John Richards pays tribute to Wolves 'icon' Ron Flowers
Wolves great John Richards has paid tribute to club icon Ron Flowers after it was announced the World Cup winner has died at the age of 87.
A true legend of the game, Flowers went on to play 512 times for Wolves after joining from Doncaster in 1950.
During his 15 years at the club, he won the First Division in 1954, 1957 and 1959. He then won the FA Cup in 1960.
Flowers was capped 49 times by England and was famously part of the Three Lion's squad that lifted the World Cup under Sir Alf Ramsey in 1966.
Upon his retirement, he opened a sports shop in Wolverhampton — Ron Flowers Sports — which remains open in the city centre.
Flowers was also the president The Wolves Former Players’ Association.
"Ron was and always will be one of our icons," said legendary striker Richards who is now chairman of The Wolves Former Players’ Association.
"He was a founder member of the former players' association and our president. He will be sadly missed.
"Ron was respected for being a fantastic player and a fantastic person – that is the way people think of him.
"I first came to Wolverhampton in 1969 and he had just opened his shop but I knew him from the World Cup squad.
"The two big names in Wolverhampton were Billy Wright and Ron Flowers – they were the two people everyone saw as Wolves and that was it.
"Ron was a big man in many ways. He was statuesque, blonde, a commanding presence whenever you were with him.
"But he was also an unassuming, polite and lovely man – that is how he was with everyone.
"You would never have thought he was a star player with Wolves and England.
"He had no ego about his playing achievements, and his playing achievements were unbelievable.
"Today is a very sad day."
Internationally, Flowers featured in 40 consecutive matches for England between November 1958 and April 1963, which included the 1962 World Cup in Chile.
He did not feature as Sir Alf Ramsey's men became world champions on home soil in 1966, but received a World Cup winner's medal at Downing Street in 2009 after only those on the field at the final whistle initially got one.
He left Wolves the year after to join Northampton, where he served as player-manager, followed by spells at Telford and Wellington Town.
Flowers was awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Year Honours List.
