By Elliott West
“Don’t let the world change your smile – get the world to change your smile”.
Inspirational quote
Introduction
I was sad to hear the news that Vicky Wright, daughter of Billy Wright, the former legendary football player who played for Wolverhampton Wanderers and England and fiancee to my friend Bobby Davro has passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer, aged 63. I was lucky enough to know Vicky for a short while and in the conversations we had, found her to be a truly inspirational woman, who was extremely proud of her father and strove to maintain his legacy through media interviews, presentations and even hosting a one-woman show called the ‘Billy Wright Story’ in his memory. It is ironic that her father died from the same disease in 1994. Vicky comes from a family steeped in fame, her mother Joy was one of the Beverley Sisters and Vicky would go on to tread the boards as a singer and actress.
An Inspiration
I first started speaking to Vicky after the sad loss of my dear friend Willie Thorne who passed away in Spain, aged 66 in 2020 from leukaemia. At the time, I was trying to arrange a memorial lunch for him at his beloved football club, Leicester City and Vicky gave me a few ideas on how to go about it. Sadly it never materialised but I was struck by her in-depth knowledge of football and organisation and she gave me a fascinating insight into her father’s playing career, someone who I admit I didn’t know much about. A fantastic storyteller who recalled the times when football had little money in it and the players played the beautiful game for the true love of it. Described by her family as a ‘wonderful mum’, her death only comes days after Bobby Davro revealed in an interview that his fiancee had pancreatic cancer. A poignant interview in which you could clearly the deep love between the couple and a situation that must have touched the hearts of those reading, especially anyone going through a similar situation. Bobby’s advice to others is to use laughter as a medicine and to get back up, push forward and to never ever let life beat you.
Brought to Life
As I have already mentioned in this tribute to Vicky, she was extremely proud of her late father Billy. Through her tireless work, she educated and informed, an existing and new audience on this iconic football player who was initially rejected by Wolves but went on to help win every trophy possible for the club and attained 105 caps when he played for England. Described by many as a ‘1950s Beckham’, her account of her father during her excellently crafted stage show about her father, brought tears to the eye of the large audience who attended the show where applause echoed out. One that she used her own savings and a crowd funder to put on and was helped by the support of Kevin Keegan. A person who she described as a wonderful man and dad to her. Vicky, you were truly inspirational and thanks for letting fate cross my path for the short time we knew each other.