Feature: No sign of Jim Barron slowing down

And 40 since he was the assistant manager locked in the middle of one of the most challenging Molineux seasons in recent history, just a few months on from such a memorable promotion.

And now? Barron turned 80 in October, but he is still heavily involved in football, assisting former Wolves Academy coach and Birmingham City defender Jerry Gill at Bath City in National League South.

Age is just a number. But for a man who has spent over six decades involved in the game, football is clearly a way of life. One that is very difficult to escape from. And why should he?

“I wasn’t doing much when Gilly rang me to be honest,” Barron explains.

“I’d been scouting for Everton up until Covid which I really enjoyed – a great club that is by the way – but then a new fella came in wanting to bring his own people and have everyone based up in Liverpool.

“I am living down in Berkshire so couldn’t really do that, and so I’d been just relaxing really, getting into my golf which I’ve never done before, even at my age!

“I knew Gilly from when I was coaching at Birmingham and he was a player, and it started with him phoning me and asking me to go and watch a few games for him, of future opponents.

“A bit later he was back on asking me to go and give him a hand, and I was like ‘what do you mean?’ and he said to go down and help him with the coaching.

“It’s a round trip of 170 miles to their training ground and stadium, but I said I’d go and have a look and meet the lads.

“The first thing I said to them is what I have said to Jerry – that if I had ever gone back to a top club after Birmingham, I’d have taken him with me, because of his attitude and how he applies himself to the game.

“He was one of the best pros I ever worked with.

“I told them that I presumed they were exactly the same if they were there playing for him, and we did a bit of training, and they really are a great set of lads.

“We had a decent pre-season and start to the season before a bit of a shocker when losing a local derby 6-2 against Weston.

“After that we worked on shape, shape and more shape, and steadied things again and have done fairly well since.

“It’s a tough league in National League South, and Bath are part-time when several others are full time, but they are in and around the play-offs which would be a great achievement if they can stay there, given some of the finances elsewhere.

“And for me, I’m enjoying being around football again, and just want to help Jerry as much as I can.”

With Barron still travelling to training twice a week, and matches at a weekend, it is difficult to believe it is a full six decades since he first burst onto the scene.

Born and brought up in County Durham, he turned out as goalkeeper for representative teams such as Newcastle Schools and Northumberland Schools, and then came to the attention of the scouts of Wath Wanderers, Wolves’ nursery team based in Yorkshire.

At the same time as there was interest from Newcastle and Sheffield United, Wolves, then a top club fresh from three league titles and the 1960 FA Cup, made their move.

Barron had a desire to spread his wings and take on a new challenge, and so Molineux was his choice.

He lived in digs with team-mate John Galley with the legendary landlady and indeed laundry lady ‘Mrs Clamp’, mother of Wolves’ powerhouse right half Eddie, in a terraced house on the site of what is now ASDA, literally a stone’s throw from the stadium.

Barron was the last line of defence as Wolves reached the FA Youth Cup Final in 1961/62, edged out over two legs by Newcastle, but part of a team including the likes of Bobby Thomson and Peter Knowles from which pretty much everyone went on to play at senior level.

Then came his own first team debut, against then reigning champions Everton, on the final day of November, 1963.

He kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw, and another in his next appearance, a 2-0 win at Stoke, and another for half of what turned into a 3-3 draw with Aston Villa.