Matt Jarvis had some famous moments in a Wolves shirt but the day he got called up to play for England is surely one of his favourites — for a couple of reasons.
Jarvis was a player who could produce moments of magic. An industrious, technical winger, he spent five years at Molineux and still holds Wolves close to his heart.
With the international break getting underway, Jarvis was asked about the moment he found out he made the England squad.
He had earned it the hard way earlier that day.
Matt Jarvis recounts England call-up after volley against Aston Villa
It’s impossible to say whether Jarvis was knocking on the door of the England squad before this famous win over Aston Villa, but Wolves were in the relegation zone for most of the season, so probably not.
A Wolves player has the most-ever England caps, but in the modern day, it’s a rarity.
That said, he would grab the winner with a fantastic volley to give his side a much-needed three points and move the needle for national team selection.
Appearing on The Last Call Pod, he shared the details of that fateful day, saying: “So we played Aston Villa away on the early kickoff on the Saturday. Uh, we won 1-0. I scored a volley.
“Wolves hadn’t won at Villa Park in about 20 years or something. So we won. Huge result for us. Big big win. Obviously, I was delighted.”
It was actually 30 years since Wolves last won away to Villa. Anyway, he continues: “I don’t know I can’t remember, 6:00 maybe, slightly late. I get into the kitchen and I get a text message on my phone and it’s from the FA saying you’ve been called up for England.”
Jarvis initially thought the text was a joke. He likely wasn’t expecting many plaudits at a time when his team were struggling in the league. He would travel with the national team for the first and only time, making a substitute appearance against Ghana.
A proud day for Jarvis and a historic one for Wolves
For Jarvis, he was the first Wolves player capped for England since Steve Bull in 1990.
And for Wolves, Villa Park had been an impenetrable fortress for as long as fans could remember. The last time the Old Gold beat their bitter rivals at their home ground was in the 1979/80 season, more than three decades prior.
It’s a feat Wolves have repeated just twice since, behind closed doors in 2020 and again in 2021.
It would prove a valuable three points, considering they survived that season by a margin of just one point. It set up Wolves’ largest Premier League win that saved them from relegation just a few weeks later.