30 years ago today: Steve Bull joins Wolves

A Thursday that began at West Bromwich Albion and finished at Molineux occurred on 20 November 1986,

He wasn't the only one making the trip, either, with Andy Thompson also making the trip with him to talk to Wolves about a £70,000 double deal.

Both were attackers, at the time, and still contenders for the first-team at Albion, who had just been relegated to Division Two.

That was nothing compared to what was happening to Wolves, who were beginning the first of their two and only seasons in English football's bottom tier.

Graham Turner's arrival as boss had steadied the ship somewhat, though, while Baggies counterpart Ron Saunders was busy clearing out much of the squad at the Hawthorns.

'Bully' had been plucked from West Midlands League outfit Tipton Town in 1984, whose manager Sid Day also worked as a scout for Albion.

Two bosses, Johnny Giles and Nobby Stiles, had already been and gone in the time he spent on their books and his future at the club was bleak under Saunders.

He'd made his first-team debut under Stiles on 23 October 1985, replacing Garth Crooks as a substitute in a 2-1 Full Members Cup win against Crystal Palace.

He would wait another five months for his league debut, a 1-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers on 12 April 1986. His full bow came in the starting line-up at home to Sheffield Wednesday 10 days later.

That would turn out to be his only football in the top-flight, with three more Second Division appearances and two League Cup appearances the next season before he was sold.

That yielded his first goals in the Football League, two in four games and another one in the League Cup, first finding the net twice in a 4-3 league defeat at home to Ipswich Town on September 13.

His final Albion strike came at Derby County 11 days later, the consolation in a 4-1 League Cup loss. Then, one morning, the writing on the wall became clear.

He was the driving force behind the move to Wolves, too, after using his first wife Sarah's car to take him and 'Thommo' to Molineux before they thrashed out terms.

They put pen to paper that afternoon as the club's goalscoring record era of Bully, now aged 51, began for the next 13 years as he surpassed John Richards' tally with 306 goals in 561 appearances.

The former John Ireland Stand at the ground has been re-named after him and he's an honorary club president. He was made an MBE in 2000 and won 13 England caps, going to the 1990 World Cup.

'The Tipton Skin,' a nicknamed he picked up for his unmistakeable accent and crew cut, debuted at home to Wrexham two days after joining with no idea how he or the club would grow.

Wrexham beat them convincingly and two further 3-0 defeats would follow by the end of November, the famous FA Cup humbling at non-league Chorley and a lifeless loss at Lincoln City.

He said: "I was 21, at the time, and very immature. I didn't really know that much about football and I'd only been a professional for about 18 months.

"Sid Day was a scout for Johnny Giles and Nobby Stiles and my manager at Tipton Town. He got me the chance with Albion.

"I was doing 13 hours a day in a factory and then training Tuesday and Thursday night with the youth-team at Albion. I left my job to go and play football.

"I only did that when I got my deal and I knew I had to make the most of it. I rolled my socks up and hard work, sometimes, pays off.

"I did wonder what I was doing there, at first, but I thought I could blend in when I started training with the rest of the players.

"I had the natural ability to score goals that certain people just know, when to get in the channels at the right times, but they only used me a handful of times.

"When they decided to sell me, I'd just scored three goals in five games but there was also Garth Crooks, Imre Varadi and George Reilly up front. When I got in the side, I always took my chances.

"I just don't know why I didn't fit into Ron Saunders' plans. He didn't like the way I played, in fact that was the same for a number of us.

"Wolves made an offer for me and Thommo and I've never had an agent in my life, otherwise I'd probably be a multi-millionaire now!

"I'd got no choice, I had to leave Albion. We were in the middle of training one morning and Ron pulled me aside to tell me he wanted a word afterwards.

"I went into see the manager and I even thought I might be going up there to get a pay rise. I didn't realise I was going to be sold.

"I would love to know what the Albion fans think of that now, at the time they were asking me why I was going, but we were realists. I couldn't say no.

"I'd passed my driving test when I was 19 and I used to drive Thommo everywhere. His Nan and granddad took him to the places I couldn't get him to, or he'd use public transport.

"Molineux was not the best then, sometimes when I'm there now I just stop to look at the place and think 'what a transformation.' It's gone from nothing to the golden palace.

"We came through reception and to the manager's office, where Graham came out and wanted to see us separately. I went in, then Thommo.

"He told me that day what the club would be like in 30 years time and he was absolutely bang on. Whenever I see him, I shake his hand about that.

"We were just Black Country lads who wanted to play first-team football and he guaranteed us that. He talked to us from the heart. I wasn't thinking any further forward than the next day.

"It was a run-down club offering a like-for-like deal, but Albion didn't want to give us a chance and Wolves opened doors for us.

"Nobody knows what's in front of them, a lot of it just happened. It just went from one thing to another. It's been very special."

Thompson will always be associated due to his part in the transfer that took them both away from Albion, arriving to a mixed reception.

He was valued at £20,000 with Bull costing £50,000 at a time when Wolves had only escaped financial ruin a few months earlier.

Turner appeased supporters in an interview with the Express and Star, where he said: "It's a big investment, but we'll get a long-term return."

That return on Thompson's part was 451 games and 45 goals in 11 years from the 49-year-old, who was born in Featherstone. He was converted into a full-back who, of course, liked to get forward.

It was a wrench for him to leave Albion, initially, having come through the youth ranks and he didn't think he was given the send-off he deserved.

Neither he or Bully were losing out financially on the move and they felt wanted for the first time in a while, which made all of the difference.

He also remembers how excited Turner was by the prospect of teaming Bully up with Andy Mutch, their goal-getter who had joined for £5,000 from Southport the previous February.

Thommo said: "I was 13 when I went to West Brom and a forward, originally. I got scouted playing for a kid's team in Bloxwich, as a nippy striker who was scoring a few goals.

"All of my friends were Wolves fans, but there wasn't as much of a rivalry as there is now. That element wasn't always there, because of the difference in leagues.

"There's a few of us who have made the move to Wolves in Ally Robertson, myself, Bully, Robbie Dennison and John Paskin.

"I'd carried on playing either up front or on the wing for Albion and I was in the team at the time that I left. That was the one thing that I just couldn't understand.

"There were some big earners there, international players and I was just a young lad who wasn't on massive money. It turned out to be the wrong decision for the club.

"There was just a feeling I had when I first came to Wolves, I felt it was the right choice for me even considering where they were.

"I remember the day I signed, I went into training as normal and I didn't drive at the time. I'd get the train to Smethwick and then the bus to the training ground.

"I got a lift down to the Hawthorns because the manager wanted to speak to me and it was a passing comment in the corridor, it wasn't even in his office.

"I was a little upset by that, because all of the years I'd spent at the club. I knew he thought that Bully's first touch always let him down, although he had a good goalscoring record.

"I went to go to Wolves and they told me to hang on, because someone else was coming with me. Turned out it was Bully.

"He drove us down to Molineux and was talked about what we were going to do, so we sent to see what it was like. Jack Harris and Dick Homden (club directors) met us there.

"There was only the John Ireland Stand and the South Bank open, the Waterloo Road Stand had burned down and the other end was derelict. All they were bothered about was stabilising the club.

"We'd come from West Brom, which was a nice ground at the time, but there was just something about Wolves. I had that connection as a Wolverhampton lad, as well.

"Bully went in to see the manager first and it was literally just for a few minutes. He came out and he'd signed. I went in and Graham sold the club to me.

"He was building a young team and he thought he could do great things. He couldn't wait to pair Bully up front with Mutchy and he promised me first-team football.

"The money wasn't great, but it was triple what I was on at West Brom. I was earning about £100-a-week. When I played in the first-team, my bonuses were three or four times my wages."

Bull and Thompson were not the last to leave Albion for Wolves that season, with winger Robbie Dennison jumping ship for £20,000 on transfer deadline day in March 1987.

It had taken four months longer for him to become a victim of Saunders' cull but, again, the move paid dividends for Wolves. He spent 10 years at the club and played 353 times, scoring 49 goals.

He had previously shared Bully's surprise when his team-mates were sold before the same thing happened to him.

Dennison said: "When Ron came in (January 1986), the first-team became the reserves almost overnight. To be fair, we were as good as relegated from Division One already.

"He knew he had to make changes, so he tried to sweep the board and get as many players out of the door as possible, while bringing in as many as he could.

"In hindsight, he did us all a favour really. I knew Steve and Andy pretty well, but they left a few months before me.

"I was surprised they let Bully go, because he was playing in the first-team and he was scoring goals, in a side that was really struggling. It would have made sense to keep him for a bit longer.

"He was always going to score goals, whatever level he was at. There was never any doubt of that. The fact he's scored as many goals as he did wasn't a real surprise to me.

"Thommo had played more first-team games, but he was a striker or playing out wide at the time. It was Wolves that turned him into a full-back.

"I'd knew for a month or so that I was on my way out of Albion. I wasn't in the team and, if I did get used, I felt like I was playing to get away.

"Wolves were just getting going in Division Four and there was a winning mentality at the club, by that point, under Graham Turner.

"He had got together a group of lads that had done nothing in the game and got them organised and working hard.

"We've made over 1,000 appearances for Wolves between us and it's turned out to be fantastic business for the club. Did Ron regret selling us? I think he probably does."

Dennison does have Albion to thank for giving him the opportunity to change his life and he's never left the Black Country. The 53-year-old still lives in Halesowen.

Baggies defender and fellow Northern Irishman Jimmy Nichol got him spotted, when he was turning out for Glenavon.

Boss Johnny Giles resigned soon after he arrived at the club and he was restricted to 16 appearances, with his one solitary strike at home to Watford in December 1985.

He would follow Bully into becoming an international player while with Wolves, winning 18 caps for his country from 1988 and 1997.

Dennison said: "I was 22 and playing Irish League football and I thought that was going to be about it for me. Jimmy Nichol was over and he was playing for Albion at the time.

"He must have gone back and told the manager about me and I got invited to a three-week trial, I did OK and they took me on.

"I was fortunate, really, because I was a bit old to be called a prospect. I'd pretty much given up on coming to England as I'd previously had trials at Brighton, Oxford United and Chelsea.

"That was when I was 16 and 17 and, by 22, you sort of think the chance has passed you by. I was a wages clerk in a factory, at the time.

"I'd already seen all sides of the game and that just made me more determined to succeed when I did come across.

"I got injured on my debut at Newcastle and I ended up being out for three to four weeks. By the time I got back, Johnny Giles had resigned.

"Nobby Stiles came in as caretaker for a bit, then Ron came in and he moved me on a bit later on. In the end, I was only at the club for 18 months.

"I'd played 16 games for them and the only thing that was particularly memorable was the one goal I scored for them."