Bert Williams' family album opened as tributes roll in
To thousands of football fans he was a legend, the likes of whom will never be seen again. But to Ann Crawshaw and her brothers Bert Williams was better known as dad.
The daughter of the football legend has spoken fondly of her upbringing by one of Wolves' greatest ever players.
Tributes have been flooding in from all over the world since the news of the 93-year-old's death at New Cross Hospital on Sunday.
Mrs Crawshaw, who lives near Shifnal, said her tight-knit family were proud of his many achievements.
She said: "We have stuck together and we involved him in everything right up until the end but we are full of admiration for what he achieved, as well as being our dad.
"He was amazing. We are always grateful for what we all had out of football and also to Wolves, who have been there for us all."
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Mrs Crawshaw, 72, spoke about the role her father played in bringing her up.
She said: "He was a very hands-on father. I was born when my parents were 21 and then they didn't have another child until I was about 12.
"I never knew he was famous. He was extremely modest in those days.
"There would be lots of people coming to our house and I just thought they had all came to play with me.
"We had a loving family life. He kept us all out of the limelight; I never went to the matches.
"I don't think he ever thought he was famous.
"We were an ordinary family really. He was ever so modest and we had everything we really wanted in life.
"We were quite privileged children and we were really very lucky to have him."
Tim Nash recalls his memories of Wolves legend Bert Williams:
He started his career at Walsall, where he made 28 appearances, before moving on to Wolves in 1945.
He became one of the building blocks for the team, which was touted as the best in the world during the 1950s.
He played 420 games for Wolves and won 24 caps for England.
He was the country's oldest living international player, with that mantle now passing to Sir Tom Finney, who will be 92 in April.
He played in the famous floodlit matches against Honved, Spartak and Moscow. His 420 appearances stood as a club record for a Wolves goalkeeper for 42 years.
His last game was against Aston Villa in 1957. He also played in two wartime internationals, and won his first full cap for England against France in May, 1949. Wolves announced yesterday afternoon that they will pay tribute to the former goalkeeper by holding a minute's applause before this Saturday's home match against Bristol City.
His family have requested a private funeral, but say plans for a memorial service at St Peter's Church are in the pipeline so he can be remembered by football fans as well. The club has also started a book of remembrance which is placed in the main Billy Wright reception at Molineux in Waterloo Road.
It will be presented to his family at Saturday's game.
He leaves three children, Ann, Vaughan, 64, and Paul, 55, as well as two grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
