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Ex-Wolves players in 100th birthday surprise

Caroline Gall
BBC News, West Midlands
Avery Healthcare Group Steve Bull (l), Phil Parkes and Steve Daley are standing behind Joan who is sat in her chair smiling. They are holding a cake that says Happy 100th Birthday and a Wolves shirt with her name on across her lap. There's a bunch of orange and yellow flowers and gold and white balloons to the left side.Avery Healthcare Group
Joan Davies met Steve Bull (l), Phil Parkes and Steve Daley (r) on her birthday on Wednesday

A lifelong Wolves fan celebrating her 100th birthday has enjoyed a special surprise, meeting former players at her care home.

Joan Davies has been going to watch matches since she was a young girl.

To mark her birthday on Wednesday, staff at Newcross Care Home in Wolverhampton arranged for her to meet legendary striker Steve Bull, midfielder Steve Daley and former goalkeeper Phil Parkes.

Ms Davies said she could not believe she had got to meet them and said the occasion "didn't seem real".

Avery Healthcare Group Joan is sat in a chair with a Wolves shirt draped over her lap and she is holding a birthday card. She is surrounded by former players, club associates, care home staff and friends.Avery Healthcare Group
Players, staff and friends at the home shared in the celebrations

Ms Davies used to live next to the Molineux Stadium and said she had happily offered to look after fans' bikes for a small fee when they went to games.

"I used to stand in the street where I lived and shout 'store your bikes'. They used to push them up the back of the house," she said.

"They would pay me 2p. I'd share it with my mum because she used to cover them if it was raining."

Ms Davies said she still kept an eye on how the team were doing and always asked "some of the men" at the home how the team had got on after a game.

The former players - whose careers spanned from the late 60s to the 90s - came bearing gifts before sitting and chatting to her and staff.

Avery Healthcare Group Steve Bull is kneeling and facing Joan in her chair and holding her hands while he talks to her. Joan is smiling at him and is holding some Wolves memorabilia and is wearing a 100 birthday badge. Avery Healthcare Group
Ms Davies said she could not believe she had got to meet the players

Care home manager Jenna Hughes said Ms Davies had known she was having a surprise for her birthday but had had no idea what it was.

She said: "She's truly inspiring Joan is, and her passion for Wolves is just, yes..."

She said the last game Ms Davies had attended was about 25 years ago but that she still tried to watch them on television, so meeting some former players "in the flesh" had made her day.

She said it was important to know what mattered to residents and celebrate their passions.

Although Ms Davies does not drink, she had told staff she would be treating herself to a glass of Baileys on her birthday.

Of reaching a century, she said she had never thought she would live so long, adding she had no secret to share about how she had managed it.

Avery Healthcare Group Joan is sat in a chair with Steve Bull and Steve Daley giving her a pretty iced cake topped in pink and purple flowers and candles. There are people looking on with cameras to capture the moment.Avery Healthcare Group
Ms Davies received cake and flowers

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