'I told him we're not doing very well and he said a prayer for us' - Pope Leo XIV gifted Wolves shirt by supporter during Turkey cathedral visit
Wolves' 3-0 victory over West Ham was their first in the Premier League since April - and it seemingly came with some divine intervention.
Jim Sharma, a 65-year-old Wolves fan who runs the taxi service Wednesfield Cars, had initially travelled to Istanbul on business, only to be offered the opportunity to meet Pope Leo XIV during his visit to Turkey in November.
After his high-profile visit to the city's Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Pope Leo met a small crowd of people at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, including Wolverhampton's own Mr Sharma.
"I'd been over to Istanbul on business to see someone who lives their two or three times, and the man who I was meeting lives near to where the Pope was visiting," the Wolverhampton cabby explained. "He got to know the lady in charge at the Convent, Mother Mary, and while I was over there he introduced us and we hit it off straight away.
"I'd visited her two or three times while I was there and she asked me to get some stuff from the UK to send back there that she couldn't get in Turkey. She wanted herbs and other things to grow that she couldn't get there, so I posted them over to her."
Jim returned to the West Midlands after the trip, only to receive a remarkable message out of the blue from his contact in the Turkish capital that saw him invited to meet the Pope on his visit to the country.
