Jody Craddock defying his age for Wolves at 34

Nov 8 2009 by Bill Howell, Sunday Mercury

“THEY shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old – Age shall not weary them...”

Robert Laurence Binyon (August 1869 – March 1943) was not a Molineux season ticket holder.

Indeed it is highly unlikely that the First World War Red Cross medical orderly ever ventured north of the Watford Gap.

But fittingly on Remembrance Sunday it his famous words, which ring out across churchyards and town centres every year on this day, that could be a perfect eulogy for one Wolves stalwart who is doing all he can to keep Father Time at bay.

Jody Craddock is 34 and in the form of his life. “I am feeling as fit as I have ever done but it doesn’t get any easier,” he reflects.

“It is harder the older you get and that is why the sessions with Tony Daley are a necessary evil!”

Two goals at Stoke City last weekend, his first in 13 years as a professional, were merely the icing on a cake that was supposed to have turned to crumbs before now.

His contract may have just seven months to run, but ask Kevin Doyle or any of his team-mates what they think of the Redditch-born stalwart and they’ll tell you they want him in the trenches.

Doyle may have been talking slightly tongue-in-cheek earlier this week when he said: “There’s no reason why he shouldn’t go on another five, six or seven years,” in effect taking him past his 40th birthday.

But it is clear that Craddock is also helping himself.

“Jody is a shining example and with the way he leads his life,” continued Doyle.