Wolves legend Steve Bull ready for his 50th

Celebrating his half-century surrounded by old teammates, family and friends this weekend, the Wolves legend is the picture of mischievous contentment.

The hair may be greyer and slightly longer than in his crew-cutted pomp of two decades ago, but the club record 306-goal top scorer has all the sharpness and enthusiasm that he showed in his 13 years as one of the country's most feared goalscorers.

"I started celebrating on January 1 and they're going to end on December 31," he chuckles.

"I'm going to put that one to my wife Kirsty because she's arranged some nice surprises for me for the year ahead. I took 17 lads to Benidorm last week, they even managed to get me on a mobility scooter.

"Great time with great friends. The last time I did a half-century was back in 1989 when I scored 50 goals in a season. It's a number to me. Being fit and healthy, that's the most important thing."

These days, Bully has long been a fully paid-up member of Wolves 'royalty', regularly rubbing shoulders with the club's most famous fans such as pop stars Robert Plant – a fellow vice-president – and Beverley Knight.

But he is nothing but grounded, as we see as he rewards a steward with a bear hug for bringing us a tray of tea.

He then leaps to his feet to adjust the blinds to shield us from the light during the video shoot in one of the corporate suites at his beloved Molineux.

And he has lost none of the down-to-earth nature that came from his upbringing which all started in the 'Lost City' in Tipton on March 28, 1965.

"Molineux is my second home," he says. "But I can go back to South Road, Tipton, where I used to live growing up and know I was brought up the right way by my mum and dad.

"Then I went to the people down the road – 'Sandwell Town' (his light-hearted reference to arch rivals Albion) – where Ron Saunders sold me to Wolves, which was in a bit of a state when I came here in 1986.

"If I shut my eyes now I can still see what it was like – tiles falling off the walls, water leaking through everywhere. All these years later, I'm still part of the furniture."

Bully's story is as well worn as a pair of comfy old slippers around these parts. The archetypal Back Street International, his is a tale of triumphing against the odds.

He came from a Tipton council estate and on leaving school had stints labouring in a builders yard then fixing beds together before being told he would never make it as a professional footballer at the age of 17, after a knee operation.

Defying medical advice, he got his break at West Bromwich Albion – where he was again told he wouldn't make it big – before rewriting club history at Wolves which brought him England recognition.

After retirement came an MBE for services to football and charity, a stand named after him at Molineux and a club vice presidency from Sir Jack Hayward.

Now he heads his own foundation that has raised over £500,000, and, since December 2011, he's part-owned an Italian restaurant, Bravaccio's, in Tettenhall.

Having come so far, he admits it's still a pleasant surprise to reflect on the journey over the last half a century.

"If someone had clicked their fingers when I was lumping bags of cement around the builders yard and said I was going to be vice-president of Wolves, in a shirt and tie, speaking to chairmen, players and ex-players, I wouldn't have even dreamt it," he says, shaking his head.

"To this day, I have to pinch myself to think where I am and what I've done. At 17-year-old I had an operation on my knee and was told I would never be a professional footballer.

"But I did my job for 13 years, 17 years in all, and I was lucky to get that. So there was 17 years I thought I was never going to get anywhere.

"They say I kept the team going while Sir Jack Hayward was starting to rebuild the ground. But it takes quite a few people to build a team and I was one of them, just like he was one of them.

"I'm still part of this club now hoping to build it up even more."

And despite being kicked from pillar to post by defenders who got away with committing grievous bodily harm, reviled by jealous fans outside of Molineux and finally forced to retire from the injury when his knees finally gave way, he only has fond memories of a golden playing career.

"I absolutely loved every single minute of it, the only thing I hated about football was pre-season training," he says.

"You ask any pro and that's what they hate: it's six weeks solid of making yourself sick to be as fit as a greyhound ready for that first game of the season."

Four years after being told by then-Albion manager Ron Saunders that he would never be good enough to play in the second tier of English football, Bully was stepping out on the grandest stage of all, the World Cup in Italy, 1990.

Bully recalls: "My proudest moment was probably going to the World Cup. I've got the medal and I look at it and think it's one of my best achievements."

With the Action Man haircut, torso bent forwards and elbows pumping, Bully became an instant hero for his bludgeoning style and of course, prolific goalscoring.

But even real-life heroes can't go on for ever, and for Bully, his playing days all came to an end in 1999 when his knees finally gave up. Like many footballers forced to retire, it left him in limbo.

Thankfully he had invested his money wisely throughout his career and could afford to take time out to decide what to do with the rest of his life.

"I had no absolutely not idea at all what I was going to do," he admits. "I had a great financial adviser in Phil Oaten.

"He looked after me from my first 12 months in football and ever since. He said 'put this away, and you'll be okay after you retire from football.'

"Touch wood, he's been right. I didn't have a mobile phone or any flashy cars, I just put it all away each year."

But despite being semi-retired, he still had to find a way to fill his days.

He says: "I was used to getting up at 7.30am and clocking in, putting my boots on and then after a week it hit me – what am I supposed to do now?

"I didn't know what to do, beyond walking the dog and playing golf. I wanted to play football and I missed the 'buzz' of the lads in the dressing room, having a laugh."

As he looks back now, he was determined he wasn't going to end up like his old England teammate 'Gazza'. "I was always fairly grounded," he adds.

"Yes we all enjoy a beer, or in my case a glass of wine with ice, but you have to look after your body. I go to the gym two or three times a week, I keep my metabolism going."

Bully pulls no punches when it comes to Paul Gascoigne and the way alcohol took a grip on the most gifted English player of his generation.

"It is sad for him and I don't think he's been helped by certain people who have been around him," says the former striker.

"At the slightest sign of things happening like they have, you say 'hold on a minute, something's not right here' and keep in check. But then again sometimes you can't help people however much you try."

Bully didn't have too long to dwell on any sense of disappointment at his playing career ending as he had a special date to keep in December 1999 – with the Queen.

And as he tells the tale of how meeting the monarch unfolded, he can't resist a gentle mickey-take at the expense of Wolves' arch rivals.

"I just turned up at the palace and couldn't believe how huge it was," he remembers. "They call you up one by one and then I heard 'Stephen George Bull' so I went up and shook her hand.

"She was talking for about 18 seconds, saying I'd done very well in my football career, scoring a lot of goals and I said 'thank you very much'.

"And as I started to walk away she started laughing at me. So I asked her what she was laughing at and she said: 'I can't believe you played for the Albion."

"I went to Hereford with Graham in a coaching role and absolutely loved it," he recalls. "But the so-and-so got me to sign a contract to play.

"He got me on and I scored a couple of goals. I thought I could still play but then I thought 'no Graham, that's it, let me coach'."

In the intervening years he divided his time between building up his profile through Steve Bull Enterprises, including public appearances and product launches.

He's also studying for his football coaching badges, where he became qualified to the UEFA 'B' standard.

He finally returned to football in February 2008, in his first and only managerial post, at Stafford Rangers.

But it proved ill-fated as the board thought his appointment would swell the crowds.

"I was there for 10 months and loved it. But then they pulled the rug from under me," he says.

Away from his beloved Molineux, his 'hands-on' football work is limited to coaching kids at Birchfield School near Albrighton.

And, during his years after playing, he has used his name to help raise millions for charity. Through his help, Promise Dreams have now raised over £2 million in the last 12 years.

A growing number of requests for him to undertake more charity work led to him setting up the Steve Bull Foundation in 2010.

"They say scoring a goal is the biggest thrill but if you see someone in a wheelchair and you can help them, it feels even better," he adds.

Bully will always feel the pull to be involved on the footballling side, but is happy in his ambassadorial role.

He spends time with his wife Kirsty, who he married in 2004 and their seven-year-old daughter Gracie-Jo daughter. He also has two sons, Jack and Joe.

"I'm happy," he says. And for all you've given us Bully, so are we.

By Tim Nash