Legends take place in Hall of Fame

Mike Bailey declared himself embarrassed by the whole thing while Graham Turner felt like a "fraud" and Bert being Bert -he just wanted to hide away from all the fuss and attention in a quiet corner.

But it was no good. No matter how much the latest heroes heading for a coveted place in Wolves' Hall of Fame tried to dim with modesty the spotlight shining on them last night, their stories illuminated another memorable evening. It was the club's second wave of inductions, but no less impressive in its cast-list.

A sacred triumvirate from the Fifties kings – Bert Williams, Bill Slater and Peter Broadbent, Seventies heroes Mike Bailey, John Richards and Turner, who for all his unease at being heralded in such exalted company made a contribution so vital it is doubtful Wolves would be anything like the club it is now without it.

But it started with one of those ancient stories from the foundation years of the club, men long forgotten by all but the hardiest devotees but brought back to life, for just a few moments, on occasions such as this.

Billy Harrison was the star of an FA Cup final victory now 102 years gone, but arguably the single greatest upset ever executed by any Wolves team. Harrison was one of the goal scorers in the 3-1 defeat of Newcastle which – if we put it in today's money – would be like Bristol City walloping Chelsea at Wembley.

More than that, Harrison established a trend that would be repeated by so many future Wolves teams – a diminutive, match-winning winger who would thrill the fans.

Nearly half a century later, one among millions gripped by the magic of such play in the famous 'floodlit series' was a young Scot watching on his street's one flakey television set in the Glasgow shipbuilding suburb of Govan.

Sir Alex Ferguson's love affair with football was significantly influenced by what was being beamed back from Molineux, as he made clear in a video message delivered with genuine affection and admiration for those finest of all Wolves eras.

Ferguson recalled the foggy nights that always seemed to accompany the games that so changed football's outlook and the silk shirts that seemed to glisten under the new-fangled floodlights. But most of all he remembered the stars.

Manchester United's manager said: "Bert Williams, Bill Slater, Peter Broadbent – these were simply wonderful footballers who were our heroes."

All three joined their old captain, Billy Wright, in this imaginary Hall last night to rousing ovations, the salute for Williams, the only one well enough to be present, rising up with spontaneous emotion from 300-odd supporters held spellbound by the moving images screened of the goalkeeper's momentous career.

Fellow tradesmen from different vintages, Matt Murray and Mike Stowell, added their own postscripts to the Williams induction.

Stowell said: "Look at him. He looks a million dollars! What a gentleman; what a goalkeeper. You look at those pictures and Bert isn't a foot off the ground - he's two, three feet off the ground."

So it went on. The story of the gentleman-captain that was Slater and his wonderful put-down of Manchester United forward Mark Pearson, the original 'Pancho,' who had spent one match abusing and fouling the Wolves skipper.

His former team-mate Gerry Harris recalled: "Bill never said a word, despite some dreadful challenges. But, at the end of the match, Pearson went to shake Bill's hand.

"He slapped it away and said - 'It's against my principles to shake hands with people like you.' The look on Pearson's face! I have never seen anyone put down so quickly."

It would be Broadbent's devoted wife Shirley who provided some of the best laughs of the night, introduced as a prototype 'wag' as she fought off the rivals for her husband's attention after their meeting at Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

Shirley laughed: "He was such a terrible flirt."

Bailey, the thundering captain of the next great Wolves team to emerge from Molineux, enjoys incredible admiration from his fellow professionals, even if the man himself quite clearly does not see what all the fuss was about.

He said: "I was just so lucky to be surrounded by such great players."

Try telling that to Messrs Parkin, Hibbitt, Richards et al. By the time we were gazing at the images of some of JR's 194 goals and Turner's terrors – those play-hard, party-hard Eighties revivalists who brought the club back from the gates of extinction – the story of Wolves had been well served.

It was Richards who provided the most perfect summary of the occasion.

He said: "I always feel the best thing about it all is this warmth we get from the supporters. In a restaurant, in a shop, on the street - someone will always stop you and tell you in the smallest detail about a game you can barely remember.

"You realise what an impact you have had on their lives and how special it is to be part of this."