[Archived] RIP Dave Wagstaffe

[Ricky]

Seen on Facebook that David Wagstaffe passed away today. He's before my time but I'm sure some of you have great memories of his time at Rovers.

[Mercer]

Although Waggy only joined Rovers in the twilight of his career, he was a superb artist who made the ball talk.

Derived enormous joy watching this guy in the blue and white halves.

One of the most skilful players I have seen for Rovers.

RIP Waggy - great memories.

[Mr C]

Waggy was a childhood BRFC hero of mine and will be very fondly remembered by fans of that era. His performance on that 'famous boxing day' at Turf Moor in 1977 will never be forgotten. Although he was coming towards the end of his career when he joined Rovers and played fewer than 100 games for the club he will be rightly remembered as an Ewood legend.

RIP Waggy and thanks for the memories!

[broadsword]

Never saw him play, but very aware of his constituency of fans at Ewood, and how they rave about his super accurate passing and skill.

A sad day for Rovers.

[Waggy76]

RIP Waggy

Thanks for the memories , especially the one on Boxing Day 1977 ..

A true footballing artist and one of the best players , I have seen play for this great club ...

[jim mk2]

Press Association story

WOLVES FAVOURITE WAGSTAFFE DIES

Former Manchester City and Wolves winger Dave Wagstaffe has died at the age of 70 after a short illness

.

Wagstaffe came through the ranks at City, but he made his name at Molineux, spending 12 years at the club.

He made 324 league appearances for Wolves and helped them beat his former club City to win the League Cup in 1974

.

He also played in the 1972 UEFA Cup final defeat to Tottenham.

He left Wolves in 1976 to begin the first of two spells at Blackburn, during which he became the first player in English football to receive a red card.

His two stints at Ewood Park sandwiched one season with Blackpool before he hung up his boots in 1981.

``Everyone at Wolves was desperately saddened to hear of Dave's passing this afternoon,'' Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey told the club website.

``Our sincere condolences go to Dave's partner Val, their children, Gary, Mandy and Scott, and Dave's wider family.

``Everybody at the club and supporters will get the chance to join together to pay tribute to Dave ahead of our game with Gillingham on Saturday.''

[DE.]

Thought you were talking about the poster waggy at first!

Before my time but always sad when a former Rover passes. Condolences to his family and friends.

[Amo]

Thought you were talking about the poster waggy at first!

Same here. Might want to edit the title.

[Hanks]

A real class act, Might have been in the twilight of his career when Jim Smith brought him in but did a great job.We hadn't seen players of his ability for several years at ewood.

[chris_h]

Waggy was often described as England's best uncapped player. He was the first to break my heart when he moved to Blackpool. He was also the first of the mercurial talents that I was lucky enough to see play for Rovers - Wagstaffe, McKenzie, Ardiles, Sellars and Tugay.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Same here. Might want to edit the title.

If that's at least 3 of us then maybe it is a good idea to edit the title.

[arbitro]

With Gordon Taylor on the right wing, Waggy on the left wing and Kevin Hird and John Bailey as full backs we were treated to the most exciting, attacking football I have ever seen from a Rovers team. Thanks for the memories Waggy.

[Exiled in Toronto]

With Gordon Taylor on the right wing, Waggy on the left wing and Kevin Hird and John Bailey as full backs we were treated to the most exciting, attacking football I have ever seen from a Rovers team. Thanks for the memories Waggy.

Seconded. It wasn't just his passing accuracy but the backspin he put on 50-60 yard passes meant they stopped almost dead. Never seen anything like it before or since.

[steverovers]

He was in the team when I first started going in the 1976 season. A class act.

R.I.P.

[AggyBlue]

R.I.P Waggy. You've left us with some happy memories.

[roverandout]

rip, didn't know who he was but sad all the same

[darrenrover]

With Gordon Taylor on the right wing, Waggy on the left wing and Kevin Hird and John Bailey as full backs we were treated to the most exciting, attacking football I have ever seen from a Rovers team. Thanks for the memories Waggy.

Agreed.

Best memory was his part in first 45 mins at Turf Moor in '77. 3 up at half time, dreamland!

Condolences to Waggy's family. RIP.

[PAFELL]

With Gordon Taylor on the right wing, Waggy on the left wing and Kevin Hird and John Bailey as full backs we were treated to the most exciting, attacking football I have ever seen from a Rovers team. Thanks for the memories Waggy.

Can't agree more. Though you have forgotton Glen Keely. Used to be one of my favorite players at Rovers as a kid.

[RevidgeBlue]

Shocking news. Would never have thought of him being 70 but that's how time creeps up on you without you realising it. If you haven't seen or heard of them in a while you also always have this sort of mental image of your childhood heroes being forever the same sort of age as when you idolised them although sadly that can obviously never be the case.

As others have said a real quality player even though we only enjoyed him in the twilight of his career. In that era he would have been well out of our League in his younger days. A range of passing I've seen from few players before or since, great dribbling skills and an electric burst of pace over a few yards to get him away from his man despite his age at the time. Hell of a shot on him as well.I can probably only think of Glen Hoddle with the ability to spray a 40 or 50 yard pass with such ease and precision. He could deliver his long balls with the trajectory of a sand wedge making them land on a sixpence.

Selling Waggy who was a real fans favourite was another nail in the coffin for the short lived and calamitous reign of Jim Iley.

Useless stat alert I think Waggy also enjoys the dubious distinction of being the first player ever to be sent off and receive a red card when red and yellow cards were introduced to our League from the Continent for the first time c76 or 77. Away against Orient at Brisbane Rd. I think. Maybe the ref was looking to make a name for himself that day. As far from a dirty player as you can get.

RIP.

[thenodrog]

With Gordon Taylor on the right wing, Waggy on the left wing and Kevin Hird and John Bailey as full backs we were treated to the most exciting, attacking football I have ever seen from a Rovers team. Thanks for the memories Waggy.

With Gordon Taylor on the right wing, Waggy on the left wing and Kevin Hird and John Bailey as full backs we were treated to the most exciting, attacking football I have ever seen from a Rovers team. Thanks for the memories Waggy.

Correct. One of the best crossers of a ball that I've seen at Ewood. With Mekky and TP providing artistry and graft in the middle all we needed to get to the 1st Div was a decent centre forward..... we ended up with serious ale can John Radford who came from Arsenal and did a Danny Murphy.

btw....Wasn't it Waggy who whilst playing for Wolves retaliated under extreme provocation from Fergy and got sent off at Ewood?

[chris_h]

Didn't Waggy also have the distinction of sparking out a ref who got in the way of one of his fearsome piledrivers? Away at somewhere like Stoke?

[Claytons Left Boot]

I was at Brisbane Road the day Waggy received the first ever red card in this country. One coach load made the trip, amazing how our support dwindled so soon after the great 74/75 season. Waggy would have been around 34 years old that day.

A superb player to watch and a true genius. RIP.

[den]

Possibly the best left winger ever to play for us. Going down to Ewood in Waggy's days was just an absolute delight and pleasure.

Edit: maybe Bobby Langton was better, I never saw him.

[arbitro]

My personal tribute to Waggy is on www.sportnw.co.uk

By a weird and sad coincidence I had just ordered his autobio - typically ignored by our local press a year or two ago - on Amazon a few hours before hearing of his passing

I can recommend his book for anybody who remembers him fondly.

[Tom]

No minutes silence today was there even a mention of him?