The Express & Star’s long-time former Wolves correspondent had planned to bring out his press box memoir to coincide with the 30th anniversary of when he started covering the club a few months before the arrival of Steve Bull.
That deadline was missed when he was asked at the same time to provide the text for Steve Plant’s hugely successful They Wore The Shirt publication, so he has instead used the aftermath of Wolves’ epic Championship promotion triumph to hit the shelves once more.
“Having read dozens and dozens of books on all manner of Molineux personalities, teams and subjects, I am confident in saying there has not been an individual Wolves account like this before,” the author said.
“My 16 years of following them home and away for the Star forms the first half of my story but I have also been so lucky to spend nearly as long since cementing my good relationships with any number of old favourites here.
“In my time at the paper, I developed a real love of gold and black nostalgia and the wolvesheroes.com website I run with John Richards has taken me over and over again into the homes of the stars of yesteryear like Bert Williams, Ron Flowers, Roy Swinbourne, Eddie Stuart and Jimmy Dunn.
“Having previously visited men like Stan Cullis, Johnny Hancocks, Bill Slater and Peter Broadbent and spent precious time in their company, as well as getting to know the great Billy Wright, I feel I have been able to broaden the text right back to the 1940s and 1950s.
“Coming up to date, I have worked for the club website in writing about the appointment and unveiling of Nuno, Paul Lambert, Walter Zenga and others, so you could say the reach of the book stretches across around 70 years.
“It is written with a lot of affection but supporters who read it will also realise that reporting on the club for the local paper brings its tensions and difficulties.
“The feedback we have had to Between the Golden Lines so far is that it provides a new insight on that fragile and sometimes fractious relationship. The sub-heading on the front cover refers to revelations and recollections – and I can promise there are a lot of stories that haven’t been told before.”
The 256-page hardback is now available through all of Wolves’ usual retail outlets at £18.99.
