'I would never have had my career without Bert Williams' says former Wolves keeper Fred Davies

Davies was a young shotstopper coming through the ranks at Molineux in the late 1950s and Bert had recently retired from playing.

The pair met in Bert's sports shop in Worcester Street, Wolverhampton, and it was the start of a friendship which lasted until his dying day.

"Without him, I would never had a career," said Liverpool-born Davies, who played 177 games for Wolves between 1961-68.

"In our day there were no goalkeeping coaches – it was a matter of teaching yourself. I'd gone to Wolves as a 17-year-old with people smashing balls against me and I went to him in his shop in Wolverhampton.

"I'd been at the club for about 12 months and was in the youth team but I couldn't see myself learning anything because I had no one to learn from, but he gave me reasons for doing what I was doing.

"I always remember saying to him 'you don't know who I am' and he said 'I do know who you are – you're Fred Davies'.

"I couldn't believe he already knew me.

"I told him I needed his help and he said 'get Jack Dowen, the reserve-team trainer, to put a bag of balls outside the away team dressing room on Waterloo Road and I'll meet you there and take you to Castlecroft' (Wolves' old training ground).

"He taught me so much it was amazing.

"He would teach me how to dive for a ball so that I always landed on my thighs and could roll, rather than landing on my backside.

"That way you never suffered injuries to your knees or hips, and even now, at the age of 74, I still haven't had problems there, so he knew what he was talking about.

"He was going to shoot at me once and he suddenly stopped so I said 'what's the matter?'

"He had a phrase which has always stayed with me – 'why are trees like that - straight?