Wolves legend John Richards travels to north-east to honour unsung heroes

Richards was part of a three-man delegation which headed to Lanchester, in County Durham, to present an award to the family of Joe Gardiner following his induction into the club’s hall of fame earlier this year.

It followed months of work tracking down relatives of the former player, coach and scout, who effectively served as assistant to Stan Cullis during Wolves’ glory years of the 1950s.

“Joe never married or had children and spent nearly all of his adult life in Wolverhampton, so we initially struggled to track down any relatives of his,” said Richards.

“We made strenuous efforts through social media to find any Gardiners in the Durham area and were close to accepting defeat. Then we launched one last effort in May through broadcasters in the north-east and a BBC reporter called Martin Lindsay found Joe’s nephew, John.

“We discovered he was a retired deputy head teacher who was not only a big football fan but one who had taken a real interest in Joe’s career and made sure a lot of his keepsakes were treasured by the family.”

Gardiner, born in Bearpark, a short distance from Lanchester, joined Wolves as a 16-year-old in 1932 and went on to make 139 appearances at half-back prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, becoming a key part of the team which finished runners-up in the league and FA Cup.

After being part of the backroom team under Cullis, he then went on to scout for the club and played a key role in convincing Richards and Kenny Hibbitt, among many others, that Molineux was the place for them. He died in 1997.

Richards was joined in Durham by his Wolves Heroes website partner, David Instone, and hall of fame guide Peter Crump. The award presentation was filmed by the BBC and will be shown in the region tonight.

“We would love to have invited John and one or two others to the hall of fame dinner in April and put them up overnight,” said Richards. “But the next best thing was taking the award to his house – that seemed much more satisfactory than it staying indefinitely somewhere at Molineux.

“Joe was a remarkable man, so devoted to Wolves and very well liked by so many people at Molineux and beyond.”