Express & Star

Wolves' No.1 Carl Ikeme back in pack for book's launch

Wolves’ Championship triumph last season was nothing short of remarkable.

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An open-top bus filled with Nuno Espirito Santo and his glorious squad and backroom team, amid a sea of gold in the city centre – the celebrations and the wins that led to them were truly the stuff of dreams for supporters.

A matter of months prior though, the mood was very different.

Goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, Wolves’ No.1, had been diagnosed with acute leukaemia and was due to begin chemotherapy.

But, thankfully, as the club’s motto goes, out of darkness cometh light.

Nuno’s side delighted fans with a sensational brand of football, thousands of pounds were raised for Cure Leukaemia and – most importantly – Ikeme got better.

The illness took his career, but not his life. Ikeme is in full remission and, on Friday night, at Molineux, was able to take part in a special launch of a book on Wolves’ phenomenal campaign.

Lifelong supporter Steve Plant compiled The Pack is Back – a book for fans, by fans. The proceeds are going towards Birmingham Children’s Hospital. More than £10,000 could be raised from the 2,018 copies up for sale.

“Last season, something changed,” said Plant, who also wrote They Wore The Shirt, a history of Wolves’ shirts though the years, in 2017. “For once, all the fans, the club, everybody connected with Wolves pulled in the same direction.

“Out of something really bad, Carl being diagnosed with leukaemia, something positive has come out of it – and not just for the charity.

“The money raised has been phenomenal but it showed on the pitch, with the staff at the club – everybody pulled together.

“I’ve been watching since ‘69 and I have never seen the team, the club, all in it together and backing each other like that. That’s something special.

“I was asked whether we will ever see another season like this.

“We could get in Europe, we will get in Europe, but the way it started with Carl and the way it all panned out, we will never see the likes of this season again – not in my lifetime anyway.

“We couldn’t have had a worse start but, from that, it just grew.”

The book includes contributions from Ikeme, Wolves skipper Conor Coady, Led Zeppelin rock legend Robert Plant, Wolves managing director Laurie Dalrymple, Express & Star editor Keith Harrison and Wolves-supporting pundits Jacqui Oatley and Johnny Phillips.

“It’s doing a book for a charity that’s a brilliant cause, and doing a book that’s a good book,” added Plant.

“We always wanted to make sure that the book was worth buying.

“It’s written by the fans, for the fans.

“We wanted to do a book that matched the season, the occasion – and I think we’ve done it.”

Ikeme was one of a host of club legends on hand for the launch in Molineux’s WV1 Bar.

Kenny Hibbitt, Phil Parkes, Paul Butler and Mel Eves were there too.

And two-time League Cup-winner Hibbitt said on raising funds for Birmingham Children’s Hospital through the book: “It’s so important.

“Charity is an important part of my life as I have a granddaughter with a heart problem, so it plays a big part for me.”

And on Ikeme, Hibbitt said: “Carl is here and it’s lovely to see him. We’re all so pleased for him.

“And I bet he’s so pleased to watch Wolves progress the way they have been doing. Exciting times are around.”

Summing up last season, Eves added: “It was a pleasure to be a Wolves fan.

“It was an absolute pleasure – all the way from the first game against Middlesbrough through to getting promotion as champions.”

For further information or to order a copy of The Pack Is Back, email wolvesandengland@hotmail.co.uk