recommendations
it’s a shame Knowles gave it all up, he sounded like a truly brilliant player destined for great things. The book on him is very interesting. He’s a very nice person too, which he has said many times is because he gave up football.
Yes, Knocker Knowles was head and shoulders above any other player I’ve seen in a Wolves shirt over the last 50 years.
He would have been an England regular, and we would probably have won the World Cup in 1970 with him playing, he was as Brazilian as the eventual winners.
Class, class, class, even in his white Triumph Spitfire with PK on the doors!!!
Yeah and it could only happen to Wolves supporters. We actually get one of the truly great players and he gives it all up to become a Joho. Do you reckon God’s an A****n supporter?
Exactly, it must have been a bizarre situation for the club to contend with at the time. What a shame.
BTW, God doesn’t support A****n, he supports Roma, or is it Tottenham or is it Al-Whada FC?
Anyway, being an enlightened bunch, we all know there is only one, true God and he’s called Steve Bull!
Yeh remember kenny very well too,he was a midfield general with class.
Also he should have played on a regular basis for England but like a lot
of wolves players over the years got overlooked..Somebody said what
about Parkin another stylish player who played out of position if i remember he was rightfooted but played on the left.wish we had him now.
Strikers, what about Andy Gray, and Derrick Dougan, must be worth a bash, Defenders good old George Berry just for his hair, and Emlyn Hughes for his smile and laugh, I can still remember when This Is Your Life turned up at the Mol and caught him on his way down the tunnel.
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