Graham Turner’s memories of lifting Wolves from depths
The Wolves of today may be very different to the one of the late 1980s, but fans will get a chance to take a step back in time at a special night at The Cleveland Arms next month.
Graham Turner, the manager who masterminded the club’s rise from near extinction and the foot of the Fourth Division back to the second tier of English football is the special guest at the popular Wolverhampton sports bar, on Thursday, February 16th.
Hosted by former Wolves keeper Matt Murray, the Q&A will no doubt look back on the days Turner took over at a ramshackle Molineux and guided the team to back-to-back promotions and Sherpa Van Trophy final success at Wembley during his seven-and-a-half years at the helm.
Fans will also get the chance to ask their questions, with other topics likely to come up including the transformational double signing of goalscoring legend Steve Bull and Andy Mutch, Friday morning memories of training on the Molineux car park, the infamous ‘Tuesday Club’ – where players would go out drinking after a tough training session – and Turner’s general recollections around getting to manage the club he supported as a boy.
For host Murray, there will be a poignant sidenote to the evening as he made his last professional appearance under Turner, suffering a knee injury while playing on loan for Hereford back in 2008.
“Graham is a top man and was a top manager who gave me the opportunity to go to Hereford to try and build up my fitness when I was coming back at Wolves,” says Murray.
“Sadly it didn’t work out well for either of us when I suffered the injury which finally led to my retirement, but I will never forget him giving me that chance as I would have loved to have worked with him for longer.
“I think we have all loved to see how Wolves have progressed in recent years to becoming established in the Premier League and playing in Europe, but it is thanks to people like Graham and the players from that time that the club managed to recover after almost dropping out of the league.
“I am sure Graham will be really open about his time as manager and it will bring back some great memories with fans able to discover the secret of the success of that team which is so fondly remembered.
“I love doing these nights at the Cleveland, the fans really enjoy them and there is always a great atmosphere, and I am sure the first Wolves event of 2023 will be no different.”
VIP tickets for the event have sold out but standard tickets remain, costing £12 with admission from 7.30pm for an 8pm start. These can be purchased online at the Cleveland Arms website or by calling the pub on (01902) 451021.
