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Hall Of Fame: Wright And Flowers Profiles

Posted on: Thu 11 Dec 2008

The latest two inductees to the Wolves Hall of Fame are two men whose names will forever be linked with the club - Billy Wright and Ron Flowers.

Billy Wright was a gentleman both on and off the pitch - a celebrity, a family man and a fine sportsman.

He was one of the greatest players to ever grace the game and he spent his entire career with just two teams - Wolves and England.

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He led the club to its greatest achievements in the Forties and Fifties - the FA Cup and three League Championships as well as those headline-making floodlit friendly wins over some of the world's best - games that sparked the need for a more structured European competition.

Billy became the first man in the world to play 100 times for his country and, in his final tally of 105 caps, he captained the side 90 times - a record he shares with the late Bobby Moore.

In the 13 years from his first international until his last, he missed just three England games and in one run he played in 70 successive international fixtures.

He was named as Footballer of the Year in 1952 and in all he played 541 times for Wolves both as a wing-half and a centre-half. And not once during that glittering career did he pick up so much as a booking.

Apart from his supreme talents, the abiding memories of Billy Wright are of a football ambassador, a man who never let fame go to his head and one who always had time for fans young and old. In short, a true legend.

Another Molineux master who captained both club and country was Ron Flowers who was a product of Wath Wanderers - Wolves' former nursery club in Yorkshire.

A powerfully built wing-half, like Billy Wright he won three Championship medals in the fifties and was a member of the victorious FA Cup winning side at Wembley in 1960 when Blackburn Rovers were beaten  3-0.

Ron played 49 times for England skippering the team three times. He was a member of the triumphant World Cup squad in 1966 and, although he didn't feature in any of the games, he almost played in the final after Jack Charlton went down with a cold. Ron was on stand-by for the big game but Charlton recovered and played.  He has been informed that he will receive a World Cup winners' medal in the near future along with other squad members who didn't figure in the competition proper.

He played 512 games times for Wolves with only Derek Parkin, Kenny Hibbitt, Steve Bull and Billy Wright having played more times. He also hit 37 goals for the club.

Ron was a strong attacking wing-half who manager Stan Cullis played in the forward line on more than one occasion when injuries struck.

A penalty taker for both club and country, he earned a place in the history books by becoming England's first ever scorer in a European Championship fixture when he converted a spot kick against France in Paris back in 1962.

His final season at Molineux was in the 1966/7 season when he made 14 appearances as Wolves regained their spot in the top flight after a two year absence.

 

 

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