Steve Bull is hoping he can turn back the clock just one more time as he begins looking forward to his 20th anniversary football match.
The club's record goalscorer is hoping to be given the go-ahead to start for Wolves in the pre-season friendly being arranged as the high point of the celebrations marking the former England striker's loyalty to both club and community since he first arrived at Molineux in November, 1986.
Details of the match are under lock and key at the moment while the finer points are ironed out.
But it will not be a game for old men and sentiment. Bull, aching to pull on the No 9 shirt just one more time, is hoping Glenn Hoddle and the opposition manager can make his dreams come true.
"I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll get the all clear," says Bull. "It is an exciting honour to be granted a game and the moment I heard about it, I started thinking 'What if?'.
"So I am hoping to start just one more time - just for the first 10, 15 minutes. Pulling that No 9 shirt on one more time would be just incredible.
"I know what it would mean to me but I also hope it would be special for the fans too."
When it is pointed out that it might be wise for a now 40-year-old goalscoring legend to play the last 15 minutes and not the first - "don't you want to wait for the defenders to have tired a little, Steve?" - that old competitive streak flashes across his eyes.
"Naah, that would be cheating. I want to play and if there's half a chance to score they should know I will go for it. You know me. Anything for a goal.
"The most common thing I hear when I am at Molineux before the games these days is 'Have you got your boots Bully' or 'We could do with you today, son.' We'll find out this way if they mean it!"
It is that bond with supporters which has brought Bull to
this latest celebration of his remarkable career. He was
famously recruited from arch rivals West Bromwich Albion for
only £65,000 and went on to carve his name deep into Wolves'
folklore with more than 300 goals and selection for an England
World Cup campaign.
His bravery and commitment made a folk idol of this humble son of
the Black Country but it was his loyalty at the dawn of this
age of overwhelming financial rewards for footballers which
struck a chord - and still does - with so many Wolves fans.
It is that which the club and the community has recognised today with this announcement of this 20th anniversary celebration of the Bull legend.
Since retiring, Bull has remained entrenched in the fabric of Molineux as a roving match day ambassador but, more significantly perhaps, a big supporter of a variety of charitable causes. The old rampaging centre forward now works particularly closely with Promise Dreams, which works to help provide for seriously ill children. Bull is a proud patron and genuinely moved by its cause.
Bull is proud, then, that this 20th anniversary is more a salute to this commendable use of his high local profile than his on-pitch career. And that brings us back to that relationship with the people who thrilled to his goals.
"I can't thank them enough," he says. "I was at the game on Sunday and when it wasn't going so well, they started singing my song again.
"It's a strange feeling because I am obviously so proud of the fact they still do that. But it is also a little embarrassing too. I keep my head down and hope nobody says anything because I know my time has gone.
"But maybe it shows that they are desperate for a hero again. The last one they really had was Keano (Robbie Keane). I think Joleon Lescott is a terrific player and just as determined to do well for Wolves but he is at the wrong end of the pitch. The fans love a goalscorer."
Bull, who received a testimonial match to mark his 10 years as a player with a pre-season game against Brazilian giants Santos in 1997, is mindful of his great fortune.
Although he never made that huge multi-million pound move - once on offer from Aston Villa - he was the club's highest paid player for many years and pocketed a handsome reward for his efforts.
He is only too aware that players from previous generations were not quite so supportive which is why he will be at Molineux next week supporting a benefit dinner for one of the club's ailing old stars, Peter Broadbent.
Bull has already pledged a donation to the fund saying: "I hope I can do my part because I know I have been incredibly lucky to have come through in an age when players were well rewarded.
"Peter Broadbent is a legend but isn't that what Wolves is all about? When you play for them you become part of something special and it's great that the fans are rallying round for him now that he needs help.
"I know how lucky I am to have had their support as well which is why it's important to put something back."
