From the archive - Wolves sign the Guvnor

It's not every day your team signs an ex-England captain with three of the biggest clubs on the planet on his CV.

But Wolves did exactly that in August 2002 when they snapped up former Manchester United, Liverpool and Inter Milan midfielder Paul Ince.

"He's the one we've been after all along," enthused manager Dave Jones, who convinced Ince to put off retirement plans to carry on playing for another year.

So good was the Ince/Wolves fit, he would stay for four.

At the time, Ince had been at Middlesbrough for three seasons and so highly regarded did he remain that manager Steve McClaren offered him a two-year deal to stay at the Riverside.

But, amid interest from Premier League new boys Manchester City, Ince moved down a division as Jones sought to add experience and nous to a squad that had months earlier produced football's equivalent of Devon Loch, stumbling at the last when a certain local rival beat them to promotion.

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It was a big coup for Jones and Wolves, the second in a month after Ince's former Manchester United team mate Denis Irwin had also moved to Molineux.

Wolves had accrued an unfortunate reputation in the 1990s for signing over-the-hill, overpaid mercenaries looking for one last pay-day.

Ince and Irwin, proven winners both, were the exception to the rule.

Ince on his first day of training at Wolves, alongside Denis Irwin

"I needed something to get me going again and this was the best place to come.

"I had offers from France but what was the point? This one jumped at me.

"Pressure comes with expectation but I thrive under that pressure – it brings the best out in me.

"I have not come here to graze. I've come here to get this club into the Premiership where they belong.

"If I can help them up, I will feel I have achieved something."

He certainly did that.

If there's one word that could be associated with Ince during his career it was 'combative'.

And Ince didn't disappoint.

In that first season, Wolves' promotion year of 2002/03, he was booked 13 times.

From 10 fewer appearances (35) in the Premier League he picked up 14 bookings and a red card.

But Ince was about more than just tackling – he was a natural leader, a driving force and an inspiration to those around him.

Ince was a fans' favourite during four years at Molineux

There were goals too, most memorably in the famous FA Cup win over Newcastle, and also in a thrilling 4-2 victory over his old club West Ham with Wolves now back in the Championship in 2005.

With Ince alongside either Alex Rae or Colin Cameron, Wolves possessed their most committed, energetic and commanding central midfield in a generation.

And Ince revelled in it. Every summer he had offers to play elsewhere, but every summer he signed a one-year contract extension.

The fans loved him, and he loved the fans. The Wolves board even held a tribute dinner in his honour when he left.

Sadly it all turned a bit sour in 2006. Ince, now aged 38, wanted to carry on for yet another year. He also wanted the manager's job in the wake of Glenn Hoddle's departure.

He got neither, and left under a cloud, souring relations with the club by suggesting race issues were behind him not getting the job ahead of Mick McCarthy.

However that shouldn't overshadow the four years Ince spent at Molineux. He arrived with some suggesting he was a spent force – and proved anything but.

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