Two former Wolves youth players were reunited when club legend Steve Daley and Richie Dams both attended a session run by the NHS and Wolves Foundation.
Steve was the special guest at one of the weekly CST (Cognitive Stimulation Therapy) sessions held at Molineux to help people with mild dementia enjoy activities to help improve their wellbeing and confidence.
Richie attends the sessions and was delighted to see Steve pop into one held at the Wolves Museum where participants were also able to have a tour round and enjoy learning about the club’s history.
They were both part of Wolves’ FA Youth Cup team which reached the semi-finals of the 1970/71 competition, losing to Arsenal after two legs.
Although that’s a memory which was somewhat bittersweet for Richie!
“I scored at Highbury,” he says ruefully.
“Only it was at the wrong end!
“It was at the Clock End and I went to volley the ball away and someone pushed me in the back and my clearance ended up in the top corner.
“I can still say I scored at Highbury, and no one can ever take that away from me!”
Others in the youth team at the time included goalkeeper Kevin Charlton and forwards Peter Eastoe and Alan Sunderland.
Richie, who was educated at Wolverhampton Municipal Grammar School, was a full back and sometimes centre half but while Steve went on to forge a career in the game at senior level, Richie decided to go down a different path.
Also an excellent rugby player, he decided not to pursue a career in sport but went off to study PE and geography at Loughborough Colleges, later becoming a teacher in Codsall.
He did however continue to play football at a good level in non-league, spending 12 years with Willenhall Town which included having a benefit match against Walsall.
“Eventually I just decided not to carry on with football and go down a different route,” he says.
“I do sometimes wonder what might have happened if I’d given it a go.”
“I think he was good enough to have made it,” adds Steve.
“Not many people got the better of him when they came up against him.”
Richie does still harbour many fond memories of his time within the youth ranks at Wolves, both of the experiences and the people he met and played alongside.
“It was Joe Gardiner who was the chief scout who first spotted me,” he explains.
“I also remember the once we’d gone off to a game and it got cancelled so he took us all to have a look at Symonds Yat which is another thing I always remember!
“He was a great fella was Joe.”
Steve and Richie actually bumped into each other a few months ago, when Steve was visiting Bilbrook Recycling Centre and Richie was watching two of his sons play football on the adjacent Banks’ Field.
“It’s great to see each other again here in the Museum,” said Richie.
The CST sessions delivered by the NHS offer a really important service for participants and also often feed into Molineux Memories, the group for people with dementia and their carers which is delivered twice weekly at the stadium.
“It is always great to work with the NHS and support people from across the city by helping them deliver some great sessions at Molineux,” says Foundation Health Officer Dan Webster.
“As soon as we found out about Richie’s footballing history, and his link with Steve, who is a great supporter of our projects, it was great to link them both up at one of our recent sessions at the Museum.”
