Steve Bull believes that he may not have been a professional footballer due to one recurring injury early in his career.
Bull is no doubt one of Wolves’ biggest legends. After joining the club in 1986, the striker went on to score 306 goals, establishing himself as the all-time record goalscorer.
Throughout his 13-year spell at Wolves, Bull produced many memorable moments. Whether it was his 102 goals in two seasons that saw the Old Gold rise to the Second Division or the fact he became an England international while still in the third tier, there is plenty to look back on fondly.
However, in a recent interview, Bull explains that his career was close to never happening due to a foreign body inside his knee when he was younger.
“I shouldn’t have even been a professional footballer” – Steve Bull
Bull recently went on Under the Cosh, discussing a host of topics surrounding his incredible career.
The striker then went on to explain his career nearly ended before it began due to a piece of bone floating in his knee.
“I was 17 before I started playing football, and I had a foreign body in my knee which is a piece of bone that floats,” he stated.
“When I was 17, I was playing for Tipton Town and I kept feeling something in my knee and I thought this wasn’t right and kept pushing it back. When I was at Tipton Town, they took me to the Albion and they said listen, we are going to sign you and if it comes out, we’ll just fetch it out and that was it.
“It never came out. It was in there, it must of embedded because bone against bone embeds. So [West Brom] took a gamble on me.
“When I’m playing at a Wolves game in Austria, I was doing a warm-up and I had two clear-outs in my knee. I was training away and at 34 I was gonna give it one last go. I twisted and turned and crunch, bang. It went again and two pieces of bone broke off in my knee, the size of a little nail.
“[Then] it kept locking, you could push it back in, but it kept locking so I had to have it out.
“But at 17, I should have had an operation, bang and it would have been gone. So I shouldn’t have even been a professional footballer.”
Read more: Everything you need to know about Wolves legend Steve Bull.
Steve Bull’s legacy at Wolves will last lifetimes
Since Bull became Wolves’ all-time goalscorer, not one player has come close to beating it.
Many of Bull’s feats at Wolves will likely never be repeated, not just at the Old Gold but at any club.
Thankfully, his knee issue in the early years of his career didn’t prove to be a significant one until far later down the line or the Molineux faithful would have been robbed of a legend.
However, one thing that is certain is that Bull’s legacy at Wolves will be remembered for generations to come.