Wolves fans and the famous pay tribute to Sir Jack Hayward

His son Jonathan Hayward hailed his father as a 'great man' who had 'deep and genuine love' for the club.

Jonathan and Sir Jack's long-time companion Patti Bloom took to the Molineux pitch this afternoon to pay tribute to the club legend, who died on Tuesday, aged 91.

A special 100-page matchday programme was dominated with pages of Sir Jack tributes, including those from Jonathan and Patti.

In the programme, Sir Jack's son says: "Dad's strength and knowledge was for imaginative building and creating projects.

"The emergence of the new Molineux will remain a testament to his deep and genuine love for the club.

"It will leave a lasting legacy of his huge generosity to the town of Wolverhampton, his birthplace of which he was so proud.

"I have led a very privileged life wholly on the back of Dad's love and generosity. My father was a great man who achieved many mineral things during his life."

In a heartfelt tribute, Patti says: "I was so proud to be a part of this fine man's life.

"These happy years with him have taught me so much as I saw his simple way of doing the little things for people, at the same time never quite understanding why they adored him.

"He loved Wolves. He loved Wolverhampton. He loved the people of Wolverhampton and anyone who called Wolves 'their team'."

Several former Wolves players and managers – including Graham Turner, Dave Jones, Ron Flowers, Andy Thompson, Jody Craddock and John De Wolf – were also taking to the Molineux turf in tribute.

It comes as one of Wolves most famous supporters, legendary Led Zepplin frontman and vice-president at the club, Robert Plant, added his own tribute saying: to the hundreds which have poured in from all over the world.

The legendary Led Zepplin frontman, also vice-president at the club said: "He was a charming, warm gentleman.

"As I met him more often I was aware of his deep love of all things Wolverhampton, despite making a home so far from the Black Country.

"He loved the football club and had strong, passionate opinions – the colours ran through his veins. As our legions of followers will never forget . . . he did indeed 'save the day'."

Chief executive Jez Moxey said ahead of the game against Blackpool: "We've been inundated with tributes to Sir Jack from thousands of people at home and abroad, but none more so than from the extended Wolves family.

"Saturday is about them, and the entire city of Wolverhampton, coming together to celebrate his life and to say an appropriate 'thank you'.

"We've been contacted by thousands of fans who will be making a special effort 'to wear Old Gold and Black for Jack' and to bring Wolves flags and banners.

"I know he'd be thrilled, and humbled, at the efforts fans are making to honour him in this way."

"Although, understandably, there will be some tears the Wolves family will create the type of atmosphere Sir Jack so much loved.

"They will soak up before kick-off a full house at Molineux, a sea of old gold and black and the stadium in full voice to inspire the team to victory."

There will be no shortage of emotion, or applause from the stands he built, for a man who touched the lives of so many through his charisma and overwhelming generosity.

At a time when football is awash with foreign ownership and fans feel more detached than ever before from those in charge of their clubs, Sir Jack was, refreshingly, the complete opposite.

Wolves fan and Match of the Day commentator Jacqui Oatley has thanked Sir Jack Hayward for putting the pride back into Wolverhampton – as well as recounting her personal experience of his generosity.

Wolverhampton-born Jacqui, the first ever female commentator on the BBC's world-famous football programme, is a life-long Wolves fan and still marvels at the way Sir Jack transformed the face of the club she loves.

The 39-year-old mother-of-two, who now lives in Esher, Surrey, said: "He gave the people of Wolverhampton something to be proud of again because the club has an affect on the city.

"With the old North Bank and Waterloo Road Stands closed at the time, it wasn't a place to be proud of and away fans would delight in taking the mickey.

"I was into football but none of my friends went to games at the time.

"Then I moved to Wolverhampton Grammar School in 1990 and that was when I bought my first season ticket for £75 and stood on the South Bank because the John Ireland Stand was miles from the pitch.

"I had never been to Molineux with all four sides open and that was the way it was until Sir Jack rebuilt it. He turned it into one of the first all-seater stadiums in the country.

"I remember Arsenal coming to play one of the first matches and I recall their manager at the time, George Graham, saying how stunned he was by how fantastic it was.

"I was sad to see the end of the South Bank terrace, but he gave us a posh new stadium and a proper club megastore – and all that made us proud to be there.

"All of a sudden things were happening and I remember him saying 'my daughter has asked me what the hell I am doing spending £800,000 on Geoff Thomas', so it was always a challenge for his family."

Jacqui believes Sir Jack transformed Wolves and gave hope to thousands of fans. "I can't imagine what Wolves would be like without him," she added.

"When I first started watching we had a Portakabin for a club shop on the old North Bank car park, which is where the players used to train on a Friday.

"Who'd have thought these days an England international such as Steve Bull would train on a pot-holed car park?

"I even remember they had Steve Bull aftershave in the club shop, but I didn't buy any because I didn't think my dad would have appreciated it!"

Following all his generosity, Jacqui admits being deeply hurt when some fans briefly turned on the multi-millionaire at a home game against Crystal Palace in 2000 and he was spat at.

"After all he did, it saddened and upset me a bit when certain fans turned against him and he stopped putting as much money in," she said.

"Thankfully he didn't take that too personally and he showed his heart was in the right place by continuing to support the club."

Jacqui knows all about Sir Jack's affection for the gold and black cause.

"Rachael Heyhoe Flint is a life-long friend of the family and she told me that when she was England cricket captain he sponsored her, and it was her who persuaded him to buy the club," she added. "I don't know if people realise what an amazing job he did.

"Every game when he wasn't there he would be listening via some dodgy service and she would ring him after every single game, probably leaving him exasperated after every match, like all fans!"

And Jacqui has first-hand experience of Sir Jack's generosity, that extended into many millions of pounds to countless causes.

Appeal

She attended St Dominic's private school in Brewood, a few miles north west of Wolverhampton.

"In 1984 he gave the school £10,500 for the sports hall appeal," she recalled.

"The headmistress, Sister Helen, invited him to open it when it was built in July 1987, and during the ceremony he asked if any pupil in the room could recite a poem by Sir Henry Newbolt called The Lamp of Life he would donate another £10,000.

"Then he said if Sister Helen could name the Wolves team that played in the 1939 FA Cup final he would double the pledge.

"That was the first time I met him and I thought what a kind man he was."

A packed Molineux will salute Sir Jack at today's game against Blackpool.

Warm, engaging and good fun, but with a mind as sharp as a tack, his boundless passion for Wolverhampton Wanderers was matched by the depths of his pockets as he lived every fan's dream at the helm of his hometown club.

Sir Jack may have never kicked a ball in anger for Wolves, but that charisma, pride in his city and endless love for his football team meant his popularity matched that of the most well-respected players to have worn the famous gold and black shirt.

It's difficult to think of a more loved chairman or owner of a football club either before or since.

But that was Sir Jack, a very special man, a one-off, the like of which we will probably never see again.

His generosity was matched by his modesty, and while he never sought a financial return for the £70m or more he spent on the club and transforming the ground, he also never looked to inflate his own self importance by choosing to name any of the stands after himself, as many would have him do.

Instead he tapped into the rich history of the club that had lured him under the turnstiles as a youngster by honouring Wolves greats Billy Wright and Stan Cullis with stands and statues.

Today the depth of that enduring popularity will be seen at Molineux when the club celebrate his life for the visit of Blackpool in what promises to be a fitting tribute to remember.

Two of his managers from his 17 years of ownership, Graham Turner and Dave Jones, will be there to pay their respects, as well as prominent players from his era Steve Bull, Andy Thompson, John De Wolf and Jody Craddock.

Fans have been urged to wear 'gold and black for Sir Jack' and bring their flags and banners, while a mosaic made up by supporters holding special cards creating his face will be picked out in the upper tier of the Steve Bull Stand.

It promises to be some occasion as Molineux salutes one of Wolverhampton's most special people.

Sir Jack would have been proud. So let the fans do him justice by giving him a rousing send-off. Deep down, he would have loved it.

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Long-time friend of Sir Jack's, Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint, has recalled his 'happiest moment' on the day of Wolves' 2003 promotion triumph.

The team beat Sheffield United 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff to secure promotion to the Premier League.

It came 13 long years – and many millions of pounds spent – after Sir Jack took over the club. Baroness Heyhoe Flint, who knew Sir Jack for 45 years, said: "I cannot describe how nervous he was before the match. He couldn't wait to get away from the hotel. He allowed himself four hours for a 30-minute journey.

"I took him straight through the middle of Cardiff, where all the Wolves fans were waiting pre-match. Well, it was like the saviour coming through. They were all kneeling – Hosanna in the street.

"They only needed palm fronds in their hands and I'd have thought this was a Biblical moment. He was adored by them and that was his greatest, happiest moment."

Wolves vice-president Baroness Heyhoe Flint also recalled how Sir Jack sponsored the England women's cricket team.

She said: "I've been great friends with Jack since 1970, when I wrote him a begging letter and he said: 'Yes, I'll sponsor the England cricket team'.

"I asked why and he said: 'I love women and I love cricket'.

"He sponsored us for five years, but he also set up the first ever World Cup for women in 1973 – two years before the men. So cricket has got a lot of thank him for."

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Sir Jack was an 'outstandingly generous man', the Conservative opposition leader in Wolverhampton has said.

The party's leader Councillor Wendy Thompson also echoed calls for there to be a permanent tribute to the former Wolves owner somewhere in the city.

There are already two statues at Molineux, of Stan Cullis and Billy Wright, but thousands of fans have called for one of Sir Jack to be added at the famous ground.

Councillor Thompson said: "Sir Jack will always be remembered for saving Wolves in the early-90s and placing it back on a solid footing from which it could eventually get back into the top flight of football.

"But, also, he was an outstandingly generous man with his time and wealth and embraced projects he thought were important for the wider community."

Councillor Thompson recalled the example of when Sir Jack sponsored the return of the steam ship SS Britain from the Falkland Islands to a dry dock in Bristol in 1970.

She added: "Sir Jack also financed England women's cricket tours in the 1970s and supported countless local charities."

The Conservative leader said there would be a lot of support for a permanent memorial to Sir Jack in the city.

"A statue has been suggested and I agree that we should commemorate Sir Jack for what he did for the city of his birth," she added.