What makes a hero?

The recent press has been awash with tributes to former Wolves men Colin Cameron and Alex Rae, surrounding the friendly in Dundee. Both members of our promotion winning side of 02/03, both tireless workers in what was an excellent midfield, completed by he-who-would-be-Wolves-manager-if-a-lot-of-the-fans-had-their-way, Paul Ince - who inevitably will receive similar adulation when he brings his new Blackburn side to Molineux in just over a week.

And it got me to thinking - how does a footballer qualify to become a hero for any one side?

Is it several years of loyal and devoted service? Is it scoring the winning goal in a FA Cup final? Or maybe it's just a matter of scoring against the Albion? Or maybe (I personally don't subscribe to this viewpoint) all it takes is scoring a few goals in your first few matches against sub-standard opposition and then not doing so again for the rest of the season before you slope off to Coventry?

To me, there's two differentials - heroes, and legends. I've seen plenty of heroes since 1989, when I first moved to the area and started watching Wolves. Robbie Keane, Don Goodman, John De Wolf, Keith Curle, Dean Richards, Neil Emblen, Steve Froggatt, Joleon Lescott... the list goes on. There's only one legend I've seen in a Wolves shirt, and that's Steve Bull. No ifs, no buts - you can name any player you like over the past 20 years, but there's only been one REAL legend. And his legend will be told again by people whose words will do him far more justice than mine, so instead I'll tell you a little about a couple of my Wolves heroes...

Why is Robbie Keane a hero? Well, because he's probably the most skilful player I think I've ever seen in a Wolves shirt, and because even now he's long gone from Molineux, he's always been respectful when scoring against us. Even when he bagged a hat-trick for Spurs against us, his muted celebrations showed the mark of someone with a genuine affinity for the club. And I've got this silly little idea in my head that he'll return to Wolves one day, perhaps to see out his career for a year or so - call it the football romantic in me. It'll probably never happen, but if it ever did, he'd surely get nothing less than a hero's welcome from everybody associated with the club, officials and fans alike.

Don Goodman scored the goal that won us that FA Cup final at Elland Road when Leeds were a far mightier force than they are today. That day out is bettered only by the Millenium Stadium victory for me, and Goodman is linked strongly with both.
My Dad & I were wandering around Cardiff prior to kick off, taking in the sights and the spectacle of an absolute army of Wolves fans in the Welsh capital. The atmosphere, for me, was a little tense, a bit apprehensive. That is until we suddenly heard a commotion as we crossed this one street. We looked to our left, and there was about 100-150 Wolves fans making a circle around none other than Don Goodman, singing his name, while he stood in the middle grinning from ear to ear shouting "COME ON THE WOLVES!".

From that moment on, in my mind there was never any doubt we were going to win that day - in fact, I still get goosebumps thinking about that moment now. That and seeing Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant a few seats away from me in tears at HALF time, let alone full-time!

Us Wolves fans attach a lot of importance to work ethic. If a player works hard, he'll be supported, even if he's never going to be a player that sets the world alight. One name springs to mind more than any other for me: Mark Rankine. Ol' Shabba was quality! Well, actually, he was never anything more than a solid, dependable, run-his-arse-off-and-try-for-ninety-minutes style player. And he had an awesome afro when he first joined us too. But because he always worked hard for the team, we took to him. Mo Camara was another one - amazing pace but probably the worst cross you'll ever see, and an even poorer shot (who remembers him having a go from outside the box at Stockport and the ball clearing the stand to the left of the goal-line, only to be greeted with chants of Super Mo Camara?!).

Alex Rae and Colin Cameron were that kind of player too, in fact, Cameron still is. And as Wolves fans, we loved them for it - fiercely committed to our cause, and better yet, ultimately they helped deliver what we'd been craving for nearly two decades. Heroes both of them.

There's a forum on this site which I regularly post on - if you're not signed up already, go for it - give me some abuse if you like! Tell us who your Wolves heroes are, and why!