West Midland Heroes: How football legend Steve Bull became Wolves' most prolific striker with 306 goals
On a freezing-cold night in Lancashire, 21-year-old Steve Bull took to his seat in the stand.
"It was a cold night, but I thought, ‘It’s going to be a good game tonight'," he said, recalling the evening.
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Four days earlier, Wolves manager Graham Turner, the man tasked with rebuilding the fallen giants of West Midlands football, after they had plummeted from the First to the Fourth Divisions in as many seasons, had rushed through the signings of Bull and Andy Thompson for a combined fee of £70,000.
It was a far cry from the previous decade, when Wolves had broken the British transfer record to sign Andy Gray from Aston Villa, but it was a serious financial commitment for a Fourth Division side, and was considered to be quite a coup.
The pair were sat in the stand at Bolton Wanderers' Burnden Park ground, for an FA Cup replay against Chorley FC of the Multipart League. Chorley had already held Wolves to consecutive draws and, one way or another, the matter would be settled on the night. Bull, who had struggled to break through in Ron Saunders' Albion side, had stepped down two divisions, and was eager to see how his new team-mates would play.
It wasn't the start he had been hoping for. Two goals from salesman Charlie Cooper, either side of a strike from post-office clerk Mark Edwards, with Wolves failing to muster a single shot on target in reply, sentenced Wolves to their lowest point in history.
"It went one, two, three-nil and we looked at each other and I said, 'What have we done Thommo?'," recalls Bull.
"He said, 'We’ve done it now Bully, so it’s training tomorrow and get on with it.' It was all in the papers after that, 'Rest in Peace', 'Wolves going out of business', 'A final nail in Wolves' coffin, they’re going into liquidation', and stuff like that.
Stephen George Bull was born in Tipton, starting Wednesbury Oak Primary School in September 1969, moving onto Willingsworth High School in September 1976. By this time he was already the star of the school football team, and he began playing for junior football clubs including Ocker Hill cker Hillinfants, Red Lion and Newey Goodman.
On leaving school in 1981, he took on a succession of factory jobs, and began playing for non-league Tipton Town, where he stunned the older hands with his scoring prowess. After seeing Bull score 13 goals in 17 games, manager Sid Day,. who was also a scout at West Bromwich Albion, recommended Bull to Baggies manager Nobby Stiles.
Stiles had just taken over from Johnny Giles as manager, and 19-year-old Bull joined Albion on a youth contract in 1984, a month before he was joined by Featherstone-born full back Andy Thompson, who had also been recommended by Day..
