Wolves hero pays tribute to scout

Wolves legend Steve Bull today paid an emotional tribute to the late Ron Jukes.

See also: Scout who spotted Bully has died

Bully was signed by Wolves in 1986 after Jukes recommended him to the club while he was in the Albion reserves.

He went on to score 306 goals for the Molineux men, and Bully today admitted his career may never have progressed without the foresight of the talent-spotter.

Speaking this afternoon in Wolverhampton, Bully said: "Ron was a very, very special man and I owe a lot to him.

"He spotted me while I was playing for Albion and recommended me and Andy Thompson to Graham Turner, who was the Wolves manager at the time.

"He said 'he hasn't got the best first touch but he can score goals', and the rest is history.

"Ron always kept in contact with me throughout my career and I am very thankful for that. You've got to have real talent to pick out players like he did and scout them properly.

He added: "Ron was a top man, one of the very best. Everyone respected him - he was a great scout and a good friend. It is such a loss.

"He will be a big loss to the football world and will be sadly missed by everyone."

Mr Jukes was described in his biography by former Villa manager Ron Atkinson as "every manager's dream".

Mr Atkinson said: "As a chief scout, Ron Jukes is every manager's dream. Always ready to watch any player anywhere, in a large stadium or on a park pitch, he always comes back with a straight tale - a player can either play or he can't."