Wolves Identity: Gold Shirt, Global Squad

It cannot escape the attention of Wolves fans that, besides our gradual slide into footballing mediocrity, we are a first team squad of players with no local knowledge. By that I mean we have no English players, apart from a couple of average goalkeepers. Of course, many will merely shrug their shoulders and say ‘well, that is the way of the modern world.’  To an extent, they would be correct, but should we not question whether this is a good thing or not? 

Before I continue, I should mention that I was the author of a chapter entitled ‘No More Heroes’, in the A Load of Bull book, We Are Wolves, that came out in 1997. In it, I bemoaned the fact that the first team squad for the season before (95/96) had so few locally born players. I was concerned that our team contained ‘mercenaries’ from Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham etc. I went on to suggest that fans would back the team more vociferously if the majority came from Cannock, Chasetown or Codsall, rather than the more exotic climes above.  

Looking back on that chapter today it is interesting to see that the debate has moved on to whether we have any English players, rather than just lamenting the lack of West Midlanders. Doubtless many would not worry about this, as most want to just see the best possible team representing Wolverhampton Wanderers, regardless of nationality. To a point this is entirely reasonable, as we are most certainly not able to turn our noses up at players just because they come from Zimbabwe (Munetsi) or Haiti (Bellegarde). However, when we look back into the creation of association football, what was it meant to represent?  

The local community. 

Can we honestly say that is the case when our team comes from around the world, rather than the playing fields of Wolverhampton and its surrounding areas? Have we moved so far away from the original concept that Conor Coady, born in Liverpool, is the nearest we have had recently who could pass as a ‘local’ legend? Our youth team set up, which once produced the likes of Matt Murray, Lee Naylor, Joleon Lescott and Adam Proudlock, seems bereft of talent, with the result that young players in our first team are hardly ever seen. Matheus Mane, 18-years-old, remains our one great hope, and it remains to be seen if our struggles this campaign will help or hinder his development.  

After Coady, the nearest we have come to someone ‘getting’ the locals was Ruben Neves, a man of stature who will always be remembered fondly by Wulfrunians.However, all these players pale in comparison to the likes of Bull, Thompson, Stowell, Geoff Palmer and others who lived in the locality and are part of our history. Equally, John Richards, who was born in Warrington, not Wolverhampton, has continued to live in the area he played in, despite retiring from Wolves in 1983. He clearly understands the city and is part of the rich culture of the Black Country. Can anyone imagine the likes of Toti Gomes or Moller Wolfe continuing to live here after they move on? Even more praiseworthy, Geoff Palmer loved the local community so much that he became a copper after retirement, further serving the Wolverhampton public. Will Tolu Arokodare do that when he retires? I suspect not, as he will probably fail the medical…  

Dazzling always mentions that we lack identity, although he is referring more to the team’s style of play than their nationality, but I would agree, we do. 

Even a few years ago we did have a national identity that did indeed work, albeit it was one that was based on the Portuguese ex-pats we attracted, via the lure of pork scratchings and pints of Banks’s (now sadly defunct). Oh, how other fans laughed at us, as we had up to ten Portuguese players in the squad at any one given time (seasons 20/21 and 21/22), even going as far as having a Portugal inspired shirt. Personally, though, I enjoyed that time, not just for us winning some games, but because being a Portuguese team (effectively) in England was an identity of sorts.  

Recently we had a team of eleven different nationalities on the pitch, making it hard to work as an identity, especially given the language issues that spin off from this. I know the gold shirt is supposed to be the glue that makes all these players bond together but supposing it is not? Is this, perhaps, a contributing factor to the team playing so badly and the dropping of heads when the first goal goes against us?  

I dare say that some are reading this and thinking ‘he is just blaming foreign players,’ but that would be wrong, I would respectfully argue. I just think it bizarre that a team who produced the captain of England (Billy Wright, 90 England caps as leader, 105 caps in total) has not had one senior outfield player on the pitch who could represent England – in the whole of the first half of the season*.    

That said, I acknowledge that we would not win a game if we had a team of eleven Nathan Frasers (Wolverhampton born). 

To play Devil’s Advocate, would this issue have come to the fore if we were in the top half of the league, enjoying the fruits of our stars? I suspect not, but I think it should matter, as an area should be represented by the people it serves, which is the mantra used elsewhere in society.   

Football does not exist in a vacuum, though, and in some ways the issue of identity has played out more forcefully in the country as a whole, this past summer.    

Lastly, to go back to my original chapter, back in 1997, some parts of it have dated quite badly. For instance, I was indignant that Steve Bruce had signed a playing contract at Blues for the obscene wage of 17k per week, and I was calling him out for destroying football, with his monstrous salary. It is weird how that figure now seems so small, in footballing terms, given that some in our team alone are rumoured to receive over 100k per seven days’ work.   

How times change. 

*Matheus Mane (England U/18 international) has made a couple of first team appearances as well.