Director's sacrifice for the cause - tour diary

Wolves director John Gough isn't just heading the club's tour to Australia – he's having to miss numerous domestic commitments too.

Not only has the board member having to hand over control of his Wolverhampton-based construction firm William Gough for two weeks in the midst of a recession, but he is also missing the graduation of his younger son, Charlie, at Leeds University on July 16.

Thankfully, wife Helen and her mother have taken the two tickets.

Following in his dad's footsteps as a keen rugby player, Charlie is also celebrating selection for the Great Britain American football squad.

Oh, and by the way Helen, John informs me you will probably find out through the pages of the Express & Star of his well-being.

So yes, I can tell you he's fine and looking after himself . . .

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Far from the sometimes frenzied scenes that seem to greet footballers at airports – anyone who saw Darius Vassell's arrival in Turkey a few days ago will know what I mean – the Wolves squad passed through Birmingham airport almost unnoticed.

While manager Mick McCarthy – initially dressed for the near 21-hour journey in a smart jacket and trousers and white shirt – happily posed for the odd photograph with fans and joked with airline staff, his players were just as relaxed.

Rather than stay in the Emirates' business lounge they had been allocated before flying to Dubai en route to Perth, many of the squad preferred to wander through the shops in their club tracksuits.

Some browsed for electrical goods in Dixons, while others stocked up on drinks, snacks and magazines for the journey at WHSmith.

Goalkeeping coach Pat Mountain clearly can't get enough of his profession after being seen buying a copy of FourFourTwo!

And the relaxed atmosphere meant Wombourne-based 19-year-olds Neil Weaver and Ollie Baker were able to have pictures taken with Michael Kightly, Richard Stearman, Stephen Ward and Andy Keogh in Dixons before Neil got George Friend to snap him with new signing Kevin Doyle.

The fans were actually there en route to Magaluf and were caught unawares seeing their heroes in the departure lounge.

"We had no idea they were flying out today," said Neil, a South Bank season ticket holder. "It wasn't until we were walking through customs and the man behind the desk saw our Wolves shirts and said the team might be here in a minute that we realised."

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Wolves' players are noted for their bravery on the pitch – and there were few nerves when it came to flying. That said, the same couldn't be said of club reporter John Hendley. 'Foz', a renowned nervous flyer, was among those not overly looking forward to the two flights, only to emerge calm enough at the other end.

But he could barely escape details of the journey. For in front of each seat was a screen and interactive handset where passengers could have a 'forward view' or 'backward view' from the Boeing 777, as well as the distance covered, outside temperature (a cool minus 47 degrees C!) and speed (just under 600 mph).

The players were certainly well fed – for the seven-hour flight to Dubai there was a four-course dinner with a choice of mains from lamb medallions and roast chicken.

After a two-and-a-half hour stop at the rich paradise of Dubai, it was a similar deal on the 10-hour plus jaunt to Perth in Western Australia, with another four-course meal and a choice of salmon, chicken balti or ravioli.

In between the feasts, many players reported they grabbed plenty of sleep, hopefully reducing the effects of jet-lag.

Just as well, as after they arrived in Perth at 1am local time (6pm UK time) yesterday, they were booked in for a gym session earlier today, followed by their first look at their training HQ – the Western Australian Cricket Academy (WACA) near their hotel on the Swan river.