How Wolves plunged to the lower leagues and nearly ceased to exist - Part 17: Fights on the pitch, and off it
In more detail than ever before, the Express & Star tells the full Bhatti brothers story – a troubled era which saw Wolves plunge to depths of the lower leagues and face financial oblivion. In Part 17, a fight on the pitch and an even bigger one off it as debts mount.
On November 23 Wolves were preparing for their home game against Gillingham. And waiting in the wings were a team of bailiffs poised to seize the gate receipts on behalf of a Dudley businessman, who said he was owed £24,000.
Bob Cooper had asked the High Sheriff's office to execute a warrant for the recovery of the debt, which he said was for the repayment of loans and for work carried out at Molineux.
Mr Cooper, a lifelong Wolves fan, said one of his companies carried out thousands of pounds' worth of building work for Wolves at cost price, but the bill was still unpaid. He claimed he also furnished the Molineux boardroom with cut-glass goblets and decanters worth hundreds of pounds.
"I gave them that as a gift, so the likes of Brian Clough and other top football personalities could be entertained in style, he said.
"I love the club, and hate to have to do this. But perhaps it will open the way for someone who else to step in, someone who really cares about Wolves."
The action was thwarted at the last minute, by claiming that the winding-up order which had been made in July was still in force pending an appeal. The club successfully argued that no assets could be seized until that order was set aside.
Indeed, the winding-up order was still in force, still awaiting a date in the High Court. But speculation was growing that the Bhattis had deliberately allowed this order to remain in place, to protect them from any future proceedings. Most of the debts the original petition related to had by this time been paid, and it was suggested that the Bhattis could easily have got the order lifted had they chosen to do so.
The mysterious world of the Bhatti brothers was the subject of a two-page Express & Star investigation, with former managers Tommy Docherty, Bill McGarry and Graham Hawkins, as well as the club's former public relations officer Rachael Heyhoe Flint lifting the lid on the shenanigans. Reporters David Harrison and Derek Tucker also spoke to some of the people who claimed they were owed money by the club.
Heyhoe Flint, a former sports reporter on the Express & Star's sister paper the Wolverhampton Chronicle as well as a leading women's cricketer, had the thankless task of managing the club's public image. But she said she was as mystified as anybody by the Bhattis' odd behaviour.
"When I first met them they came over as very charming and approachable people," she said.
"They were always immaculately turned out and certainly gave the impression of being affluent people. Their headquarters in London also suggested they were worth a lot of money. They were exquisitely furnished with lush carpets with gold embellished furniture.
"Far from being secretive, they appeared to be well known around the area of their offices and when they took me to lunch they appeared to be well respected and liked in the restaurant.
"What's more, they paid the bill."
Heyhoe Flint also met Mahmud Bhatti's wife Halla, who she described as a 'very sweet, charming and pleasant girl'.
The Bhattis were both teetotal, but had a penchant for luxury cars which they would drive to matches.
Each game, the drill was the same. They would arrive late and slip unnoticed into the ground, watching from the privacy of an executive box. They delayed their departure until well after everyone had gone home.
