Bobby ‘Gobsmacked’ At Recognition From His Peers
Bobby Gould proudly shows off the diploma he has just been presented with.
Promotion celebrations looming, a Bristol Rovers reunion in the diary and something special for the display cabinet…..not much chance of Bobby Gould slowing down in his 80th year!
Not long back from three months in New Zealand, the forward who served Wolves in two spells wondered why the League Managers Association were so keen to have him at their Easter-week lunch in London.
He sat down at a table also containing Tony Pulis and Dave Bassett but was soon back on his feet to receive a diploma from the LMA in recognition of his huge contribution to the game, especially in coaching.
“It was a lovely surprise,” he said. “I had no idea it was coming my way. I was gobsmacked. A few of the awards were handed out at the lunch but I was the first one called up, so I was caught a little off guard.”
The LMA’s chief executive, Richard Bevan OBE, also used the occasion to present the same UEFA Pro Diploma certificates to Alan Curbishley, Ossie Ardiles and David Pleat. The honour recognises those who have achieved the FA Level 5 coaching benchmark and is a qualification conferred on a small group of highly experienced coaches.
The audience also included Frank Clark, Joe Jordan, Alan Pardew, Bryan Hamilton, John Coleman, Mike Kelly and Mark Bowen among many others.
And the catch-up gave Gould plenty of reminiscing at a time when exciting news has been coming thick and fast.
Bobby pictured during his second Wolves spell in the mid-1970s.
In the days leading up to the holiday weekend, he and wife Marge made close checks on clubs both from their roots and from as far away as it’s possible to be.
They were cheered by the TV coverage of the 3-2 home win over Derby that meant Coventry strode ever closer to restoring top-flight football to the city of their birth and also found a live feed of the 1-1 A League draw in Adelaide for their elder son Jonathan’s club, Auckland.
It is 59 years this spring since Gould finished as top-scorer for the Sky Blues side who pipped Wolves to the Second Division title under the management of Jimmy Hill.
And despite the surprise of Sheffield Wednesday hanging on for a draw there at the weekend, it appears no more than a matter of time until the present-day side scoop the same prize, with Frank Lampard in charge.
Auckland have their eyes on silverware, too, with former Wolves man Steve Corica as head coach and Gould Jnr in charge of the keepers. They stand second in the top flight, three points behind Newcastle.
And Jonathan’s son, Matthew, has had his goalkeeper-coach contract with National League Yeovil extended by a further 12 months at a time when he is also doing some work with Bristol Rovers.
We had the pleasure of Matthew’s company as well on Sunday when we dropped in on Bristol for a lengthy visit to see the Goulds and were pleased to hear that, a few weeks ahead of the senior man’s milestone birthday, he is still doing fitness walks every day – and looking at a busy diary.
The West Country port has been all of a buzz following the appointment of 78-year-old Roy Hodgson in charge of Bristol City, where Bobby played in the early 1970s in between his two Wolves stints.
Not the worst view you could have from your front garden….Bobby and wife Marge pictured overlooking the point where the River Severn becomes the sea.
But the FA Cup-winning former Wimbledon boss, who is a year and a bit his senior and who also managed Wales from 1994 to 1998, has always seen his football allegiances as more on the blue half of a city where he and wife Marge have lived for well over half a century.
In addition to being invited on to a podcast homing in on Coventry’s triumphant march, he was also therefore delighted to be asked to attend a forthcoming nostalgia event at Rovers.
And the couple are using elder son Richard’s status at the administrative helm of English cricket to go and see a day of the international circuit at The Oval in the summer.