Pair mark golden wedding with Wolves trip

When Ron Morris emigrated from Wolverhampton to Australia more than 40 years ago, The Elephant and Castle pub on Stafford Street was still standing and Molineux resembled a “big cow shed”.

The 75-year-old and wife Irene were amazed to see how their home city had changed after returning to the area for the first time in decades to see friends and family, and enjoy a special tour of Ron’s beloved Wolves ground.

The couple emigrated to Melbourne in 1966 but Ron never lost his enthusiasm for his team. He and 72-year-old Irene celebrate 50 years of marriage in December and decided to mark their golden wedding anniversary while back in the Black Country with a tour of Molineux.

Mr Morris, a retired landscape gardener, and his wife left their home in Coven to start a new life in the sun along with their children Clive, now aged 45, and Michelle, now 47. They also have another daughter, 35-year-old Debbie, who was born in Australia.

“We left Wolverhampton because we wanted to try living in another country before our children had to settle to go to school,” Mr Morris said. “I’d have liked to have come back during the season to watch the team play but I don’t know how I’d take to a British winter. Wolverhampton has certainly changed.

“We got married in Christ Church in Whitmore Reans but it’s gone now and has been replaced with a mosque. I was shocked to hear that the Courtaulds textiles factory had gone and was replaced with housing, which has made a big difference to the look of the place.

“And The Elephant and Castle pub on Stafford Street has gone as well which is a real shame.”The couple’s holiday has seen them spend three weeks in Claverley near Wolverhampton while they visit family and friends.

Their life in Melbourne on six acres of land with its own lake is a far cry from the two bedroom semi they left behind in School Lane, Coven.

Mr Morris said: “I built the veranda myself out of volcanic rock which helps to keep it cool. We do have a lot of barbeques, probably five or six a year.”

Mr Morris was offered his trip to Molineux by legendary Wolves goalkeeper Bert Williams, who helped the team win the 1949 FA Cup before playing for England in the 1950 World Cup. The 87-year-old former keeper, who lives in Shifnal, responded to a letter which the pensioner had written to the Express & Star three years ago.

Mr Morris said: “I wrote that Bert was in such good shape that he could probably still do a great job in goal even now.

“He very kindly arranged for the Wolves historian Graham Hughes to show us around. I think it’s fantastic. I know that this stadium has been here for a good many years but the last time I saw it it was still a big cow shed. I remember watching my first match at the old ground. It was 1941 and we played Sunderland. I know we beat them and I think the score was 4-1.”

The couple were joined at Molineux by Mr Morris’s best man Ken Jenks, 75, a retired sales rep who used to work for the Alfred Preedy chain of tobacconists.