Sir Jack
Sir Jack at Wolves
Sir Jack
By Tom Bason August 17 2007
On Saturday 11th August, almost 3 months since the deal had first been agreed; Sir Jack Hayward passed ownership of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club to Cheshire based business man Steve Morgan. The fee? A miserly £10. The fact that this sum is so low shows the love of Wolves to the great man.
Sir Jack
On Saturday 11th August, almost 3 months since the deal had first been agreed; Sir Jack Hayward passed ownership of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club to Cheshire based business man Steve Morgan. The fee? A miserly £10. The fact that this sum is so low shows the love of Wolves to the great man.
Sir Jack first became involved at Wolves in summer 1986, when he agreed to become the new president, presiding over a new board comprising of Director Jack Harris and Chairman Richard Homden. 4 years later, Sir Jack fulfilled a personal ambition, and bought the club from Gallagher Estates for £2.1 million. At this stage, Wolves had just finished mid-table in our first season back in the second tier of English football, and there was real hope that the extra money now available to the club would give us the final push back to the hallowed land of top-flight football. However, this wasn’t to be. The 1990’s proved to be a frustrating time for Wolves, with a succession of managers and big money signings all failing to provide that extra push. Graham Turner, who in the late 1980’s had led Wolves to successive promotions, spent big on Geoff Thomas, Kevin Keen and David Kelly. However, promotion didn’t come, and in 1994 Turner was sacked. His successor was former England manager Graham Taylor, who spent large sums of money on the likes of Steve Froggatt, Tony Daley and Neil Emblen. However, the best Taylor could manage was 4th place, despite having started the season as favourites. The following season, Sir Jack opened up more money to Taylor, £1.85 million on Dean Richards, but in November Wolves were languishing in 19th, and Sir Jack made the decision to replace him with Mark McGhee the following month. Again, more of Sir Jack’s money was spent, with over £2 million going to Leicester City for Iwan Roberts and Steve Corica. However, again Wolves fell at the final hurdle and lost in the playoffs to Crystal Palace. By now though, the cheques coming from Chez Hayward were drying up, and when McGhee’s successor Colin Lee wanted new players, he was forced to sell talented youngster Robbie Keane. Lee couldn’t bring success, and former Southampton boss Dave Jones was appointed the new manager. Now though, Sir Jack did spend money on the likes of Kenny Miller, Nathan Blake, Mark Kennedy, Shawn Newton, Alex Rae, Colin Cameron, Paul Butler and Cedric Roussel. Jones first season started brilliantly, but couldn’t keep it going, and a fall from grace left Sir Jack and the fans with a bitter taste in their mouths. No money was made available the following season, but success came in the form of a Playoff win at Cardiff, a moment later described as the best moments at Wolves for Sir Jack. However, the necessary funds weren’t made available in the Premiership, and Wolves came straight back down. By now though, Sir Jack had appointed a CEO Jez Moxey to take control of the day to day running of the club, and it was Jez Moxey who was responsible for the sacking of Dave Jones, and then the subsequent hiring of Glenn Hoddle and Mick McCarthy. Of course, no mention of Sir Jack could be complete without mention of what will probably his longest lasting legacy- Molineux. When Sir Jack took over, development had started at Molineux, but a lack of funds had meant that only the (then called) John Ireland stand had been completed. Within 3 years, 3 new stands had been built, with the Jack Harris stand being the final stand to be opened in 1993. Molineux’s capacity was expanded to 28,525, at the time one of the largest grounds in the country. Overall, Sir Jack pumped money into the club over a 17 year period that saw precious little in return. After so many seasons of disappointment and failure, Sir Jack was understandably cautious when the promised land of the Premiership was finally reached, but I think that he must regret that more was not done to keep us there.
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StumbleuponRe: Sir Jack at Wolves
Posted by: Old Wulf (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:08:17:10:13:33
A worthy article Tom to a great man.
Quality
Quality
Re: Sir Jack at Wolves
Posted by: Steve Morgan's £10 Note! (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:08:17:11:40:07
GREAT ARTICLE!
SIR JACK HAYWARDS BARMY ARMY!!
SIR JACK HAYWARDS BARMY ARMY!!
Re: Sir Jack at Wolves
Posted by: lucca wolf (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:08:17:11:46:24
thanks,details how much we as fans owe to sjh.
lucca wolf
lucca wolf
Re: Sir Jack at Wolves
Posted by: Thecheese (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:08:17:15:38:36
GREAT ARTICLE
Jack Haywards barmy army!
Jack Haywards barmy army!
Re: Sir Jack at Wolves
Posted by: Stourport Wolf (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:08:18:07:52:53
For me the greatest gift SJH has bestowed on Wolves is to pass us on for £10 with no debt to another Englishman who seems to have the right motives.
Re: Sir Jack at Wolves
Posted by: Wolvensam (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:08:18:08:04:51
Thank you for everything Sir Jack. 
"At the moment we've only got 16 first-team players and my initials stand for Mick McCarthy, not Merlin the Magician."
In Mick McCarthy we trust!
"At the moment we've only got 16 first-team players and my initials stand for Mick McCarthy, not Merlin the Magician."
In Mick McCarthy we trust!
Re: Sir Jack at Wolves
Posted by: King Kenny Hibbitt (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:08:18:11:05:33
Very true, Stourport Wolf.
Meanwhile, down the road, Birmingham City are waiting to be renamed 'The Tilton Road Takeaway'...
COME ON YOU WOLVES....GERRIN' TO UM, AND F*CK 'EM OFF!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:08:18:11:06:34 by King Kenny Hibbitt.
Meanwhile, down the road, Birmingham City are waiting to be renamed 'The Tilton Road Takeaway'...
COME ON YOU WOLVES....GERRIN' TO UM, AND F*CK 'EM OFF!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:08:18:11:06:34 by King Kenny Hibbitt.
Re: Sir Jack at Wolves
Posted by: North Sea Wolfie (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:08:19:21:32:19
Thank you sir Jack and god bless you for looking after the Great Wolves - Yes a great man and a great team - Great article also.. Wolfie
Supporter since 1955
.. Wolfie
Supporter since 1955
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