Comment: Carl Ikeme will always be number one at Wolves

Carl Ikeme is one of football's good guys, a gentleman and a genuine bloke. Egos, arrogance and greed are rife in this crazy football world of ours, but Carl possesses none of those characteristics, writes Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers.

He's a professional in the truest sense of the word and had grafted and toiled for everything he'd earned in the game.

The notion of him never pulling on that Wolves jersey again is hard to get your head around.

A giant of a man who had developed and matured into a fine custodian between the Wolves sticks, Carl was at the top of his game just over a year ago. Aged 31, he had his sights set on a dream year of winning promotion with Wolves and playing in the World Cup with Nigeria.

It was cruelly taken away and it's difficult to fathom why.

It's unimaginable to think what he's been through in the past year but Ikeme was always at the forefront of all our thoughts.

His name was sung every single week by Wolves supporters both at Molineux and up and down the land, a flag bearing his image was paraded before every match.

Nigeria named him in their World Cup squad and boss Gernot Rohr said Ikeme's absence in Russia was his 'biggest regret'.

The charity work done in his name has been nothing short of phenomenal with Cure Leukaemia the beneficiaries of around £150,000, which helped fund an expanded Centre for Clinical Haematology.

Some good has come of this. The #teamkemes campaign has made a tangible difference to people's lives and was undoubtedly a contributing factor to the togetherness that helped propel Wolves to promotion last season.

The immediate emotions were of shock and sadness in the Express & Star office this morning when the news broke, reminiscent of a year ago when his devastating leukaemia diagnosis was revealed.

But the fact he is no longer a professional footballer is of no importance compared to the fact that Carl is still with us.

"In the grand scheme of things with your life in danger, it's the minimum price I have to pay to spend the rest of my time with my family," Carl said today.

Carl will not crave our sympathy, he's not the type of man to court attention, to ask for favours, to hog the limelight.

I had the pleasure of seeing him recently when he opened a new chemotheraphy unit at Solihull Hospital.

It was his first public appearance since his diagnosis a year ago and he could have used the opportunity to speak of his ordeal.

But no, Carl doesn't ask for publicity. Instead we exchanged pleasantries, had a brief chat and he conceded it was still too raw for him to be giving interviews.

He looked in good health – that trademark grin hadn't changed and neither had that unbelievably firm handshake of his.

Carl being Carl he gave his time to everyone who wanted to speak him that day.

It's appropriate that Wolves' last match before today's announcement was played at Stoke City, the venue of, for me, Carl's finest hour in a Wolves shirt.

No one who was there will forget his one-man repelling of the Premier League Potters during a madcap 12-minute spell in the second half.

Wolves' team was on paper far weaker than Stoke's but they found themselves 1-0 up and seriously under the cosh in front of a baying home crowd.

Cue Carl producing four brilliant saves right out of the top drawer, denying Arnautovic, Crouch, Afellay and Allen in quick succession. Each shot wasn't just saved, it was pushed to safety too.

A few minutes later Matt Doherty netted a beautiful free kick and the game was won. Boss Paul Lambert called his goalkeeper's contribution 'outstanding'.

He won the battle for Wolves that day – and on countless other occasions during 207 appearances – but it's the battle for his health that has become far, far more important.

In a football sense all we have now is memories but for the Wolves family the fact Carl is still with us, still smiling and looking to the future is all that matters.

But hey, those football memories are pretty good, right?

Wolves have a fine tradition of producing excellent goalkeepers and Carl's name will be included in the same breath as some club legends.

Williams, Finlayson, Parkes, Stowell, Murray...Ikeme. He has left an indelible mark on Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.

He may not take to the Molineux turf again, but he is and always will be a wolf. One who conducted himself with a understated dignity – and at all times integrity.

His last appearance came in March 2017. Wolves, appropriately, won 3-1 at Fulham.

Ikeme wasn't dropped, he didn't lose his place, he wasn't sold and he didn't retire because he wasn't good enough anymore.

He'll forever stay as Wolves' number one.