Wolves are saddened to learn of the passing of former winger John Farley at the age of 74.
The left-sided Farley played 43 time in gold and black during a four-year stint at Molineux during the 1970s having joined from Watford.
Born in Middlesbrough, Farley – affectionately known as ‘Charlie’ in recognition of a Two Ronnies character – initially moved to Vicarage Road from Stockton in 1969, before going on to make 114 appearances for the Hornets, scoring nine times.
His move to top-flight Wolves followed in the summer of 1974, just months after the Old Gold lifted the League Cup, as he made his debut on the road against Burnley in August.
Farley’s Molineux debut came the following month as he came close to scoring his only goal for the club as his free-kick against Leicester City looked to be heading in off the crossbar, before being tapped in from close range by John Richards. He also featured in Wolves’ UEFA Cup campaign that season as the Old Gold faced Portuguese giants Porto.
Photo from the Roy Davies collection at Wolves Museum of Farley in action in gold and black.
The left-winger featured 18 times in his debut season under Bill McGarry, before adding another 13 appearances in the 1975/76 season as Wolves succumbed to relegation to the second tier.
During that campaign, his cross after 18 seconds for Richards at Turf Moor became the club’s fastest goal in history, while the winger also had a goal disallowed in the 5-1 victory, meaning he would finish his Wolves career without finding the back of the net.
Although injuries affected his latter two years at Molineux, as a serious knee issue saw him miss the entirety of the promotion season of 1976/77, Farley was able to continue his career with Hull City and Bury, before retiring in 1981.
Following retirement from football at the age of 29, Farley worked in the pub trade in Cambridge and High Wycombe.
The thoughts of everyone at Wolves are with John’s family and friends at this sad time.
