When young Wolves ruled the world!

A few words of encouragement at footage of Liam Hughes turning and motoring up the touchline. Warm-hearted chuckles as captain marvel Elliott Bennett let loose with a rallying call. A hum of appreciation as Matt Bailey flew into a challenge.

Twenty-five years on from competing in – and winning – the prestigious FIFA world tournament in Japan, several of the players, their families, and former Wolves staff came together to mark the anniversary and reflect on the event.

Organised by Glyn Harding, former assistant academy director at Wolves, who served as footballing lead on the trip to the Far East, many of the guests gathering inside Sir Jack’s had not seen each other for well over two decades.

But amid all the hugs, the smiles, and the many, many laughs, it certainly didn’t feel like it.

The level of respect between those players and the staff, and the families who spent so many waking hours occupying touchlines together, has remained strong and unbroken. Being reunited showed just what a clear and tangible impact that Japan trip had on those players at such a young age.

Not to mention a salient reminder that, in a modern era when football has become so commercialised, so impersonal, so financially driven, it is always worth remembering that so much of the game is about people, relationships, and making memories.

It made for a magical couple of hours.

“When I think back to my time at Wolves, so often the experience that springs to mind is that trip,” said Drew Canavan, who spent several years with the academy before moving into non-league and now combines coaching at Stourbridge with a role as head of business development and communications with Aston Villa Foundation.

“I think that’s why we all still get on so well together, because of that trip.

“So, I would just like to say from me, and I am sure the other lads as well, such a big thank you to all those staff that took a gamble on us and took us out there for the tournament.

“The way you were with us, how you looked after us, it was a great experience and a memory I will never forget.

“The trip, and being at Wolves - that has definitely shaped what I have done in my career and how I have been, and I am sure the careers of the other lads here as well.”

Canavan was one of seven players who managed to return for the reunion. Also back on their old Molineux stomping ground were Bennett, Martyn Allard, Liam Hughes, Amari Morgan-Smith, Alec Roberts and Jewade Graham.

Of that seven, only Morgan-Smith is still playing, having just been signed by Halifax following six years with Kidderminster Harriers, whilst only Bennett progressed to the very top, making 59 appearances in the Premier League.

Among the remainder of the squad, the ‘Japan class of 2001’ – Bailey and Callum Wright were unable to make it, Ross Draper is still playing in Scotland, Keenen Meakin Richards is coaching in Ibiza and Dale Vine is working in Croatia. Goalkeeper Adam Garbar, Dean Williams and Tom Spalding were the only three whom Harding had been unable to track down.

There was a poignant moment as another among their number Lee Collins – who took his own life five years ago at the age of 32 – was fondly remembered, along with former academy manager Mike Smith and coaches Carlo ‘Chico’ Federici, John Perkins, and Bob Glaze, all of whom have sadly passed away.

The palpable togetherness among the group, all these years on, make it clear just why Harding was so keen, after conversations with Bennett and Bailey, to organise the reunion.

As he explained, the opportunity that came around in 2001 was one which was just too good to refuse.

“We got called to a meeting by Sport England, with representatives from Aston Villa, Coventry and Birmingham City,” says Harding. “A chap called Kerry McDonald told us that they were hoping to send a team from the West Midlands to play in a FIFA tournament in Japan which would be called the FIFA Children’s World Cup.

“The reason was that West Midlands had trade links with a part of Japan called Shizuoka, and the idea was to send four players and a member of staff from each club as part of the team.

“We had a fortnight to put it together, and I remember chatting to Chris (academy director Chris Evans), who told me I would be the member of staff, although I had no idea how to select four players from the squad we had.

“A few days passed, and I thought I’d start phoning around my contacts at the other clubs, to see how they were planning to do it.

“Well first of all I called Birmingham, and they said they couldn’t spare the member of staff and that the tournament didn’t fit into their programme.

“So, I thought maybe we could have a couple more players, but it soon became apparent that neither Albion nor Coventry were going to send anyone either.

“I spoke again to Chris, and, even with all the work involved, taking a team of young schoolboys to the other side of the world, we decided we would give it a go.

“We’d just come back from a tournament in Holland, and this was an altogether different challenge entirely, but we felt there was nothing to lose, and quickly set about organising the squad and the trip.

“Eventually we managed to get 12 players from the under-12 squad, and top it up with four lads from the under-11s, so we were already a pretty young team heading over to Japan.”

Hugely-respected Wolves club secretary Richard Skirrow was asked, by Sir Jack, to go on the trip, to effectively represent the Board. Although not a director himself, he attended board meetings.

“My experience of working with under-12 boys was restricted to the fact that, well, I had been one, and that was it,” Skirrow revealed. “But hey, it was a trip of a lifetime, and Sir Jack asked me to go, so I was delighted to attend!”

Alongside Wolves, representing England, there were teams at the tournament from Japan, Korea, China, USA, Brazil, Australia and Thailand.

As well as the competition itself, the event was also being staged as to mark the build-up to the Men’s World Cup, which was taking place in 2002 across South Korea and Japan.

Indeed, as Wolves made it through the group stages, and then won their semi-final, awaiting them in the final were the national football club of China, at the Ecopa Stadium in Shizuoka, built specially for the World Cup. A year later, that very same stadium would host the World Cup quarter-final between England and Brazil, won by Ronaldinho’s free-kick which lobbed over David Seaman from out on the touchline.

There were 6,000 inside the stadium for the 2001 final, slightly more than the usual attendance at Wolves Academy fixtures, and the game, just like the rest of the tournament, was played in searing heat.

It’s fair to say, putting it mildly, that the opposition were much bigger, stronger and more physical, and when they went into the lead by half time, few would have expected Wolves to respond.

But an inspirational half-time team-talk from Harding as shown on the video – “we needed that last night” came a shout from the floor given this meet-up happened 24 hours after England’s semi-final exit to Argentina – helped spark a comeback.

Skirrow, as part of his wide ranging duties on the trip, also had to pen match reports on each game, and remarked that the phrase ‘a headed goal from Ross Draper’ had been included on the pre-match list among staff of ‘phrases never heard’.

But Draper it was who met a Bailey free-kick with a firm downward header to equalise, prior to later joining Collins, who had earlier departed after being on the end of a headbutt, in leaving the game on a stretcher.

Wright was also another to become part of the walking wounded, but Wolves hung on at 1-1 through extra-time to take the game to penalties, where Vine, Bennett, Roberts, Smith and Meekin Richards all converted from the spot to clinch a dramatic 5-4 triumph.

There were some lively celebrations, Harding drenched by the contents of the icebox, the crowd – particularly the American team – vociferous in their support of Wolves, and the team crowning their achievements with McDonald’s milkshakes all round.

And Bennett, adding to the lifting of the trophy as captain, was named player of the tournament.

“I have watched that video back a fair few times, although not really recently, and it always brings back great memories,” said Bennett. “It’s a trip that will stay with me forever, and I still talk about it now – how lucky to have that experience as an 11-year-old boy to fly to the other side of the world to play football.

“The furthest I’d ever been before that was Holland, and it was just to special to be a part of it with that group.”

There were many mentions of off-field matters during the evening as well as on the video. On how Canavan’s luggage arrived three days late and so an emergency shopping trip was required to kit him out. On a stop-off in McDonald’s in Frankfurt as part of the outward journey. And the range of local delicacies that followed in Japan. On the wonderful facilities at the Fuji Hotel and Country Club. On encountering hot toilet seats, and seeing the world-famous bullet trains. The list is endless.

Among the camaraderie and appreciation from the players, what also continues to stand out is the pride felt by all the staff.

The already-mentioned Harding, Evans and Skirrow were joined on the night by coaches Nenad ‘Pop’ Popovic, Iain Sankey, Steve Burrell, Tony Parkes and Bob Fisher, scouts Les Green and Bob Bennett, and former academy physiotherapist Gavin Blackwell. Meanwhile, both former Irish scout Willie Byrne and coach Des Davies had to send their apologies due to holidays, and Tony Lacey, who received many honourable mentions, was also unavailable.

Discussion ultimately turned beyond just Japan to the complete academy experience enjoyed by both players and staff, and how times have changed to the present day.

Talk of what life was like, training in freezing temperatures on the Astroturf at Aldersley, the requirement to warm up via ‘Ron’s soup,’ as provided by former kitman Ron Picken, the vagaries of the some of the pitches that fixtures used to be played on, the amount of work that scholars had to do away from their own football. It was intensive, but it was character building. Both for individuals, and as a team.

And so much of the academy experience – as it still is now – has to be about not just developing the footballer, but also the person. So few scholars manage to make the grade, either at Wolves or elsewhere, but so many can still look back on their formative years as a grounding which was the perfect preparation for all walks of life.

During Evans’ time heading up the academy, the holistic approach and rounded footballing education delivered to scholars reaped its rewards not just with their personalities but also on-field success.

Robbie Keane and Joleon Lescott went for sizeable transfer fees having been successful at Wolves, Wayne Hennessey became Wales’ most capped international goalkeeper, overtaking Neville Southall, and finished on 109 appearances.

Those are the just three headlines. So many more came through during a golden period, scores of players developed at Wolves who made a career in the game.

That remains a source of great pride to Evans, who clearly relished being back among former colleagues and players.

“I am so grateful to Glyn for putting this night on and for inviting me – and it’s lovely to see you all again, just brilliant,” he said. “And when I think back that tournament, what a learning experience, representing not just your club but also your country.

“When I saw the opposition come out of the tunnel in the final, with their strength and their size, I genuinely thought that the only way we could win would be to hang in there and get to penalties.

“But you were also so talented, and you stuck together, even when losing several players to injury.

“Just going out to take part in the tournament required so much planning and preparation but I’m thrilled you went out and won it, creating memories to last a lifetime.

“The game has changed now, and academies have changed but when I think back to that time that we all worked together, and I look around the room here, and of those who aren’t here, and all I think about is just some amazing people.

“What you were all so good at – from Les and Bob and Tony Lacey finding the players, to way that you all coached them – was turning out so many fantastic talents who were homegrown.

“Did we have the biggest budget? No. Did we buy young footballers? No. Were we the smartest people? The cleverest? Probably not.

“But what we did is go out and find young players, and competed for them, and we did that because of the people that we had, and the togetherness that is in this room.

“A group of really good and hard-working people, and from a youth system that was laughed at when we had to reapply just to enter the under-18s in the Purity League, we ended up becoming one of the flagship academies of the Football League.”

Two years later, Wolves were once again invited to the tournament, this time finishing fifth, yet with a squad which went on to produce far more who went on to turn pro. A team including Ryan Allsopp, Kyle Bennett, Sam Winnall, Samy Morsy – later to play for Egypt alongside Mo Salah in a senior World Cup – Jake Jervis, Ashley Hemmings, Scott Malone, Josh Craddock, Jamie Reckord and several more.

For Harding, it was no surprise that the conveyor belt of talent continued to roll with so many players making the grade, given the quality and work ethic of his colleagues.

And he was delighted to have managed to get so many of the 2001 squad back together, 25 years on, with plans already afoot to meet again in the near future.

“What a tournament it was, talk about a good preparation for life,” he declared. “What I would also say, we’ve managed to meet up tonight, and hopefully will do again, but please keep stay in touch and keep talking to each other – you shared something special which should help keep you together.”

For Bennett, now two years retired after a career launched with Wolves which took in more than 600 first-team appearances, that sentiment certainly rings true.

“It’s so good to catch up with everyone, people I haven’t seen since they left the academy,” he said, at the end of an emotional night. “You know, Les Green is in there who scouted me in Telford when I was eight years old, and I haven’t seen him for so long.

“It just reminds me not just of the memories but also all the time and effort that those coaches and staff put into us – all the great work they did to give us a chance of becoming a professional footballer.

“I was one of the lucky ones to go on and have a career in football, but all the lads have said how they were shaped by their time in the academy.

“Academies do come in for some stick these days, people calling them factories and what have you, but I think the messaging for me is all about looking at it differently.

“It’s not that your son or daughter is necessarily going to become a footballer, but it’s the experiences and social skills they are learning, the resilience, the amazing places they get to go and play, the people they meet along the way.

“During my time at Wolves, I met some amazing people, and when we meet up again like tonight, it’s like we’ve never been away even though we have spent much of our lives apart.

“You walk in and pick up just where you left off, and I am thankful to have been a part of it.”