Sir Jack Hayward one year on: Wolves legend's legacy lives strong

His legacy lives on in the Black Country and far beyond, and the man who saved Wolves will be remembered for generations to come.

From the supporters of his beloved club and friends and colleagues in the Bahamas to the wider world where he touched so many people's hearts, they were all left stunned by Sir Jack's passing a year ago today.

An outpouring of emotion followed, including a touching send off at his true home, and indeed the house that he built, Molineux, which left the hairs on the back of necks standing at services in Wolverhampton and in the Bahamas, where he was known as 'Union Jack'.

Before kick off in that weekend's Wolves game, 91 Union Jack balloons were released into the sky above Molineux, followed by 200 gold and black ones as supporters chanted he was one of their own and said goodbye at the place where he brought them so much happiness. Son Jonathan called the occasion an emotional celebration of his life and thanked fans for a 'wonderful show of respect'.

The man himself would have no doubt have placed more importance on the fact Wolves secured three points on the day against Blackpool.

Wolves fans lined the streets and gathered in Queen Square in the city centre before the final farewell at St Peter's Church, where legendary Led Zeppelin frontman and lifelong Wolves fan Robert Plant, Sir Jack's friend and club vice-president Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint and chief executive Jez Moxey led the tributes.

But since then there has been no chance of Sir Jack's impact being left in the past.

At most Wolves games since, his name has been sung by fans who will remain eternally grateful for transforming a cash-strapped club playing in a ramshackle ground to one which would grace the Premier League with facilities to match almost anyone in the country, particularly from the supporters in the South Bank – the stand which now bears his name.

'Thumbs up if you love Sir Jack' has become part of the Molineux matchday songbook, the chant recognising the former owner's famous response to appearing on the big screen on his greatest day while at the helm – the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff when he finally achieved his goal of seeing Wolves reach the Premier League.

A further tribute at the stadium he financed the reconstruction of during the early 1990s was announced this week to coincide with the first anniversary of his death.

A statue of Sir Jack will be placed close to the ground. The honour had been promised by the club following his death and will be a popular addition among supporters.

Some fans have also signalled their intention to take banners to Molineux for Saturday's match against Cardiff to mark the anniversary.

Wolves record goalscorer Steve Bull said he could barely believe it had been a year since Sir Jack passed away.

He said: "I shut my eyes and I can remember getting out of the car with Rachael Heyhoe Flint and Robert Plant thinking 'what has happened to Sir Jack?' To think it is a year is absolutely unbelievable.

"He will never ever be forgotten. When you walk past the ground his name is above it and now he is going to get this statue."

Bully said the many tributes over the past year have almost made it feel like Sir Jack never left. He said: "It sounds like he isn't going to stop even though he isn't here, he keeps doing things from above things are still going on in his name."

The man who etched his own name into Wolves folklore by plundering more than 300 goals for the club said he had not been surprised by the response of the fans.

"Wolves fans are very loyal to whoever is at the club and the thumbs up if you love Sir Jack chant, with everybody in the ground doing it, has been great to see," Bully said.

Baroness Heyhoe Flint said: "I find it still very hard to believe that Sir Jack is no longer with us but when at many home matches this season I have heard the chants of the crowd, saying there is only one Jack Hayward, thumbs up if you love Sir Jack or he is one of our own, perhaps he is still after all looking down on us."

Albert Bates, chairman of the official supporters' club, said he was delighted Sir Jack would be immortalised in the form of a statue.

He said: "It has gone very quickly and it makes me very sad in a way, sad that he has left us. I am pleased that is going to happen (the statue). The man deserved that. Jack did something no other individual has done for Wolverhampton Wanderers. Jack did it for the love of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Other people took stuff out, Jack put money in because he loved the club. I can't hold him in high enough esteem."

The leader of Wolverhampton City Council, Roger Lawrence, believes Sir Jack's role at the club may prove vital in attracting a new buyer with the club currently up for sale.

He said: "It was an amazing, emotional response from the city. I certainly haven't seen a day like it in Wolverhampton, people pouring out in their thousands to pay tribute and the very powerful chants at subsequent matches.

"The action Jack Hayward took going back to the 80s when the club really was going nowhere, the money he put in rebuilding the stadium and the part he played in the new training ground was very important.

"The infrastructure in place is absolutely vital to attracting people to take the club forward."

Of course, it isn't just Molineux and Wolverhampton where Sir Jack is sorely missed.

In the Bahamas, where the businessman and philanthropist was held in equally high standing as his home city, there have also been expressions of gratitude. A memorial service was also held on the island shortly after his death and last year it was decided that a new bridge would be named in his honour.

The Grand Bahama highway bridge was a long-awaited dream of Sir Jack and once completed will make travel easier by creating a second connection between the east side of the island of Grand Bahama and the west where the city of Freeport is. Then last month, it was announced his dying wish to have a museum built in his adopted home of Grand Bahama would become a reality. His acts of generosity were felt around the world.

He financed tours of the West Indies by the England women's cricket team in 1969-70 and 1970-71, and in 1973 sponsored the first ever women's cricket World Cup.

In 1969, he gave the National Trust £150,000 to buy Lundy Island, off the Bristol Channel, to prevent it falling into private ownership.

He had flown over it as a pilot during the Second World War. A year later he paid £130,000 towards bringing SS Great Britain back home. Isambard Kingdom Brunel's first iron passenger ship had been rotting in the Falklands, but Sir Jack's donation helped return it to Bristol.

In July, 1982, he was named as the mystery benefactor who gave £1 million to the South Atlantic Fund, to aid the families of British servicemen killed or injured during the Falklands War.

As supporters' club chairman Mr Bates says, there was much more to Sir Jack than football. He said: "He was known in quite a few countries for his business accolades. Wolves was the icing on the cake."