Steve Bull's old gold makeover marks 30 years at Wolves

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

He wasn't the only one making the trip, either, with Andy Thompson also venturing 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 October 23, 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 April 12, 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.

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 renamed 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 nickname 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 says: "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 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, 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!," he laughs.

"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 grandad 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'.

"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," he recalls.

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 Bully 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 & Star, where he said: "It's a big investment, but we'll get a long-term return."

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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 says: "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."