Flowers won three league titles and an FA Cup with Wolves and was also part of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad.

He joins Steve Bull, Robert Plant and Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint, who are also vice-presidents at Wolves.

'A fitting honour to an icon of Wolverhampton Wanderers' is how the club have described the decision.

The midfielder was part of Wolves' three title-winning squads in 1953-54, 1957-58 and 1958-59 and won the FA Cup in 1960.

In total he won 49 caps for his country and the 81-year-old spoke of his delight at receiving the honorary role.

He said: "It was a lovely surprise for me and my family – I hadn't got a clue about it although I'm very proud and pleased to accept this great honour.

"I've got such a deep bond with the club and it's been such a big part of my life for so many years.

Advertising

"I'm already privileged to be the president of the Wolves Former Players Association, but this latest honour strengthens my connections even more.

"I was born and brought up in a little Yorkshire village, but my roots have been firmly in this area since I arrived here all those years ago."

Flowers played 512 times for Wolves, scoring 37 goals, in a 15-year career at Molineux.

In 2009, he was finally awarded a World Cup winners' medal after an FA campaign, and it 's now on show in the Wolves Museum. Flowers was close to featuring in the final in 1966.

Advertising

Ron Flowers with his World Cup winners' medal at Molineux.

He said: "Jackie Charlton was suffering from a cold and Sir Alf (Ramsey) put me on standby.

"But I knew it would take more than a cold to stop Jackie, so it wasn't such a let-down the next morning when I knew that I wouldn't be playing.

"There have been greater players than me who have never got near to a World Cup final and, although I didn't get to play, it was a privilege to be involved and in the company of such household names.

"I have some wonderful memories from football and the news that I am am to be a vice-president at Wolves has added to the list. I am very grateful."

After a short spell in management with Telford United, who he guided to the FA Trophy final, he resigned in 197.

He opened a sports shop in Wolverhampton, which still stands in Queen Street to this day, although Flowers doesn't frequent it quite as often as he used to.

He said: "Fans were always dropping in for a chat, which was great. Well I had been a local lad since the early 50s. Glenn (Ron's son) just helped in the early days, but he has gone on to run the place now."

Chief executive Jez Moxey added: "I think it is a fitting honour to an icon of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

"Ron was with the club through the glory years of the fifties when he won league and cup honours as well as playing a huge part in the floodlit friendlies that heralded European competition.

"His contribution for his country shouldn't go unnoticed, either. For Wolves and England, Ron Flowers was a model professional and his is a name that will live long in the annals of the club's history."