Alex Rae’s Reading strike for Wolves was picture perfect

There, in his Glasgow home, sits a picture of the former midfielder mid-pirouette, a look on his face perfectly encapsulating emotions of joy, wonder and perhaps even surprise, while behind him a sea of supporters decked in old gold descend into ecstasy.

Rae had just fired Wolves ahead on the night at Reading in the second leg of their 2003 play-off semi-final and into an aggregate 3-1 lead, writes Matt Maher.

Cardiff, less than a fortnight later, might have been where the dream of Premier League football was realised. Yet Reading was when a club which had experienced so many false dawns finally began to believe again.

Rae’s return to Wolverhampton for a charity event on the eve of the Wolves’ latest trip to the Madejski Stadium seems impossibly good timing.

“I had a tweet from a supporter on the way down who said they were looking forward to being in the ‘Alex Rae Stand’ this Saturday,” he remarks. “I love that idea! It was just a brilliant night.

“When I left Wolves they gave me a photograph of the pirouette. I’ve got it framed and it’s on the wall of my home. It’s a very fond memory.”

Rae’s recollections of the goal itself, scored just six minutes after coming on as a substitute, are slightly less flattering.

“When I look back at it now, watch the tape, I think, what a horrible goal!” he says.

“I turned in the box at what looks like about two miles an hour. There was no tempo to it at all.

“I hadn’t had much luck in the play-offs and neither had Wolves. I’d been in them four times prior to that season, with Sunderland too and never won.

“That season we finished sixth and went up. It was great because it gave supporters a taste of what they had been missing for so long.”

Rae and former Scotland goalkeeper Andy Goram were the star attraction last night at Tettenhall’s Mount Hotel, for a charity evening organised by Wolves supporter Carl Falconer in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK and Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Coming back to Wolverhampton is a trip down memory lane for the Scot, a chance to visit some old haunts and reconnect old friends.

It has also provided him a taste of the excitement ebbing through the city thanks to the exploits of Nuno Espirito Santo and his team.

There may not be quite as much on the line at Reading tomorrow as there was 14 years ago, but the near 4,000-strong away following tells Rae plenty.

“There seems to be a real connection between the players and supporters, which is important,” he said.

“I don’t think a team can achieve big things without everyone pulling in the same direction and Wolves seem to have that now.

“Perhaps for a while it got lost during the latter stages of the Steve Morgan years, when the club was up for sale. People I speak to say the place is absolutely rocking. It’s great to see.”