John Barnwell was an intelligent and remarkably fine manager. Wolves under his reign played good attractive football, and with the partnership of John Richards and Andy Gray up front, were not short of goals. Andy Gray referred to himself as the brawn, and John Richards as the brains. John Barnwell was about to tempt Michel Platini to join Wolves, and this was in the days when English football was not flooded by foreign imports. In this and many other respects Barnwell was ahead of his time. It was a great pity that a car crash, if my memory is correct, intervened in his career.

Makes me sick when I think of the likes of Ward and Henry being made millionaires by the club when most of the players from that team still have to work to get by.

These lot ain't fit tho lace their boots

Great memories of a fantastic day and a great Wolves Team. Get well soon John and thank you for some great times!!

John Branwell & Ritchie Barker!!!" Those were the days....

John Barnwell and Richie Barker were the last glimmer of putting Wolves back where they belong. 1980 winning the League Cup and finishing 6th in Div 1 and still improving, was the last time we were up there with the best., After his car accident he clearly wasnt as sharp as he had been and it was clear it needed both parties of the duo at 100% to bring out the best in the team. It was sad to lose the magic he was bringing to our club be so close to restoring our clubs greatness. Great memories on the terraces during his reign.

Sydney Wolf

Good luck with recovery John hope all go's well thanks for the memories.

Cyprusisgreek

First time the wolf head badge was worn on the shirt I believe,in that final, having moved from the 3 leaping Wolves.

Different buzz in those days. Wolves were still a force.

We built a new grandstand in 1979 and look what happened in the years after. I hope history doesn't repeat itself!

Common Wolves, push on

,sort it out and wear the shirt with pride.

From what I recall John Barnwell was also stymied by the construction of the old John Ireland stand. When interest rates rose he wasn't allowed the finances to update what was an already ageing (albeit successful) team. The last great Wolves manager - hope he recovers and enjoys the celebration.

Best wolves manager ( and Richie barker ) in my life time as a wolves fan . BRYAN ... Someone once told me that platinisation actually came to the wolves during the close season but failed his fitness , do you know if that is true ?

Forgot to say" speedy recovery to you sir " I would love to shake the mans hand and thank him for the fantastic memories of wolves back then . What a team we had . !!

Great memories of when Molineux was buzzing.Unfortunately management would not back Barnwell up and two years later we were relegated.Same old story.

Emlyn Hughes credited John Barnwell with enticing him to Molineux. What a day out at Wembley that was!!!!!!!!

WHAT A LEGEND! thats what u call a manager,GREAT memories,the cup runs,great day out at wembley when we were clear under dogs,better than the drose weve had over 30 yrs !

Great memories and if memory serves me right, huge respect from all the fans when he walked out to the dug out with the whole ground cheering him. Great time for the club......if only we could get back to those wonderful days.

the wolves of today

most of our existing senior squad are not fit to lace the boots of the 80's squad.

I WOULD SCORE MORE GOALS THAN DOYLE AND I AM IN A WHEELCHAIR

JOHN BARNWELL was destined to be a great manager,but that tragic car crash robbed him of that,mad mick not fit to lace his boots. thanks for the meomries JOHN.

I've been a wolves fan for 30 plus and we have had many managers but

Barnwell is in my top 3, along with the likes of dave jones and graham turner.

mick would come just behind these three as although he brought to the top, the style of football never raised my spirits in quite the same way.

Get well soon John.

I wish him well . He was a fine manager for us and lest we forget , a very classy player as well . Thanks for those memories .

Still have great memories of that day at Wembley when we we beat a tremendous Forest side led by Cloughie, who i think had won it the previous season. That season we also finished 6th in the old first division as well so all in all it was a successful season. I do hope you manage to make the dinner John, best wishes for your recovery, and thanks to you and Richie Barker for the hard work you did at our club.

Sorry, I know nothing more than he was trying to bring Platini to Wolves. It is sad to ponder what he and Richie Barker may have achieved had they been able to continue in building a good, perhaps great team. It was indeed the last time there was a chance for intelligent management, it sadly seems that it no longer exists on any level within Wolves FC

I spent some of the greatest evenings of my life in the Mount hotel, with John Barnwell, and he was the Best Manager in my time, as I started supporting the wolves around 1960, Yes a bad car accident robbed us and he did have a great partnership with Ritchie Barker. Those were the days my friends, I wish they had never ended as we would still be among the elite. I was at that Forst Final, and the one against City. And allthough I am stateside now I follow the team as close as I can, and only hope that I get the chance to see us back where we belong!

Get well John.

Thank you for all those great memories.

Paul Bradshaw

Geoff Palmer

Derek Parkin

Peter Daniel

Emlyn Hughes (c)

George Berry

Kenny Hibbitt

Willie Carr

Andy Gray

John Richards

Mel Eves

great day for the wolves great team great to be at the game ,get well soon john

I was 15 when i went to Wembley to see our boyz take on Forest who had the likes of Trevor Francis and John Robertson playing.

Had a Fantastic day with 40,000 plus wolves fans

.

All down to John Barnwell and Richie Barker...Get well soon - Your a legend Mr B

Best wishes John, that was a brilliant day out, I did not have a ticket but travelled up from the IOW on the off chance and got one from a ticket tout, I was a bit shocked when I got in and found I was in the Forest crowd. Still they did not moan too much and I got away without too much verbal abuse. Happy days.

I'm too young to remember the Cullis era but Wolves under John were happier times, for sure. - The joy of victory at Wembley, the excitement of awesome FA Cup runs - the two semi-final losses in three yrs. felt like the ultimate heartbreak at the time but looking back, the ride was fantastic and really, who wouldn't take such heady days right now?

I traversed the country far & wide in those days, always with a reasonable hope of a 'result'. Sadly, I can now only watch from afar and shake my head in disbief as I watch our beloved and storied club write yet another sad chapter in its history book.

Best wishes to John and all who can attend this wonderful reunion.......and as a loyal (& some would say foolish) fan, here's to brighter days ahead under Dean (or whomever management see's fit to put the club in the hands of....)

Was lucky enough a couple of years ago to meet John through work.

Had a long chat about those days, the Andy Grey transfer, the Cup win and why he left. found him to be one of the most honest and open blokes I've met. Always thought a lot of him as a manager but that chat showed just what a nice bloke he is. We were lucky to have him as our manager and could do with one like him now.

Less talk more football.

Get well soon

Get well JB - never the same man or manager after his serious car accident. The start of our decline. How fickle fate can be.

I was at the game as a 17 year old thinking there would be many such days to come. I am now 50 and cherish the win against Forest for the rare and magic experience it was. My childhood hero was Paul Bradshaw and I had the pleasure of meeting Paul Mariner at Logan Airport in Boston and informing him of the fact - he replied by saying that he'd smashed plenty of goals past him in his career!! Forest were the best team in Europe in 1980 but Big Braddy, Emlyn and the boys shut them down and shut Cloughy up! Thanks Barnwell and Barker for leaving us silverware starved Wolves fans with glorious memories that really have lasted a lifetime.

You were a great manager John, you gave us some good times. This club has been miserable pathetic one for most of the last thirty years.We miss you.

I wish you well with your recovery John, and I hope you can make it to the Copthorne.

I remember well the days of you and Ritchie Barker at the Molineux, the team we had, and the intelligent way they were led, and performed. All were proud to be associated with Wolverhampton Wanderers FC in those days.

Happy days and fond memories.

John, get well soon. You and Richie barker are without a doubt the best management team Wolves have had in my time supporting the Wolves since 1964. It was fun to be Molineux back then.

reading the comments above a few facts:

Forest had won the League cup the prvious 2 seasons.

This was the only trophy Emlyn Hughes faied to win at Liverpool.

Livepool went on to win it the following 4 seasons.

Whilst the day out at Wembly back in March 1980 was a fantastic it must be said the match itself was pretty dire which I think has been overshadowed by the fact we won.