The Have Never For Once Made Any “Grade” At The Club, Wolves Revealed…

The Have Never For Once Made Any “Grade” At The Club, Wolves Revealed…

The former Wolves fab four who never made the grade at Molineux

It is early Friday evening at the Cleveland Arms, a couple of miles out of Wolverhampton City Centre.

Just a regular night in the popular sports bar, with a few commuters popping in for a quick post-work snifter, others readying themselves for a more sustained session on the beers, and several donning belated Halloween fancy dress.

From one table in the middle of the pub, the hubbub of conversation is punctuated by regular explosions of raucous laughter.  A stream of one- liners, and relentless mickey-taking and nostalgic storytelling.  Even without knowing, you can almost guess that these are former footballers.  It’s the unmistakable ambiance of pure and unadulterated dressing room banter, recreated some three decades on

Stuart Leeding, Dave Read, Steve Morgan and Andy Harnett were together within the youth ranks at Molineux some 30 years ago.  Part of a Band of Brothers setting out on the long and winding road to pursue their dreams both in football and in life.  They are joined by Daz Taylor, not a Wolves youth player at the time, but a close friend of them all.  They haven’t met up for a while.  But it feels like it was only yesterday.  Their shared experiences are such that they are always intertwined.

The fact is, none of the quartet made it at Molineux.  None even managed to forge a professional career at football league level.  But they will always, always, have the memories.

“Just imagine it,” says Leeding.  “At that age, and all you had to do was play football, and have a laugh with your mates.  Every single day. The fitness side, the banter.  What more could you ask for?”

“We were living the dream,” adds Read.  “Back then you could say absolutely anything to each other and get away with it!”

“The banter we had was something else,” says Harnett.  “Even now, I think we can just look into each other’s eyes and it all comes back and we can relive it all over again!”

“I played for my local football club and the one I support, and I don’t think there is ever anything that can beat that,” Morgan explains.

Over 90 minutes, appropriately, the quartet go through those old memories.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  There is way too much discussed to be included here.  And some not necessarily fit for public consumption.  But the team spirit, togetherness, camaraderie.  It’s like it has never been away.

They are even more boisterous than the group in fancy dress.

Ask about their career paths before landing a YTS spot or apprenticeship at Wolves and a host of well-known local clubs are mentioned. And some well-known local coaches