A host of football legends past and present turned out to celebrate the 90th birthday of former Wolves goalkeeper Bert ‘The Cat’ Williams.

Rock star and Wolves vice-president Robert Plant and 1966 World Cup goalie Gordon Banks were among the 250 guests who joined Bert at Molineux for his special birthday lunch yesterday.

There was an appearance half way through by Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, who arrived from the club’s Compton Park training ground to hand Bert a bottle of champagne. Other former players who attended the lunch included Steve Bull, John Richards, Ron Flowers, Eddie Stuart, Fred Davies, Phil Parkes and the club’s current goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.

Click on the thumbnails to see more pictures from Bert’s birthday bash.

Bert, who is the oldest surviving England World Cup player and lives in Shifnal, near Wolverhampton, said afterwards it had been an “exceptional” occasion.

“It was very nice to have so many players in the same room and it brought back a lot of fond memories,” he said. “It reminded me of when I was a young lad playing for Wolves and England. It was nice to see everyone again – it was very special.

“One of my greatest memories is playing for England in a match against Italy in 1949 – this was when I got my nickname The Cat when the Italian fans started chanting it.

“I played really well in that game and we won 2-0. I also remember when Wolves beat Manchester United in the semi-final of the FA Cup, also in 1949. We played with two defenders who were badly injured but we managed a draw and in the replay, we beat them.It was a great atmosphere.”

The 90-year-old was joined at the event by his two sons Vaughan and Paul, daughter Annette as well as his two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Former Led Zeppelin frontman Plant, who was seated at a table at the back of the room with Steve Bull, donated one of his signed guitars for a charity auction. It was snapped up for £851 in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society.

He said: “I can get tickets for most gigs but there are some events where the tickets are priceless and this is one of them.”

Bert joined Wolves from Walsall in 1945 and went on to make 420 appearances for the Molineux club where he won the League Championship and FA Cup. He finally called it a day on his playing career in 1959.

He was England’s Number One for the ill-fated 1950 Brazil World Cup where the much-fancied side suffered the embarrassment of being beaten 1-0 by America.