Touchline Tormentors Back On Duty
Steve Froggatt in the John Hendley Media Suite on Saturday teatime.
Three occupants of the left-wing role at Molineux across a span of almost a decade and a half were back in the public eye on Saturday – but not only at the venue where supporters would expect them to be.
While Robbie Dennison and Steve Froggatt attended Wolves’ home draw against Everton, Andy Sinton returned to the patch in his role as a QPR ambassador and radio summariser for their Championship game at Albion.
One or more of the three were basically in the old no 11 role in gold and black throughout the period from 1987 to 2002, with Dennison serving the club until 1997 and playing 353 first-team games, Froggatt often crossing over with him as a Wolves player from 1994 to 1998 as he made 122 appearances and Sinton as the successor when given 82 Wolves outings after being signed in 1999.
In a busy day of spectating, Wolves Heroes had the pleasure of renewing acquaintances with all three and with other familiar and less familar former players.
Froggatt, having appeared alongside David Kelly at a question-and-answer evening at the Cleveland Arms on Friday night, was on BBC WM duty for Wolves’ Saturday night clash.
And Dennison made a popular return to the ground as he was on corporate duty in the museum and Billy Wright Stand, answering Paul Berry’s questions on the mic in the latter.
We assume there was careful planning to his visit, too, as it was against Everton in 1988 that the Northern Ireland international scored one of his two Wembley goals in the space of a month and a half.
That was in a special short-game tournament to mark the Football League’s centenary – a somewhat tedious two-day occasion that was followed after the end of the season by the much more vibrant Sherpa Van Trophy final against Burnley.
A stunning 80,841 turned up at that one over Whitsun weekend for an all-Fourth Division clash in which Dennison curled in a brilliant second-half free-kick for the killer second goal after Andy Mutch had opened the scoring.
Like the televised Premier League fixture two nights ago, the game against Colin Harvey’s side at Wembley finished 1-1, with the favourites winning the subsequent penalty shoot-out.
Robbie Dennison at the mic.
Also present and visible at Molineux this weekend were Andy Thompson, Steve Bull and Lee Naylor while, from further afield, Barry Horne and Ronnie Goodlass were part of the Everton media contingent and Paul Robinson, Joe Cole and Dean Ashton were among the neutrals working for other broadcasters.
And Sinton wasn’t the only former Wolves man on duty at The Hawthorns a few hours earlier. Paul Jones (the midfielder) still works in the media and Alistair Robertson was seen there as well, helping as a tour guide before kick-off.
By coincidence, Jones and Dennison both work these days as postmen.