Sky Sports' Johnny Phillips: Festive Wolves memories warm the cold days

Festive fixtures have a character all of their own. Football fans become pilgrims during this period, defying the best efforts of the country’s antiquated transport network, wading through the swamp of consumerism, rallying against the tide of family obligations and braving the frosty elements to get to a match. This glut of games that can define a season.

It begins with the fixture before Christmas and comes to an end with the FA Cup third round.

A season can be left in tatters or reinvigorated depending on what happens in the space of little more than a fortnight. We all know it too.

This is when the stadiums are at their busiest. Friends meeting up in packed pubs or younger fans enjoying the holiday season, knowing there is no imminent return to school.

My own introduction to football came at this time of year. Prenton Park provided the humble surroundings for a third-round Cup tie away at Tranmere Rovers on a pudding of a pitch in 1983.

The memories linger, from watching in awe as the singing Wolves fans disembarked the British Rail football special at Rock Ferry station to Kenny Hibbitt’s scruffy goal in front of The Cowshed.

Being an out-of-towner it was some years later before a trip to Molineux was ticked off. The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York was kept off top spot by the Pet Shop Boys’ remix of Always On My Mind, but there was to be no such travesty on the pitch for the last game before Christmas 1987.

The winner of this one would top Division Four at Christmas, and Steve Bull’s double sunk Leyton Orient to keep Wolves ahead of the rest.

The atmosphere felt electric. I doubt it was – after all, two sides of the ground were shut – but for a kid making the journey for the first time, the sight of the four huge floodlight pylons and vast South Bank terrace was magic enough.

‘Wrap up!’, you hear anxious parents telling their children, but very often the football at this time provides enough energy and excitement to warm the hearts of the most cynical supporters.

Maybe it is just the number of games, with managers having no time on the training pitch to iron out bad habits or reign in free spirits.

On January 2, 1995 Graham Taylor’s promotion chasers welcomed Sheffield United to a freezing Molineux. Blades striker Nathan Blake would one day help Wolves to promotion, but back then he was their nemesis, scoring twice to put the visitors in command – his second an exquisite chip in front of the South Bank.

As the game drifted into injury-time, and with thousands of seats vacated in the home areas, Don Goodman won a penalty for Wolves that John De Wolf converted.

A minute later, Molineux was bouncing when Neil Emblen’s looping header salvaged an unlikely draw. The quality was in short supply, but the memory of that comeback remains vivid. There were no lost causes that season, although it would end in bitter disappointment come May.

The previous year, on New Year’s Day, I had managed to find one of the few trains in service to get from Liverpool to Stafford and pick up a lift with my dad’s mates to head cross-country to Peterborough.

It was a proper covered terrace at London Road for the away fans and they were in brilliant voice. The game was dreadful but with a minute to go Cyrille Regis – a cult hero during his brief time in gold – bundled one in from no more than a yard out, right in front of us, sparking delirious celebrations.

There is something about attending the away games at this time of year that feels more rewarding. Maybe it is the added effort of getting to games when the transport authorities appear to be doing their best to persuade everyone to stay at home.

In 2010, Wolves were conveniently in action just a couple of miles from my childhood home, when Mick McCarthy’s bottom-of-the-table side went to Anfield in search of something inspirational against Liverpool.

With Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres in the red ranks, optimism was in short supply, but Wolves conjured up the improbable.

Stephen Ward’s early second-half goal had visiting fans checking their watches for well over half an hour, every agonising second ticked off until the final whistle was blown.

These memories are some of the fondest, personally, but I will always envy those who made what history suggests was the greatest seasonal away trip of all. New Year’s Day 1990 has gone down in folklore amongst Wolves fans. Newcastle United 1, Wolves 4.

A huge travelling support, many of whom made their way to Tyneside by air after the club chartered eight flights from Birmingham airport, were treated to one of Steve Bull’s finest spells in a Wolves shirt. His four second-half goals included a nine-minute hat-trick.

With England manager Bobby Robson watching on in the stands, it was another big step on the road to Italia 90 for the record-breaking striker.

Games like that one at St James’ Park are once in a generation events, but making time to get to the match at this time of year is always worth it. A good result helps, but on one level that is the least important thing.

Festive football provides the constant backdrop at a time of the year that seems to bring all that is good and bad about life into sharper focus. There is plenty of Christmas spirit and love to be found right now.

Family gatherings, parties and fun-filled nights out are all a staple of these wintry days. But so too is the pressure of work, family tensions and loneliness.

This isn’t the column for a profound examination of all that, but look around and everyone is going through different experiences.

Football is the bit that brings us all together. A tangible escapism that provides certainty and structure when all around is a little bit chaotic. And the match at this time of year takes on life’s characteristics too.

Results can be unpredictable, performances can stand out. All creating memories that last a lifetime.

Get to a game, it will be worth the effort.