Steve Plant Wolves book launch and tribute to the late man himself with family friends and old Wolves players.
The Mount Hotel in Tettenhall was the launch venue for a book by Steve Plant, who sadly passed away not long ago. The book launch went ahead as planned and some fitting tributes were paid to Steve.
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00:00We're at the Mount Hotel in Tecknall and Dave, you were a good friend of Steve Plant who's sadly no longer with us.
00:07Yeah, that's correct. Steve, this is all in tribute to Steve. A lot of time and effort went into his planning of this, which made the job really simple for us to do.
00:22Everything to the minutest detail was planned prior to us turning up. All we've done is just followed his instructions.
00:30So it's the launch of his book, Old Gold and Black, and all these shirts are from his collection.
00:38They're all from his collection, apart from the goalkeeper's shirt over his shoulder.
00:42But over 130 on display of Steve's and there's 250 in total.
00:47I've met Steve before, but we sadly lost him not long ago. I didn't realise he'd got his own museum.
00:55He's got his own museum, which is probably the best museum of Wolves memorabilia in the country, in the world.
01:02He's got a suitcase of Billy Wright, when Billy Wright did a tour playing for England and Wolves, with all of Billy's stuff in there. It's just amazing.
01:16You have to have a very understanding family, don't you, when you're collecting on this scale?
01:20I think Andrea and the kids are amazing. They've put up with it for a long time. I think they'd put up with it for a lot longer if Steve could be here as well.
01:29So what have we lost in losing Steve then? Obviously he was a great archivist of the club, wasn't he?
01:34Most definitely. I think you've got one of the most selfless people I've ever met in my life.
01:41With Steve, he had three common things in his life. One was family, two was his mates and three was Wolves.
01:49That's the way that Steve was and everything he did was for other people.
01:56Tireless charity fundraising, cure leukaemia and also Birmingham Children's Hospital, where he's raised over £250,000.
02:07£250,000? Wow, that's crazy.
02:11So today's the launch of the book and kind of a celebration of him as well, really?
02:15It was to be a shirt exhibition and launch of the book, but today is more than that now. It's a celebration of Steve's life.
02:22You walk into the room, it's full of colour and that describes Steve in a fantastic way.
02:30Mr Bollier, special celebration day for Steve Plant here. He was a great lad, wasn't he?
02:38Yeah, he was absolutely top drawer. He was a very good friend as well. I think he probably knew more about me than I know about myself.
02:45He was absolutely unbelievable and it's a shock. We're all heartfelt for his family and grandkids and his wife and everybody else.
02:52I've done him proud today because his wife says he's been planning this for months and months and months and I put it all together for him.
02:59So hopefully he's looking down thinking, I couldn't have done a better job than that.
03:03You're Steve's brother and I've just found out you're a Man Utd fan. I mean, what's going on, chap? How's this happened?
03:10Well, this is a bit alien to me. My dad used to take us to the Wolves in West Brom. I watched Man Utd play both of them in the early 70s.
03:21I wanted to be a Man Utd fan.
03:24So the Man Utd players at the time, who were some of the players you were seeing?
03:27Georgia Best, Bobby Charlton, Dennis Law. So, fantastic team.
03:33Well, you can be forgiven, I think, when you mention those names.
03:36Well, I didn't get the short story, did I?
03:38So you and your brother must have had some to-do's over the years, some banter between teams.
03:44Always, always. But what brought us together, we loved England, followed England around the world together.
03:52So, that was ace.
03:54Big loss to the Wolves extended family, but also to your family. He's a character, wasn't he?
04:02Totally, totally, yeah. It's hard to talk about him, he's still raw.
04:09I understand that, yeah. I didn't realise he'd got this crazy collection. Did he have a favourite shirt?
04:14Yeah, he had a few favourite shirts. Obviously, Bullies shirts were the ones he wouldn't let go of.
04:21Have we got a Bullies shirt here today?
04:24There's loads of Bullies shirts here today, yeah.
04:27But he had a great way of finding the shirts, the secrets on how he did it.
04:33There's a knappling to someone that wants to acquire this kind of a hat.
04:38For sure, yeah. It's as much who you know as what you know.
04:43No secret to staying with the family, I take it.
04:45There we are, yeah.
04:47Obviously, you're going through a world of pain with it, but to come today and see the love that was for him, really, from the Wolves community...
04:57This is fantastic. Whatever he did, he did it 100%.
05:01And you can tell, these are just a small quantity of the shirts he's got.
05:06He's actually got thousands of actual shirts, which are superb.
05:12And some of the friends he made, amazing.
05:16So you must have developed an affinity for the Wolves to some extent over the years.
05:20I've always been my second team.
05:22Your second team, well said.
05:24I always look out for the Wolves results.
05:26And I used to go up there a lot.
05:28So much so, when they got back in the premiership, I went with his Wolves mates up to Old Trafford.
05:33Because I did say, well, it's been such a long time, I'd better show you how to get there.
05:37And that was a good day.
05:40So if it's a Wolves-Man U game, are you open for a 2-2 draw, bit of drama, bit of draw?
05:46Or are you still rooting for Man U? How's that work?
05:48Man U all of them.
05:49Man U, OK. Well, we'll end you there.
05:51But no, thank you for talking to us, Simon, on what is a difficult day for you.
05:55I do appreciate it. Thank you.
05:58As you know, Steve, this is only a tenth of his collection.
06:01What was it like for you to walk in today and see these shirts?
06:04I've been in about four or five times, but I still can't get my head around it.
06:09I've been to that many dinners with Steve and he invited me on the table,
06:12and I've only seen a small selection of it to see this.
06:15And I've also been told there's another couple of thousand back home.
06:20So for one man's collection, it's unbelievable.
06:22I think his first shirt was all nine.
06:24Yeah.
06:25It's been 15 years.
06:26First shirt, 2009, he bought from Georgia...
06:30Sorry, he obtained a Georgia helicopter and that started the collection.
06:33Yeah.
06:34But for you, it was a personal thing because Steve Pratt was a good friend of yours, wasn't he?
06:38Yeah, he was...
06:42Yeah, Steve.
06:45So Steve was also a very good friend of yours, wasn't he, Paul?
06:49Yeah, so back when I left in 2004, 2005,
06:53even though I kept in touch with a few of the staff and all that,
06:56I didn't really come back to the club.
06:57And Steve was a big part of me coming back in 2011.
07:00Getting all the ex-players to come back in and have it forever in his debt, really,
07:04because it rekindled what I signed for Wolves in 2000 and 2004.
07:10The spirit, the atmosphere, I'd lost that for seven years,
07:13I'd retired for two years,
07:14and Steve gave me that kind of purpose to go to matches again.
07:19I never said it to his face, because he doesn't like compliments.
07:22He doesn't.
07:23But now he's...
07:24Yeah, he got me back into Wolves.
07:26He's been on Tata's travel, been to the stadium, been to the museum,
07:29doing all that stuff.
07:31Without Steve, I wouldn't be back doing that.
07:33Every time, he wanted that shirt and medal.
07:35And it just means a lot that I brought it down,
07:38because I know he's looking upon us now.
07:42Sorry.
07:43Sorry.
07:45So, guys, an absolute legend,
07:48took us to the Premier League,
07:49and also a very good friend of Steve Plant's.
07:51Thank you very much.
07:52Paul Butler.
07:59Next up, let's get him up.
08:01Dan Goodman.
08:02Now, what to expect.
08:03I bet you certainly did not expect this.
08:06So, I've got to be honest,
08:08I didn't really know what...
08:10Obviously, Steve had organised this,
08:12but I didn't really know what to expect.
08:16I definitely did not expect this.
08:19And when you look around,
08:21and I presume everybody's had a great chance and time
08:24to go and have a look at all the shirts.
08:26Excuse me.
08:27It is quite remarkable how many eras and generations...
08:31I mean, there's even one from 1908 over there,
08:33and then a 1950s one that's still...
08:35One that's shown in the floodlights.
08:37And finding out about all these things is just...
08:39It's just been remarkable.
08:40It's just been remarkable.
08:41So, the word I used was mind-blowing.
08:44It blew my mind.
08:45The old enemy.
08:46So, let's get it out there.
08:48Let's get it out there now.
08:50The fact that the Wolves fans accepted me...
08:54They paid a lot of money for me.
08:55I didn't score in the first seven games.
08:57You know, but...
09:00I was on the right wing, by the way.
09:02But they didn't get on my back
09:04when it would have been easy for the Wolves fans to go,
09:06I'll be a reject, and all of that, and blah, blah, blah.
09:08So, no, I will forever be grateful
09:11to the Wolves fans and the family
09:13for the love and support they gave me.
09:15Brilliant.
09:21Karl, by the way, who was a massive supporter
09:23and friend of Steve Plant,
09:24and Steve Plant put the 24-hour penalty shoot-out
09:27on for Keorlou Kimi, which was absolutely huge.
09:29But you look around this room now,
09:30the goalkeeper shirts, the England shirts,
09:32you've got shirts from 1908, the floodlight shirts.
09:35Some of these shirts haven't even got numbers on,
09:37because this was before the days
09:38they had numbers on shirts.
09:39You go all the way around to modern day,
09:41and, Don, how do they fit in these shirts now?
09:46Yeah, they're athletes now, aren't they?
09:49We weren't particularly athletes.
09:51They certainly haven't got the old Tuesday club anyway,
09:53have they now?
09:55Tom, I will vouch for that.
09:56But, no, it's great to see the history.
10:00And the one that's really struck me
10:02is the Bert Williams goalkeeping jersey
10:05from the cup final.
10:06Was it 49?
10:07Yeah.
10:08It's a jumper, for goodness sake.
10:09It's a green jumper,
10:10which I would be proud to go out in tonight
10:12if I was there.
10:13I'd be in all browns.
10:15Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:16Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:17Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:18Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:19But, you know, it's just lovely
10:20looking around at the history
10:22and how they have changed.
10:24Tommo was saying that that shirt
10:26that we played in with the wolf's head
10:28sort of on it,
10:29you know, the one that we talk about,
10:30it was so big that he had to pull his shorts down
10:33so that the shirt didn't go below the short one.
10:36So, which might explain why he's 5'1".
10:39Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:40So, you know.
10:41But, no, to see the way they've changed,
10:43obviously they are very athletic now
10:45and the shirts are designed
10:47to highlight that profile, I guess.
10:49You were a fan growing up,
10:50obviously playing for everything,
10:51your boyhood club.
10:52What's it like to walk and see
10:53250 shirts like these
10:55and the legacy that that man has created?
10:59Listen, it's fantastic for me
11:01because, as I said,
11:04I'm not a, or wasn't a, wolf supporter
11:07until the day that I walked into the football club.
11:10I look around, I see all the shirts,
11:12I know Don's played in most of them.
11:17Probably just missed out on the green jumper a little bit.
11:21No, listen, I still live in the area now,
11:24in Bridgnorth,
11:25and I have a great affiliation
11:27with this football club
11:28and always will have.
11:30I think the town and everybody,
11:31even today,
11:32everyone stops you and says,
11:34you know, the greatest day of their lives.
11:37I'm just glad to be part of that,
11:38to be honest, yeah.
11:40Well, Dave, you certainly played your part
11:42in our massive history
11:43and I want to thank you for that.
11:44Ladies and gentlemen, Dave Jones!
11:47Susie.
11:48Need a box?
11:49Yes, we do.
11:50You don't know any professionals.
11:52Anyway.
11:53Susie, for you,
11:54what happened to Bournem Bread?
11:56Once again, you walked in today,
11:57like me, I was actually...
11:58You know what?
11:59Very quick story.
12:00Steve Plant spoke to loads of us
12:02about the idea
12:04and he explained exactly
12:05as it was going to look
12:06and you envision it in your mind
12:08and then you walked in today
12:09and what Dave and Sean and Andrea
12:12and the family have done
12:13is just incredible, by the way, guys.
12:14I mean, it's just...
12:15It's just incredible.
12:18Susie,
12:19you know, you used to be interviewed,
12:21but...
12:24by someone as amateur as me.
12:25However, what's it like to walk in
12:27and see these shirts?
12:28Not only that,
12:29does it rekindle
12:30family memories for you
12:31as a supporter?
12:33Yeah, I mean, first of all,
12:34I want to thank Andrea
12:35for really inviting me.
12:38Steve asked me to come
12:39and bring my dad.
12:40He was really keen
12:41that my dad came
12:42to see all the little shirts
12:43because he knew
12:44that my dad had been
12:45a Wolves fan all his life
12:46when he was here.
12:47So it was really kind of him
12:49and Andrea
12:50doubled up on that invitation
12:52to thank you so much for that.
12:54It's absolutely spectacular, isn't it?
12:56It is.
12:57I mean,
12:58it's got to be the biggest
12:59private collection,
13:00I assume,
13:01in the country.
13:02It's beautiful.
13:03It's been beautifully displayed
13:05and curated as well,
13:07which is obviously
13:08what Steve did.
13:10And our young George.
13:12I want to just give
13:13a little shout-out to George.
13:14He's been working
13:15really hard last night
13:16putting it all together.
13:17And...
13:18I'm just really
13:19particularly excited
13:20for George.
13:21As a supporter,
13:22Wolverhampton, Wornaby,
13:23one that means a lot to you
13:24or sticks out in your mind?
13:26Gosh.
13:27I mean,
13:28I haven't had a chance
13:29to look around yet.
13:30But I'm obviously
13:31going to say Bully
13:32because...
13:33Where is he?
13:34He's gone!
13:35Oh, he's gone!
13:36Oh, do you know what?
13:37If he's not here,
13:38I won't say Bully.
13:39I'll say Ruben Everson.
13:42I mean,
13:43who doesn't love Ruben Everson?
13:44I'm still hoping
13:45that he's going to come back
13:46and join us again
13:47in a few years' time.
13:48In the Championship.
13:49But, yeah.
13:50We'll have to do a repeat performance
13:51and bring him back.
13:52Yeah, yes.
13:53But he's written
13:54a beautiful song.
13:55So, yeah.
13:56That's lovely.
13:59Who have your favourite shirts?
14:00Erm...
14:01I like the
14:02Sheppard band one.
14:03Yeah, Sheppard band one
14:04was great.
14:05It fitted.
14:06That was one of the reasons.
14:08So, er, yeah.
14:10I was going to say,
14:11Don touched on the
14:12gym one
14:13that we had.
14:14How big it was,
14:15one size fits all.
14:16Unfortunately,
14:17it didn't fit me.
14:18Yeah.
14:19Yeah.
14:20With a lot to say,
14:21it was, erm,
14:22yeah,
14:23when we first came in.
14:24Er,
14:25saw everything
14:26and then,
14:27to be told
14:28this is only a fraction
14:29about what he's got.
14:30Yeah.
14:31It's unbelievable.
14:32Yeah.
14:33It's unbelievable for him.
14:34Yeah.
14:35That's the only one
14:36I didn't keep.
14:37Yeah.
14:38Yeah.
14:39For the right reasons as well.
14:40Yeah.
14:41But, yeah.
14:42I kept all my
14:43Wolves ones
14:44when I played him.
14:45Er,
14:46Tram here.
14:47Erm,
14:48don't think I kept
14:49Cardiff,
14:50erm,
14:51as well.
14:52Er,
14:53somewhere,
14:54even in the garage
14:55or the lot.
14:56The first big round of applause
14:57for Robbie Davidson.
14:58So Robbie,
14:59Steve Plant,
15:00I know he didn't leave
15:01a million miles from you,
15:02you've been to the museum,
15:03he's got some of your
15:04shirts at the museum.
15:05What was it like
15:06to walk into that
15:07absolute
15:08archival den
15:09of
15:10er,
15:11Wolves iniquity?
15:12Erm,
15:13I think everybody said
15:14basically what he was
15:15all about,
15:16wasn't it?
15:17It was,
15:18the history of the club
15:19was a massive thing
15:20for him.
15:21As a fan,
15:22you were watching the club
15:23and watching
15:24other teams progress
15:25and stuff like that,
15:26it was erm,
15:27it was crazy really.
15:28Erm,
15:29the last time I saw Steve
15:30was,
15:31erm,
15:3220 minutes from the end
15:33of the Chelsea game.
15:34Me and him
15:35were both storming
15:36out of the game.
15:37It was 5-2
15:38and I,
15:39I don't often hear that
15:40and often Dave,
15:41Dave was back there,
15:42he was with it.
15:43So we had a bit of
15:44a moan and groan
15:45for about 5-10 minutes
15:46and then we moved on.
15:47I was listening
15:48to most of it.
15:49Erm,
15:50that's the way it was
15:51and everybody,
15:52you know,
15:53whenever you see your
15:54club playing like that
15:55you know you've
15:56got concern about it
15:57but today
15:58it's just amazing
15:59isn't it?
16:00Yeah,
16:01totally believable.
16:02To see the history
16:03of the club
16:04and to see how
16:05well it's been
16:06supported as well
16:07it's just fantastic.
16:08Is there something
16:09you want to say
16:10about how it's
16:11got to be?
16:12I was looking at
16:13some of them
16:14and I can't believe
16:15Steve carried on
16:16going for some
16:17rascals.
16:18Yeah,
16:19I can't believe
16:20that one.
16:21But yeah,
16:22there's a few
16:23the sort of
16:24black and green
16:25ones are always
16:26my favourite shirts
16:27to play in
16:28and sort of bring
16:29back good memories
16:30as well.
16:31The pink ones
16:32are funny
16:33because I used to
16:34argue about them
16:35so I think the
16:36kit man used to
16:37put me in them
16:38anyway.
16:39So yeah,
16:40it's just incredible
16:41just still not
16:42come to terms
16:43with myself
16:44I probably have
16:45one in this room
16:46so it's going to
16:47be strange with
16:48the pink shirt
16:49because as players
16:50we sort of see
16:51a lot of you fans
16:52and we like to see
16:53you as a gang
16:54especially when
16:55we come back
16:56because you
16:57kind of have
16:58a memory of
16:59playing as well
17:00especially when
17:01we finish.
17:02It's going to be
17:03difficult,
17:04I'll tell a funny
17:05story,
17:06the last time
17:07I saw him
17:08playing in a
17:09gang was
17:10kicking off
17:11with fans
17:12for not
17:13getting behind
17:14the team.
17:15I had to go
17:16and sort of
17:17say to him
17:18that's
17:19a really
17:20passionate man
17:21about his
17:22club and
17:23we're all
17:24passionate about
17:25him.
17:26Listen,
17:27I'll tell you
17:28something now,
17:29if you didn't
17:30have a fallout
17:31with Planty
17:32you wasn't
17:33his mate.
17:34Because he
17:35would
17:36disagree
17:37and he
17:38stood by
17:39his point
17:40and there's
17:41absolutely
17:42nothing wrong
17:43with that
17:44and the
17:45fundraising
17:46was
17:47absolutely
17:48fantastic.
17:49Yeah,
17:50of course,
17:51there's always
17:52something going
17:53on with him
17:54who's always
17:55on to the
17:56next project
17:57to raise
17:58more money
17:59and fresh
18:00ideas as
18:01well,
18:02so it's
18:03incredible,
18:04this community
18:05is amazing
18:06when we
18:07get together
18:08and there's
18:09a real
18:10community
18:11feel and
18:12that's my
18:13feeling coming
18:14back to
18:15his memory
18:16no matter
18:17what and
18:18this is what
18:19this club's
18:20about,
18:21this is what
18:22the community
18:23is about
18:24and we'll
18:25always try for
18:26each other
18:27when it's
18:28in need.
18:29You supported
18:30this club
18:31growing up,
18:32what's it like
18:33then to
18:34go from
18:35the stands
18:36where you're
18:37watching it
18:38with your
18:39dad and
18:40then to
18:41actually find
18:42a picture
18:43of these
18:44kids
18:45playing pitch
18:46and training
18:47with Phil
18:48Parks,
18:49Steve Daly
18:50who were
18:51here,
18:52Kenny Hibby,
18:53the king
18:54himself,
18:55John Richards,
18:56Derek Parkin,
18:57Jeff Palmer,
18:58Alan Sunderland,
18:59loads of
19:00players that
19:01I'd seen
19:02come through
19:03the ranks.
19:04I watched
19:05my first game
19:06in the North
19:07Bank when
19:08I was 7,
19:09then to
19:10join Wolves
19:11at 18,
19:12after 10
19:13years of
19:14playing with
19:15these players,
19:16it was surreal.
19:17So you're
19:18thinking well
19:19I can't really
19:20go in with
19:21my autograph book
19:22and ask them
19:23to sign the
19:24autograph,
19:25I'm actually
19:26there as a
19:27pro.
19:28So it's surreal
19:29but it
19:30brings back
19:31great memories.
19:32Page 9
19:33on this
19:34book
19:35there's a
19:36great photo
19:37of myself,
19:38Lofty,
19:39Phil Parks
19:40who's here,
19:41Steve Daly
19:42and I'm
19:43very blessed
19:44to have had,
19:45like a lot of
19:46kids who
19:47love their
19:48football,
19:49to actually
19:50go on then
19:51and play
19:52professionally
19:53is a dream
19:54come true.
19:55But to play
19:56for your own
19:57club,
19:58I'm choking up,
19:59play for your
20:00own club
20:01is even more
20:02of a dream
20:03come true isn't
20:04it?
20:05To play for
20:06our great
20:07club,
20:08I feel very
20:09blessed.
20:10But the
20:11truth is
20:12that
20:13the
20:14truth is
20:15that
20:16the
20:17truth is
20:18that
20:19the
20:20truth is
20:21that
20:22the
20:23truth is
20:24that
20:25the
20:26truth is
20:27that
20:28the
20:29truth is
20:30that
20:31the
20:32truth is
20:33that
20:34the
20:35truth is
20:36that
20:37the
20:38truth is
20:39that
20:40the
20:41truth is
20:42that
20:43the
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