Last Tuesday a man named Sir Jack Hayward passed way aged 91 in Fort Lauderdale,Florida. While in the West Midlands this was big news ,many of you may be unaware of who this man was and the great work he did and in particular how he saved his beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers. In order to both inform you and to pay tribute to a man who was British in every way but did great things abroad, I am going to create a timeline of Sir Jack's life.
14th June 1923- He is born in Wolverhampton, full name- Jack Arnold Hayward. He is educated at Northaw Preparatory School and Stowe School in Buckingham.
1941-46 - Serves as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force during WW2 working around Burma. He is demobilized in 1946. Begins working for his Father's (Sir Charles Hayward) company- Firth Cleveland.
1951- founded the American branch of the company in New York, where he worked for five years before moving to the Bahamas.
1956-Arrives in the Bahamas where he relocates his company. He becomes a Vice-President of The Grand Bahama Port Authority, which helped promote the development of Freeport. Jack took over his father's previous interests in the Bahamas, and continued to play an active role in and around Freeport. He shows his patriotism when he imports 10 red London buses and installs red telephone and post boxes. His other patriotic tendencies include only buying British cars and giving any Royal Navy seamen passing the Bahamas a free dinner at a local restaurant with compliments from "Sir Jack" .
1982- Turns down the offer to own a financially troubled Wolverhampton Wanderers who are of course his boyhood club. The Club is eventually bought by the Bhatti Brothers.
1986- Knighted after many charitable actions including a £1 million pound donation to the South Atlantic Fund to help families affected by the Falklands War.
May 1990- Does now become owner of Wolves for a reported £2.11 million pounds.
1990-2007- Over the next 17 years he is said to of spent over £70 million pounds of his own personal wealth on paying off club debts, finding big money transfers and modernising the wonderful Molineux stadium which I have in fact been lucky enough to have been to. During his time as owner, his sons Jonathan and Rick were both heavily involved in the running of the club. Seven managers were at the helm during his tenure which saw Wolves go from a struggling second division side to eventually spending the 2003-4 season in the Premier League.
May 2007- He sells the club to Steve Morgan for a nominal fee of just £10 on the condition that Morgan would invest £30 million pounds in the club. He remained a life president and was inducted into the Wolves Hall of Fame.
13th January 2015- Dies aged 91.
Sir Jack Hayward was an example of a man who had great wealth but also had a heart. He joins a list of rare owners including Dave Whelan and Steve Gibson who have saved their boyhood clubs but for him to then sell the club for just £10 with the guarantee of more money being put into the club is truly a selfless act. It is clear that "Union Jack" was a proud and patriotic man. An avid lover of Cricket and a man that would always indulge in afternoon tea at 4pm no matter where in the world he was,I would say in fact perhaps Jack could be described as Winston Churchill-esque. But there is one thing that is in no doubt, he was a charitable and kind man. He had the kind of relationship with Wolves fans that is missing from today's game. The Abramoviches of this world see clubs as a business opportunity, but to Sir Jack Wolves was so much more. Simply put , there was a spot in Jack's heart that was and forever will be, Orange.
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| Sir Jack at Molineux |
RIP Sir Jack
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