My favourite player: #2 Michael Kightly

Here is the second of the 'my favourite player' series written by Phil Chell.

First off, can I just say that I’ve always fancied myself as a modern-day Oscar Wilde, maybe even a 21^st Century Thomas De Quincey but I never thought I’d commit my cerebral ramblings to paper (or Word 97,2001,et al as it turns out to be in this modern world). Yet, here I am on a Friday night doing just so. You may be wondering what my semi-inebriated thoughts have to do with the beautiful game or, more to the point, how I got involved? Well, here goes.

I was minding my own, watching TV with the wife whilst simultaneously checking my Twitter feed. I follow the guy that started this website and he tweeted asking for Wolves fans to write a piece about their favourite player. As soon as I saw this I had to reply. Now, most of you will be thinking I am about to write about Doyle, or Jarvis, or perhaps even Craddock based on his last season’s performance? Well, in a word, no. My musings are about Mr. Michael Kightly. 

 

I am the ripe old age of 31 so I am lucky/unlucky enough to remember watching Wolves when only 2 sides of the ground were open. My first match was watching Bully stick 3 past a team beginning with ‘M’ (Macclesfield or Mansfield, I can’t remember to be honest!) and watching us go on to win 6-2. I was hooked. Instantly. One of the main reasons for this was the great man himself, Steve Bull. 

 

Back in the day he had the chance to move several times to several clubs which would have not only increased his personal wealth exponentially but also improved his chances with England. He decided to stay with us and is now a cult hero for these amongst many other reasons. In this day and age of 200k plus weekly wages, I fear we will never see this type of commitment again, which leads me on to ‘Kights’.

As you will all know we signed him for the cost of a BMW and over the course of the next few seasons he began to pay us back 10 fold. His ability in relation to his cost was amazing. He scored important goals, set more up than I can remember and also did what MM wanted; he ‘put a shift in’. For me, at that time he was the complete Wolves player. 

 

At the end of the 07/08 league when we finished 7^th and missed out on the play-offs by 1 goal, Kightly was hot property. He was at the peak of his career with Wolves and, as rumours had it, Sir Alex wanted him and was willing to give us a tidy 8million for him. He could have gone and no one would have batted an eyelid because, in this modern game, it is expected that commitment is a commodity that players no longer have. Money talks, as the saying goes. But he stayed and the following season, helped us to win the Championship.

 

I remember going to watch us play Forrest towards the end of the season with my Dad at the City Ground. I’d never actually been to an away game (shame on me) and I’ll never forget it. He scored the winner in a 1-0 scrappy game. I’ll never forget my Dad turning to me and saying ‘That’s, it, that’s the goal that’s won us the league.’ 

 

Fast forward a few years and it’s a different story. He has been plagued by injuries that have kept him frustratingly out of the side. I say frustratingly as I always thought he was a better player than Jarvis. Imagine how well we would have done with them both fit? Anyway, I digress. 

 

Wolves had another player of similar promise that was injured for a very long time. The difference was, as soon as he was fit, he ran out the door quicker than I thought was possible to Bolton. I don’t blame payers that move on for whatever reason be it money, opportunity, etc. The reason I think us ‘normal folk’ would be pretty annoyed if we were told we couldn’t even apply for a new job which paid more money if we were under contract with our current employer wouldn’t we? My point is this; players of this character are few and far between and we should hope he stays at our wonderful club.

Only time will tell if Kightly will return to former glory, move on, or, God forbid have to retire early. I sincerely hope it’s the first option.

If you would like to get involved in the series, use the 'contact me' form to get in touch!