.svg)
.png)
Lifelong fans’ unforgettable day with Wolves legends.
A group of residents from Engelberg Care Home in Wolverhampton enjoyed a dream day out at Molineux Stadium this week, thanks to the kindness of Wolverhampton Wanderers and the club’s charitable arm, Wolves Wishes.
The five residents – all lifelong football fans – were invited for a special behind-the-scenes tour of the iconic stadium, where they also met two of the club’s greatest ever players: Wolves goalscoring legend Steve Bull, MBE, and former striker John Richards.
The visit came about following a TikTok video shared earlier this year by the care home, showing the residents enjoying the Wolves vs Villa match. The clip caught the attention of the club, leading to this unforgettable invitation.
Daniel Cash, Home Manager at Engelberg, said:
“Today five of our residents were invited to the Molineux, home of Wolves FC, for a stadium tour and to meet some of the former stars! They met John Richards and Steve Bull, who are the equivalent of Messi and Ronaldo in Wolverhampton and are Wolves’ best-ever players from the 70s to the 90s.
“John Richards’ mother-in-law used to be a resident at Engelberg. When I started nearly nine years ago, he would visit several times a week and knows the home well. He’s kindly offered to support our fundraisers in the future and has given our Wellbeing Lead, Karyn, his details for future events.”
The residents were shown around the Wolves museum by friendly guides, enjoyed light refreshments, received goodie bags full of Wolves merchandise, and spent quality time chatting with their footballing heroes.
Karyn, Wellbeing Lead at Engelberg, said the visit couldn’t have been more meaningful:
“The whole Wolves team were warm and welcoming. It was very well organised, and they took into account our residents’ needs.
“John and Steve took time to say hello and have a good chat with each of our residents and the other group who were there too. You could see they weren’t there because they had to be – they genuinely wanted to be there and enjoyed it.”
.png)
One of the day’s most memorable moments came courtesy of resident Bob, who supports Aston Villa.
“John Richards jokingly escorted Bob out of the room when he found out he was a Villa fan,” said Karyn. “It was all in good fun – and Bob couldn’t believe he was personally whisked away by John Richards! He was nearly speechless.”
Ivy, resident and life-long fan lit up the room:
“I’ve never seen her smile so big,” Karyn said. “I thought her cheeks were going to pop off!”
Maureen, a lifelong Wolves fan who also visited the stadium last year, chatted with John about former players, and Gill beamed as she spoke about how long she’s held a season ticket.
.jpeg)
Claire Fry, Operations Director at Ashberry Healthcare, said:
“When a resident comes into our care, life doesn’t stop, it’s a new chapter, full of opportunities to create meaningful moments and lasting memories. We’re incredibly proud of the wellbeing journey experiences across our homes, and it’s thanks to the creativity and compassion of our teams that these moments are made possible.
“We’ve developed our teams to feel confident and empowered to bring these ideas to life, and this visit to Molineux is a fantastic example of that spirit in action.”
For these five residents, it wasn’t just a day out, it was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream, filled with laughter, football history, and memories that will be treasured forever.
.png)
.png)
.png)
