Johnny Phillips: Super fan George provided great memories at Wolves
One of Wolves’ much-loved and dedicated supporters, who played a key role in some of the most colourful chapters of this club’s history, died recently.
George Dawidow’s passing last month is a reminder of supporters’ strength when rising to a challenge, no matter what obstacles are in front of them.
George was the fan whose idea for an away trip to Newcastle United during the 1989/90 season eventually led to the famous New Year’s Day airlift, when Wolves supporters chartered a fleet of Boeing-737s for the journey to the Second Division match in the north-east.
With a couple of friends, George approached Albert Bates, chairman of the official supporters’ club, several weeks ahead of the game and asked if there was any chance a small plane could be chartered for the journey as they had a big New Year’s Eve planned and didn’t fancy a long drive with a hangover the following morning.
“I had contacts within the air industry, not directly with aircraft, but with support equipment at the airports,” recalls Albert. “That’s how it kicked off, three or four businessmen asking if I could organise something for them because they didn’t fancy a five or six-hour drive having been on the pop the night before.”
The cost turned out to be quite prohibitive, upwards of £350 each, but Albert was told that if the passenger numbers went up then the price would go down.
George helped spread the word and Albert put an advert in the matchday programme to garner more interest.
