Hall Of Fame: Next Two Inductees Revealed
Wolves legends Billy Wright CBE and Ron Flowers are today revealed as the next two greats to be inducted into the club's new Hall of Fame.
Billy and Ron are the two legends selected from the illustrious 1946-60 period in which an all-conquering Wolves side won three league titles, two FA Cups and became the pioneers of floodlit football against the top sides in
Ironbridge-born Billy was famously once told he wouldn't make it as a professional footballer before going on to become one of the grea
In his 14-year playing career he made 541 appearances for Wolves and 105 for
Ron graduated to the Wolves ranks after playing for the club's junior side Wath Wanderers, and like Billy went on to become one of Molineux's most famous sons.
He made 512 appearances for Wolves and is currently awaiting a medal for being an unused member of the
For more detailed profiles on both legends click here.
Wolves are revealing the six inductees securing their place in the inaugural Hall of Fame in reverse chronological order, with Billy and Ron joining Steve Bull and Derek Parkin in the first batch of great names.
The final two selections to join the decorated quartet will be announced next week.
For the inaugural year the club's history has been split into five generations but given the extraordinary success of the Wolves team of this era, two selections were made rather than one.
"We are delighted to reveal that Billy and Ron are the next two inductees into the Hall of Fame," said Wolves' CEO and chairman of the selection panel Jez Moxey.
"Given the extraordinary success of the Wolves team of that generation, there was certainly plenty of debate at the selection meeting about who should be included but I imagine there can be few arguments with the results.
"Both Billy and Ron were not only superb players who reached the heights with both Wolves and
"We are extremely pleased that they will take up their rightful position in our new Hall of Fame and I know that both Ron and Billy's family are delighted with the news.
"The final two names will be revealed next week and in advance of that announcement I would just like to point out that there are several illustrious figures who transcend both the two time periods who will certainly be in the frame."
Ron himself admitted that he was thrilled to be among the inaugural batch of legends finding their way into the Hall of Fame, for which the first six will be honoured at a dinner at Molineux in January (click here for details).
"It is a great honour and one I am very proud of," he said.
"I'd just like to thank all the supporters who nominated me and everyone else who is involved.
"It's been such a long time since I finished playing and the fact that people still want to remember me in this way is really nice.
"I was only ever doing a job I really enjoyed so to be in there with Billy and those other illustrious names is a real honour.
"I think the Hall of Fame is a great idea and I am looking forward to the dinner in January."
The six names were selected from a host of nominations provided by supporters and then debated by the selection panel comprising club officials, members of the media, two representatives from Wolves' Former Players Association and the Fans' Parliament, and supported by club historians.
One of those historians is Graham Hughes, who got to know both the Wolves legends during their careers.
"When it comes to Billy Wright where do you start?" asks Graham.
"He was just a superb defender yet also so modest.
"I remember we'd have a natter over a cup of coffee in the kitchen at Molineux and he'd always say: "It's not about me, it's the team that really matters."
"I used to be on the bus from Codsall coming to matches when he'd be waiting to get on the bus at the Fieldhouse at Claregate.
"By the time the bus got to him it was always full and so he used to stand on the platform but he never minded.
"As for Ron, he was a big, powerful half back who was a key part of the Wolves engine room.
"Even now I can remember what I think was his best ever Wolves goal - a shot from 35 yards in the snow against
"I remember when he was captain and we'd all be out waiting for the teams and we'd say: "Bring them out Big Ron".
"How would I describe as a person? Easy. He was a top man."
Fellow Wolves historian
"Sadly I never saw Billy play and Ron was coming to the end of his playing career when I became a Wolves supporter," said John.
"But I do know that Billy's record speaks for itself.
"He was a great ambassador for English football and he led Wolves with distinction during the golden days of the Forties and Fifties.
"Ron, another Wolves man who captained his country, was strong, determined and yet also a very skilful player.
"He too fully deserves is spot in Wolves' illustrious folklore."
One of those on the panel is author and former journalist Steve Gordos, who relates his own tales of Billy and Ron.
"Billy Wright represents all that is best about football, a talented player, hard but fair, a great skipper and a loyal clubman," says Steve.
"The distinction of being first in the world to play in 100 internationals could not have gone to a finer man.
"It said much for Billy's ability as a midfield dynamo that he could play left-half for his club and right-half for his country and when they had a centre-half problem it was Billy who came to
"That switch to central defence added at least five years to his career and his ability to read a game has been matched by very few . His leadership was always quiet but firm. He never needed to shout and bawl like some captains
"With his long international career and the honours that came his way at club level, Billy had had every reason to big-headed but you could not have met a more modest man. He always had time for people and that's what endeared him to a generation of Wolves fans. It was a travesty that he never received a knighthood."
And on Ron, Steve added: "Ron Flowers in many ways mirrored Billy Wright. A powerful fair-haired wing-half who later played central defence for club and country to great effect.
"Only Wright, among Wolves players, gained more international caps and Ron thoroughly deserved the 49 he collected. As well as captaining his country three times, it is sometimes overlooked that he was also a member of the squad of 22 for the 1966 World Cup finals. That was 11 years after he won his first cap.
"The abiding memory of Ron is of a powerful midfield man, driving his team forward as well as weighing in with a spectacular goal or two - but his defensive qualities were just as formidable.
"He was undoubtedly a key figure in the team who won the First Division title twice and then the FA Cup in a three-year spell at the end of the Fifties."
* FOR the entire section devoted to Wolves' Hall of Fame, click here.
