On this day: Remember Tom Galley and Wolves

The club will celebrate his 140th birthday next year, having started life as St Luke's before becoming one of the 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888.

Supporters, their kids and their grandchildren after them have stuck through Wolves through thick and thin and will continue to do so, writes Craig Birch.

The fans always back one of their own and a local boy made good in a gold'n'black shirt, from anywhere past Birmingham in the West Midlands, is proven to be popular.

The history books are full of examples, but a great servant from yesteryear is remembered today in the form of Hednesford-born Tom Galley, 16 years on to the day of his death.

He passed away in Cannock aged 84 on 12 July 2000, some 50 years on from hanging up his boots as a player. He had left Wolves three seasons earlier, in 1947.

He'd spent 14 years on the books as an attacker who picked up two England caps, scoring on his debut against Norway before featuring against Sweden two days later.

His international recognition came after he'd pinned down a place in the Wolves side, where he'd first debuted away to Sunderland in a goalless draw on 5 January 1935.

Versatility as the man who was a goal threat from anywhere on the field made him popular with both Wolves boss Major Frank Buckley and, eventually, the England selectors.

He'd finished the 1936-37 season as Wolves' second top goalscorer, behind Gordon Clayton with 16 strikes. In the following campaign, one purple patch saw him hit 12 in 15 games.

The 1938-39 term saw him fill in at full-back, centre-half as well as his favoured role up front, with Wolves firmly in the hunt for major honours. In the end, they came off second best.

First Everton beat them to the First Division title with a game to spare, leaving everything riding on the 1939 FA Cup final. Galley had notched in a 5-0 victory over Grimsby at Old Trafford in the semis.

It was not to be for Galley and his team-mates, with Portsmouth romping to a 4-1 success in front of an 99,370 attendance at Wembley Stadium. Stan Cullis captained a shell-shocked Wolves that day.

Later that year, World War Two broke out. To the detriment of his football career but for the pride in his country, he served in France and Germany with the Royal Artillery and played when he could.

His proudest moment came during the war years but, with the conflict still going on, many club and international fixtures were not deemed to be competitive games.

Alas, neither was the 1942 Football League Cup Final. The third edition of the competition was a two-legged affair, with Wolves first going to Sunderland to register a 2-2 draw.

This was the only time in history that the final of a tournament was decided in such a way. But what an afternoon it was at Molineux on 30 May, seven days after the first tie.

Galley captained the side as they romped to a 4-0 victory with Dennis Westcott and Frank Broome scoring, before Jack Rowley bagged a brace for an emphatic 4-0 win.

It would turn out to be the only serious silverware he would collect during his playing days but, in the eyes of the record books, it was almost as if it counted for nothing.

Galley would remain at the club after the war ended but nothing would match that experience, even a one and only career hat-trick against FA Cup underdogs Lovells Athletic.

Wolves were up against the works team from the sweet factory, based just outside Newport in South Wales, in a first round tie that was, again, staged over two legs in 1945-46.

The home side led 4-2 against the non-league minnows and really clicked into gear back at Molineux, romping to an 8-2 rout with Galley netting three in one sitting for the first time.

The 1947-48 season proved to be the last when he was a regular in the starting line-up and, in the following campaign, he would only make six appearances.

He left hat November to join Grimsby Town, were he was captain for just over a year before injury finished his career, barring a short spell at Kidderminster Harriers.

He managed non-league outfit Clacton Town, for a time, but remained true to his roots and lived in the area for the rest of his life. He'd played in 204 games for Wolves, scoring 49 times.