GP Books

Wolverhampton Wanderers are a club steeped in history and innumerable books have been written on seemingly every aspect of their existence. However, until now there has been nothing on those men who have scored three or more times in a match in the gold and black kit. At the time of going to press there have been 190 Wolves hat-tricks, scored by 86 Wolves players and the three men of ADO Den Haag who scored an own goal hat-trick for Wolves in the UEFA Cup in 1971. Although this is the definitive book on Wolves hat-tricks from 1886 to present day, the authors are pleased that Diogo Jota’s treble against Leicester City in January 2019 means that it needs to be updated! It is hoped that the glory days of top flight success are also on their way back to Molineux.

Although ‘Golden Balls’ is their first collaboration, Wolves fanatics Steve Gordos and Clive Corbett have written numerous books on their beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers. These include, ‘Peter Broadbent – a biography’, ‘Cullis Club and Country’, ‘Peter Knowles – God’s Footballer’, ‘Those Were The Days’, ‘Out of Darkness’ and ‘The Valley Wanderer – The Mike Bailey Story’. However, ‘Golden Balls’ is their first collaboration. It has been a true labour of love, whether it has involved them poring over files in the Wolverhampton Record Office, scouring old newspapers and programmes in the loft, or interviewing some of the men who made the book possible.

Steve and Clive have spoken with many of the surviving hat-trick heroes, including Colin Booth, Bobby Mason, Terry Wharton, Ted Farmer, Ray Crawford, Hugh McIlmoyle, Bobby Gould, John Richards, Kenny Hibbitt, Alan Sunderland, Steve Bull, Andy Mutch, David Kelly, John de Wolf, Iwan Roberts, Dougie Freedman, David Connolly, Adam Proudlock, Dean Sturridge, Nathan Blake, Kenny Miller, Chris Iwelumo and Sylvan Ebanks Blake. Many of the above have kindly provided photographs of them with a match ball or some other memorabilia of their time with Wolves.