‘You only have one life, and I gave mine to Wolves.’ The legendary quote delivered by Stan Cullis, the most successful manager in the club’s history.
Gone are the days when managers are given the sort of time which Cullis was, quite rightly, afforded during an incredible 16-year spell at the helm during which Wolves won the only three topflight titles in their history, as well as two FA Cups.
And gone are the days when players spend the sort of time which Cullis had in the Wolves’ dressing room prior to becoming boss, 13 years during which he captained the team to twice being league runners-up and the final of another FA Cup.
That just doesn’t happen anymore. But what does happen, what is always a constant, is the loyalty and devotion of supporters. Through the good and bad, and the whole rollercoaster of emotions which following a football team inescapably has to offer.
‘Football fans share a universal language that cuts across many cultures and many personality types,’ wrote famous American sports journalist Hunter S Thompson.
‘A serious football fan is never alone. We are legion, and football is often the only thing we have in common.’
The Molineux legion consists of many Wolves fans who have gone above and beyond in their devoted following of their favourite and beloved club.
Who have followed the team over earth, land and sea, through the thick and the thin, in support of the gold and black.
Sadly, one of those loyal devotees, regarded by many as THE most loyal devotee, Charlie Daw, passed away recently at the age of 66.
News of Charlie’s loss had reached many of his friends on the morning of the funeral of former Wolves favourite Terry Wharton. Their sense of shock and sadness dovetailing with their desire to pay tribute to the talents and contribution of Wharton.
Love and respect for a Wolves playing hero and a Wolves supporter in equal measure and in perfect unison. As it should be. And just as it was during half time of Wolves’ game against Bournemouth last Saturday when fulsome tribute was paid to Charlie’s incredible loyalty.
His commitment to his football team was truly magnificent.
With the exception of when stadiums were closed during Covid, Charlie attended a staggering 1,986 consecutive Wolves games, a run which started with the 4-1 defeat against Bolton in Division Three in 1985, and finished with the 1-1 draw at Everton on January 7th.
In the preceding ten years he had only missed seven games, mainly for attending the World Speedway Finals, and his total tally, from his first game against Bury in 1967, was 2, 576.
“I used to laugh and joke when I saw him and call him the number one,” says Peter Abbott, himself an incredible Wolves devotee who lives in Suffolk and yet has only missed one game – home and away – in almost 50 years.
Steve Bishop is another Wolves fan of legendary status, who had been on the longest run of games before missing out against Besiktas in the Europa League.
“I think Steve was ahead of me but after he missed that game, Charlie became the number one,” Abbott continues.
“I’d often see him before games, particularly in the Great Western before home games, and the thing I will always remember about the number one, he was always smiling.
“I think everyone would say that about him, always smiling – as soon as he walked in the room, he had a big grin on his face, as if to say: ‘We’re watching the Wolves…we’re happy.’
“He’d have a beer in one hand, betting slip in the other, and that is what you can always say about him. He was a happy boy!”
The betting slip shows that Wolves wasn’t the only sporting love of Charlie’s life. Far from it.
He enjoyed horseracing, and had visited all 59 UK racecourses with wife Jo, his partner for 21 years, or ’21 seasons’, as he would say. They had first met, appropriately enough, in the bookies, where Jo worked.
“Definitely not the most traditional setting for romance,” she recalls. “But it makes it more special and unique.
“I had known Charlie for a couple of years, so I knew all about Wolves and his other hobbies, as well as not to back the same horse as him after frequently taking his money at the bookies!”
Another hobby was darts. Charlie was captain of the team at the Moreton Arms and in charge of the Wednesday night Tettenhall Darts League. Which is to continue in his memory.
Family, too, was always of paramount importance.
Charlie’s two children Joanne and Robert came into Jo’s life when they got together, and, so too, her children Liz, Thomas, Harry and Lucy. Between them they also had six grandchildren, with another on the way in April.
And football was something they could all share.
“I had a season ticket next to him at home for about 15 years,” says Jo.
“We did lots of away matches as well and he showed me all his favourite pubs around the country!
“Apart from family, Wolves was his life, and the only time he swore was at Wolves games!
“Whether we won, lost or drew he always had the same happy exterior – well maybe slightly happier when we won – but he was never down or upset about results and kept a positive mindset.”
Back then to the Wolves family. And some of Charlie’s escapades during all those years of watching so many games.
Many of the games were watched with one of his best pals, Eddie Baker, and many wonderfully memorable stories and experiences were shared.
The two first met outside Loftus Road ahead of an away game at QPR on New Year’s Eve in 1977. Born just six days apart, they became friends ever since and travelled to over 1,500 matches together.
“I was waiting outside the turnstiles, and we just started chatting and kept in touch ever since,” says Baker.
A chance meeting that turned into a formidable friendship!
“I was living in Norfolk at the time, and we met at other London games that season before I moved to Cheltenham and went to a lot more,” Baker continues.
“Sometimes after night games I used to stay at his parents’ house when I couldn’t get back to Cheltenham, if we were travelling up north.
“We were there together at home to Bury which is our lowest ever league attendance, and the one that was even lower against Torquay in the Freight Rover Trophy.
“And while I was working away in Berlin when we played at Chorley, Charlie was there, with the other 10,000!”
Baker’s assessment of his mate’s character and personality is in keeping with everything else that has been said.
“Loyal, determined, cheerful, optimistic, glass half full, all of those things,” he says.
“Not at all egotistical, and it was never him that talked about this record.
“A really decent and humble man – modest, never boasted – and someone who was devoted to his family.
“He was generous and would do anything to help anyone, and no one ever saw him angry.
“Charlie usually wore a mischievous grin and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of pubs and away stadiums.”
That sense of mischief was also accompanied by a rich dose of ingenuity when it came to overcoming the sort of obstacles that come along during such a lengthy ‘unbeaten’ run.
Such as when Wolves fans were banned from eight away games following the trouble at Scarborough on the opening day of the 1987/88 campaign.
Charlie, sometimes with Baker’s assistance, ensured he didn’t miss any of those ‘banned’ fixtures, sitting in the home ends thanks sometimes to the opposing club being happy to sell, or other times travelling to the area, such as Peterborough, ahead of the game to purchase tickets.
Slightly later on, in December 2002, when Wolves fans were stopped by Millwall from going to the New Den, Charlie actually became a Lions member to book his ticket, only for his card not to work as he swiped the machine to gain entry at the turnstiles.
Fearing having to speak might give away his lack of ‘cockney’ dialect, fortunately the lady on the turnstiles wiped the ticket on her top, returned it, and Charlie gained entry.
There are other equally entertaining tales. He flew out to the Anglo Italian fixture at Lecce on the plane with the players, albeit having to buy his first wife a washing machine to soften the blow of the considerable expense.
Once as trouble flared outside a pub in Northampton, the Police came in to clear the venue of Wolves supporters. Charlie and Baker, keeping themselves to themselves inside the pub and unaware of events outside, simply carried on drinking and chatting with the locals who were playing dominoes.
Having originally been at PSV Eindhoven in 1980, Charlie loved the Europa League revival under Nuno. On one occasion, he was part of a group also including Baker who were gently advised by the local police to avoid a particular area of Belfast where riots were taking place as they opted to ignore the coaches after the Crusaders game to walk the two miles into the city centre.
Charlie was also among the ‘Pyunik 48’ who flew to watch the team in Armenia, was one of the 200 in attendance at the ‘behind closed doors’ fixture in Slovan Bratislava, and highlighted the atmosphere in the 3-2 win in Torino as the best of all of Wolves’ European journeys.
Always ready to adapt, and respond to whatever was thrown at him, when a fixture at Carlisle was postponed, he still made use of the train tickets to take Jo on a day out in Cumbria, followed by heading on to the racing at Hexham.
Another huge highlight, as recalled by Jo, was an away game at Newport County just before Christmas in 1985. Wolves lost 3-1 in front of a crowd of just 2,222, Jon Purdie scoring the goal, but something else took place to grab the attention!
“Charlie got to meet Robert Plant, which he was particularly proud of,” she says.
“He met him again at the Swedish Wolves football dinner last year and spent about 20 minutes talking to him about football – he loved how normal Robert is!”
Plant would have been equally as chuffed to have met such a loyal fan as Charlie. But to the man himself, it probably wasn’t anything special.
Taking his place in the North Bank, or in an away terrace or stand, just became a regular part of life for the former employee of Hobsons, which later became Lucas Aerospace.
Showing the sort of dedication which others might find impossible, but for him, and others like him, it was just normal.
“Why do we do it?” asks Abbott. “We just do – it’s Wolves.
“Charlie was like us, even when Wolves were losing, he still thought we’d get back in the game.
“Even when things are going badly, we think they are going to get better.
“It is just something we keep doing, and it’s number one in the diary.
“Every time the date of a match changes, we adapt, and a lot of the time we know the tricks of the trade and are ahead of what’s going on anyway.
“Sometimes you have to have a plan B, C and D, but we do it because we enjoy it, and we just happen to be where we are.
“Losing Charlie was a big shock, and obviously particularly sad for his family. We have lost a few fans along the way and his is another friendly face that we won’t see at games up and down the country. He will be missed.”
For Baker, who will be speaking at the funeral, the loss of his close mate has, understandably, prompted many emotions.
Whilst Charlie was struggling with illness at the away game with Everton, and was indebted both to Baker for driving to the game but also the local police and the stewards for helping him on the night, neither would have known that this would be the last fixture they would ever attend together.
Baker went to see him in hospital after the Shrewsbury game on the following Saturday, which Charlie had listened to on Wolves TV, with the racing app simultaneously on the go on his phone.
The first game he had missed in over 40 years, and then sadly, a few days later, he had passed away.
He lived not far from him in Fordhouses, and travelled to many away games together, with Crump relishing the chance to listen to tales from the Seventies and Eighties which Charlie would bring to life via his storytelling.
“He was also a speedway fan, like myself, but most importantly of all, a modest man,” says Crump.
“He didn’t ever shout about his run of games, it was his mates and the rest of us that did that.
“He was a thoroughly decent and humble human being, and it’s a huge loss to the Wolves supporter base, to my group of friends, and so many more.
“There are many that knew Charlie a lot better than me. And his passing is of great sadness with the trip to Manchester City after he passed just not the same for many of us.
“We are going to miss him greatly.”
Similar words from so many certainly paint a vivid picture of Charlie the person, on top of Charlie the football fan.
The sort of person who contributes to making football the beautiful game, one where shared experiences as supporters, as part of that ‘legion’, creates bonds and relationships which transcend the 90 minutes and mean so much more than mere results and position in the league table.
A hero on the terraces to rival many a hero on the pitch.
Charlie loved his family, he loved his football, and he loved his friends, and while he will be missed by so many, the memories will never fade.
“We want to remember Charlie for the happy and positive person that he was,” Jo concludes.
“All the comments have been lovely and show just what a fantastic person he was, and all the stories help us to celebrate his life.
“Always glass half full, always smiling and laughing, and someone who everyone enjoyed being around.”
