Wolves legend Billy Wright brought to life in emotional evening

More than 350 people came to pay reverence to the late, great William Ambrose Wright, better known as one-club man, Wolves and England captain Billy Wright, at the Prince of Wales theatre in Cannock on Thursday.

Less a show and more of a celebration, 'The Billy Wright Story' was an emotional journey through the life and times of the man once described as too small to make it as a footballer, but who made it to the top of the game.

Drawing on archive footage and family photos, Billy's eldest daughter Vicky spoke from the heart about her father, showing the journey he took to get to Wolves in the late 1930s and how his dream was nearly ended by a broken ankle during the war.

Beaming with pride, Vicky spoke fondly about her father's first game for England, his friendship with Hungary captain Ferenc Puskas and how much he valued his time at Wolves and with England, including being able to wave to his wife as he got his 100th cap for England against Scotland in April 1959, just six days after the birth of Vicky.

She also told a funny story about how Billy saw Joy Beverley for the first time when the England squad went to a show and she was performing.

Vicky said that Ron Flowers told her how the team teased him on the way, with Billy being really bashful and shy about it, but, as Ron Flowers put it: "He got his own back though, as he married her six months later."

At times funny, other times poignant, the talk by Vicky moved on to Billy's love of his family and how when he was working for Central TV and was forced to work in Birmingham for extended periods, he developed an alcohol addiction, something Vicky said was difficult to talk about and not something many people knew.

However, as Vicky pointed out, he overcame his problem and became "our Billy" again, with a sweet tale of how he sat with his new granddaughter Kelly all night while Vicky slept in the hospital.

At the heart of it, you could see how much Billy Wright still means to his daughter and how, 28 years after his death, he is still loved by his family, by Wolves and by anyone who knew him.

The first half concluded with a video showing how the Waterloo Road stand at Molineux became the Billy Wright stand, with the man himself giving a speech when it opened, and how, when he died in September 1994, the outpouring of emotion was clear for all to see, as it was at the unveiling of the statue in his honour.

The second half delivered a change in mood as Vicky's partner, comedian Bobby Davro, provided an hilarious and, at times, close to the knuckle comedy set, speaking about his own father, Olympic runner Bill Nankeville and the fact that Bill and Billy were both in the same army regiment in Aldershot in the 1940s.

Two Wolves legends provided their own memories of Billy Wright, with Mel Eves talking about Billy Wright inviting him to sit in an executive box with him at Molineux during a reserves game and how modest Billy was.

Ted Farmer then told a lovely story about Wolves beating Honved in 1954 and the Hungarian coach asking Billy where several of the players had come from, with Billy saying "Walsall" and the coach replying: "Thank God we weren't playing them!"

The best story of the night concerned the wedding of Billy Wright and Joy Beverley, who decided to get married at a registry office in Poole, as Joy was on tour in nearby Bournemouth.

Vicky Wright told how the couple and the other Beverley sisters were driving into Poole and were met with a traffic jam and thousands of people on the roadside, which led Billy Wright to lean out of the window and ask a policeman what was going on, with the officer replying: "I think they're here to see you."

The evening ended with lovely tributes from across football and family to Billy Wright, a tribute that left a people wiping away a tear.

He may be gone, but Billy Wright will never be forgotten as long as shows like The Billy Wright Story are around and people like Vicky Wright are around to tell them.