Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Ground: Molineux Stadium

Capacity: 32,050

Club Founded: 1877

League: EFL Championship (current level)

There are not many groups of fans that have seen so many ups and downs as former English champions, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Promotions and relegations are a regular feature at Molineux along with changes of ownership, as this page reveals.

Early Years

Wolves, as the club is generally known, was originally named St Luke's FC, playing at Goldthorn Hill in Blakenhall under manager George Worrall when it was formed in 1877. Within a couple of years, they'd moved to John Harper's Field on Lower Villiers Street, merging with the football section of local cricket club Blakenhall Wanderers.

The club was given its present title, moving to Dudley Road in 1881, before the club became a founder member of the Football League in 1888, with Jack Addenbrooke in charge of the team. The team also reached the FA Cup final, where they went down 3-0 to double winners Preston North End at The Oval.

Molineux was opened for the following season as the team began a run of top-six league finishes. Wanderers lifted the FA Cup in 1892-93 when Everton were defeated 1-0 with a Harry Allen goal at Fallowfield in Manchester. The Wednesday defeated Wolves 2-1 in the 1895-96 final at Crystal Palace before the sides' fortunes dipped, leading to relegation in 1905-06. 

The Billy Wright statue at Molineux

Wanderers lifted their second FA Cup, while a second-tier side in 1907-08, as goals from Kenneth Hunt, George Hedley, and Billy Harrison helped the team to a 3-1 win against Newcastle United. Wolves were beaten finalists in 1920-21, losing 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge. 

George Jobey replaced stalwart Addenbrooke in 1922, seeing his first season end in relegation to Division Three North. However, the team regrouped to win promotion as champions in 1923-24. Albert Hoskins and then Fred Scotchbrook had spells as manager before the appointment of Major Frank Buckley in July 1927. 

FA Cup Disappointment

He led Wolves to the Division Two title in 1931-32, before the side ended as First Division runners-up in 1937-38. The following season would end in disappointment, as again, Wolves were league runners-up, as well as being defeated 4-1 in the final of the FA Cup by Portsmouth, with Stan Cullis captaining the team. 

It also marked the last official action before World War II. Once peace returned, Ted Vizard took over as manager before Cullis was appointed in the role in June 1948. His team won the FA Cup in 1948-49 as the team led by skipper Billy Wright defeated Leicester City 3-1 with two goals from Jesse Pye and another from Sammy Smyth. Wolves also ended the season as league runners-up.

The Stan Cullis Era

Wanderers were crowned as league champions in 1953-54 to mark the beginning of a golden era. Wolverhampton went on to further league titles in 1957-58 and again twelve months later. The club became globally renowned. Floodlit friendlies against the cream of Europe's top teams had given Wolves further prominence as Cullis 'kick and rush' football took hold. 

Stars of the day were goalkeeper Bert Williams, Wright, and the wing play of Johnny Hancocks and Jimmy Mullen. A Honved side led by Ferenc Puskás played a midweek match at Molineux in front of the BBC cameras. 

Wolves' innovations helped to lead to the formation of the European Cup in 1955. In 1959-60, Wanderers just missed out on a hat-trick of League titles, but they went on to win the FA Cup when Blackburn Rovers were seen off 3-0 with an own goal and a brace from Norman Deeley. Wolves also reached the last eight of the European Cup, going out to FC Barcelona.

My drawings of Molineux, former club crests, and team kits.
Click on the images to enlarge them.

The Bill McGarry Years

However, the glory days were coming to an end. Cullis was sacked in September 1964, with the team being relegated at the end of the season. Ronnie Allen helped his side to promotion in 1966-67 as Division Two runners-up. A new era under manager Bill McGarry heralded a new period of success. 

Derek Dougan, Peter Knowles, before his early retirement, and Kenny Hibbitt all starred. Wolves reached the 1971-72 UEFA Cup Final against Tottenham Hotspur, losing 3-2 on aggregate. They went on to lift the League Cup in 1973-74 with a 2-1 win against Manchester City as John Richards banged in the goals regularly. 

Sammy Chung took over as manager as the side was relegated in 1975-76 before straight back up as champions iayear later. John Barnwell came in as manager in November 1978, adding the experience of Emlyn Hughes and record signing Andy Gray. 

They lifted the League Cup in 1979-80 with a Gray goal, defeating Nottingham Forest. Sadly, the club then hit a dramatic slump. Poor management saw poor accountancy as the club paid out huge transfer fees at the same time as the redevelopment of Molineux. Bad form on the pitch led to a near disaster, with the club's existence in danger.

The Crisis Years

Wolves were relegated in 1981-82 as the club was bought by the Bhatti brothers with the help of former player Dougan in 1982. Barnwell left owing to ill health and was replaced by Ian Greaves for a short spell.

Graham Hawkins took the team straight back up at the first attempt after his appointment. However, Wolves' spell in the top-flight lasted just one season, as Gray was sold to Everton, and gates plummeted. The 1984-85 season saw another relegation to the League's third tier under the tutelage of Tommy Docherty. 

Just 4,422 fans attended the game, where the demotion was confirmed. The terrible run continued as the stadium was in a state of disrepair. The returning McGarry couldn’t halt the slide before he was replaced by Sammy Chapman as the team was relegated for a third consecutive season to the league basement.

Liquidation Averted

The Bhattis left in July 1986 as the official receivers were called in to the club, with Wanderers' future once again in severe doubt. They were saved from extinction as the local council bought Molineux and its surrounding land, while Gallagher Estates Ltd and Asda agreed to pay off the club's debts in return for permission for a new superstore to be built next to the stadium.

Graham Turner’s appointment as manager in October 1986 proved to be an inspired choice by the new board. The clubs on the field nadir was reached in the FA Cup First Round 2nd replay defeat by 3-0 to non-league Chorley. The team struggled in Division Four, but Turner gradually went about the task of rebuilding the playing squad under tight financial controls. 

The signing of twenty-one-year-old Steve Bull for £64,000 from bitter rivals West Bromwich Albion on the 20th November proved to be a brilliant piece of business. His partnership with Andy Mutch flourished as the team reached the 1986-87 playoffs, but lost out to Aldershot in the semi-finals. 

The Jack Hayward Years

However, they weren't to be denied in the 1987-88 season as they lifted the Division Four title and also won the Football League Trophy against Burnley in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley. Wolves won Division Three the following campaign. Bull scored fifty goals in all competitions, with one of them coming on his England debut as a substitute at Hampden Park. 

The club just missed out on a third consecutive promotion. In May 1990, lifelong fan Jack Hayward bought the club and immediately went about rebuilding the dilapidated stadium. Over the following three years, three new stands were built to complete an impressive new stadium, which was reopened with a friendly against Honved. 

The team had carried on in the second tier without challenging for promotion too much. In March 1994, Turner resigned to be replaced by Graham Taylor who led Wolves to the playoffs, where they were beaten in the semi-finals by Bolton Wanderers.

The Sir Jack Hayward Statue at Molineux

Promotion to the Premier League

Taylor left as fans protested, with Mark McGhee replacing him. He took Wolves to an FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, but left soon after. Colin Lee had a spell at the helm before Dave Jones was appointed in January 2001.

Wolverhampton once again reached the semi-finals of the playoffs, going out to Norwich City. The team went one better in 2002-03 as Reading were defeated before Sheffield United were beaten 3-0 in the Millennium Stadium final with goals from Mark Kennedy, Nathan Blake, and Kenny Miller as Wolves finally reached the Premier League.

Hayward decided on a prudent approach, relying on youngsters such as Matt Murray and Joleon Lescott. The team was relegated after just one season, with Jones leaving after three years in charge, with former England boss Glenn Hoddle coming in as manager. 

Hoddle resigned pre-season in 2006 to be replaced by Mick McCarthy. In his debut season, the team reached the playoff semi-finals, with a squad made up of youth and bargain signings, losing out to West Bromwich Albion.

Hayward had looked for outside investment for some time to push the club forward, and in August 2007, businessman Steve Morgan had bought the club from 'Sir Jack', who became Life President. After a mid-table finish, McCarthy led the team to the Championship title in 2008-09 to herald a return to the Premier League. 

In their first season back, McCarthy brought in many new players as the side consolidated. The North Bank was demolished in the summer of 2011 to make way for a new huge structure, which began a major overhaul of the stadium. 

Decline in Form

Unfortunately for Wolves, and not for the first time, the ground development was met by a terrible dip in form on the pitch.McCarthy's team performed poorly, which led to his dismissal in February 2012. Coach Terry Connor took charge but couldn’t prevent the team from being relegated. 

Former Norwegian international Stale Solbakken was appointed in May 2012 with the task of restoring the club’s status, as the rest of the stadium redevelopment was put on hold. Solbakken's appointment proved to be a disaster, and he was replaced by Dean Saunders within six months. 

Saunders failed just as badly as the team plummeted to relegation to the third tier in 2012-13, leading to his own dismissal. Kenny Jackett was appointed with the task of sorting out the terrible mess at Molineux. He was aided by several big earners at the club ending their contracts, so he had the benefit of a relatively blank canvas to play with.

Pride Restored

Jackett restored pride, making clever signings. He led the team to the League One title a year later, as Wanderers amassed a record 103 points total. An amazing gate of 30,110 headed to Molineux to see Wolves celebrate promotion against Rotherham United with an incredible 6-4 victory. 

Chinese Investment Group, Fosun International, bought the club in June 2016, with Jackett being replaced by former Italian goalkeeper Walter Zenga. After just fourteen league matches, Zenga was sacked and replaced by Paul Lambert. 

He led the side to a disappointing finish before he was replaced by former FC Porto boss Nuno Espirito Santo. The team received investment as Portuguese stars Ivan Cavaleiro, Rúben Neves, Hélder Costa, and Diogo Jota were added to homegrown talent Matt Doherty and Conor Coady.

Further Ups and Downs

This created a formula that took Wolves to the EFL Championship title and promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2017-18 season. Further signings in the shape of Rui Patrício, Pedro Gonçalves, João Moutinho, and Rúben Vinagre were added for Wanderers' return to the top flight. 

They also reached the FA Cup semi-final, which ended in heartbreak against Watford. Wolves went out to Sevilla in the last eight of the Europa League, before Bruno Lage replaced the Portuguese at the end of the 2020-21campaign.

Julen Lopetegui and then Gary O’Neill had spells as manager. Vitor Pereira was appointed in December 2024, lasting eleven months before being succeeded by Rob Edwards as the team went back down to the EFL Championship.

My visits

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Scarborough 0 

Division Four - Friday 19th February 1988

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An Unlikely Fixture

In season 1987-88, Wolverhampton Wanderers had slipped all the way down to Division Four, League Two, to you youngsters!, in a mountain of debt. My team, Scarborough, was playing in its first-ever season in the Football League.  Wolves fans had run riot in town and inside the ground in Boro's first ever league game, which ended 2-2. 

Many structures and fittings had been smashed to pieces by some of the 4,000 away support. On the way to Hereford to watch Boro in a midweek game a few months later, our car stopped at Molineux to see if we could sneak a look inside. Unfortunately, we were refused.

Pre Match

The match was moved to Friday night owing to a political march taking place in Wolverhampton the next day. I travelled in a car with future BBC journalist Howard Nurse, and a couple of others, and all was well as we had a couple of pints outside town, and we parked by the visiting supporters' coach. 

An Intimidating Atmosphere at a Dilapidated Stadium

The walk down to the ground in the escort was drama-free, but we got a fair bit of abuse when queueing to get in. Our seats were in the lower deck of the old, new stand, if you know what I mean! This was the only seated stand open. The home fans were above us. To our left was the imposing South Bank. This was a huge terrace with a roof at the back. 

In its prime, it was also home to a section of away fans. It seemed a mile away from our seats because there was enough space between us and the touchline to fit in another narrow pitch. Times were still hard at the club. The old Main Stand stood empty because it was deemed unsafe. The same applied to the large terraced North Bank to our right. 

The Match

It was a strange place to watch football. On the night, Boro put in a magnificent performance and were unlucky to go down to a late goal. Stewart Mell missed a sitter for Boro, although in hindsight, this probably did us a favour from a personal safety aspect. 

One of my mates was thrown out during the game for refusing to be intimidated and giving as much back, much to our concern, and in an act of defiance, paid again and stood among the Wolves on the South Bank. Happily, the getaway from the ground was completely trouble-free.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Portsmouth 1 

Division One - Sunday 4th May 1997 

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An Unforseen Trip

I was happily sleeping off a hangover before going to open up the Gas Club when my dad woke me to say a mate was on the phone. He had a spare ticket for the match, and he would pick me up in half an hour. Before I knew it, we were parking up and walking down to Molineux. 

My seat was above where I'd sat before as a Scarborough fan. The ground had changed massively. A replica of the stand I was sitting in had been replicated opposite. The South Bank was now a huge single tier of seats. The North Stand was similar, only a bit smaller. Two of the gaps in the corners had been filled in with scoreboards.

A Different Stadium Experience

The facilities were first-class. Each stand was named after club heroes: Steve Bull, Billy Wright, Jack Harris, and Stan Cullis. The stadium looked good in gold and seemed to be gleaming when I first saw it. The statues of Billy Wright and Stan Cullis behind the stands bearing their name were a lovely touch. 

There were plenty of pubs around the ground. However, one I wouldn't advise is The Croft on the way out to the motorway, north of the stadium, if our experience was anything to go by. We went in full of thirst after the Sunday lunchtime game, after a goal from Paul Hall ten minutes from time had won the game for Pompey.

Dodgy Pub and Car Breakdown

I was the eldest in our group and was explaining to the others how intimidating it used to be going to Molineux. The Croft gave an instant flashback. It was one of the very rare occasions I wasn't interested in another pint, at least in there! 

To round off an interesting day, the car broke down near Cannock, and we spent the ride home in the back of a breakdown truck with the car being towed behind us! It certainly gave me plenty to tell my old fella about when we met for a pint.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 Port Vale 1

Division One - Saturday 13th February 1999  

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Robbie Keane Stars

I got a lift to the game, getting there early enough to go into The Goalpost pub pre-match and then to a pub at the far end of the ground, as my seat was in the South Bank. There was a decent atmosphere as the Port Vale fans were next to us for this local derby.

Wolves came out winners thanks mainly to the brilliance of a young Robbie Keane before he moved on. He scored one of the goals with Paul Simpson and Keith Curle adding the others, while Ian Bogie replied for Vale. We went back to the pub, much to my approval, to allow the traffic to die down.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 Nottingham Forest 0 

Division One - Saturday 26th February 2000 

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Travel from London to Wolverhampton

By now I lived in London, so I arranged to meet my mates in Wolverhampton and go to the game. I took the train to Birmingham and then jumped on board the Midland Metro, which was a new tram service between the two cities, which went past a designated Hawthorns stop for West Brom fans.

I found the Varsity pub and awaited my comrades before we had a very jolly drink, before heading to the match. Wolves blew Forest away, going three up in twenty-five minutes with goals from Ludovic Pollet, Darren Bazeley, and Michael Branch.

Good Game, Excellent Pubs

Both sides were down to ten men after seven minutes following an altercation between Ade Akinbiyi and Tony Vaughan, before ref Stephen Lodge sent off David Prutton for a second yellow on half-time to reduce Forest's numbers further.

We tried out a couple of the pubs surrounding the ground after the match before I headed back down south after a very enjoyable afternoon.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Gillingham 1

Division One - Saturday 3rd February 2001

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A Cheap Day

In an attempt to get a big crowd, the Wolves board decided to offer discount tickets for this game, and it worked. I met my mate after my train and tram journey in The Varsity before we headed to the game to sit in the North Stand and witness a disappointing Wanderers performance.

Once again, I took the cheap option and went via Birmingham to allow me some drinking time. It meant a longer journey, but the money saved more or less paid for my beer for the day.

A Disappointing Match

Wanderers were left waiting for their first win under new boss Dave Jones as Marlon King put Gills ahead before the hosts levelled up through Michael Branch. The visitors came closest to taking all through points as Mark Saunders, Nicky Southall, and Carl Asaba went close despite Kevin Muscat seeing a late effort saved by Vince Bartram.

Stadium Visit - Friday 16th July 2023

Discovering Wolverhampton

The COVID-19 restrictions that strangled life out of any fun were gradually being loosened, and I decided to make full use of a week off work. I knew that I would be moving to live in Thailand within the next few months, so I decided to catch up with friends and visit a few places, maybe for the last time. 

I had promised a visit to Wolverhampton at some point, so this was a good excuse to meet up with my mate, having made my way to York to stay with family the previous evening, having enjoyed the beauty of the North Yorkshire Moors that day. We arrived in the Black Country by train via Manchester. 

A Different Monineux 

That saw a taxi take us in the nick of time from Victoria to Piccadilly before we could relax on the journey down and check into the Premier Inn near the station. We wandered to Molineaux so that I could get some snaps from outside. There was no hope of finding an open gate. 

It had certainly grown since my last visit. Not least, the upper tier on the Stand Cullis stand, which towered above all else, waiting to be joined by other proposed new structures.

The Stan Cullis statue at Molineux

Wolverhampton Pubs 

Once we had completed all options of getting inside, it was time to walk back through the famous subway approach to the stadium and check out some of the pubs around town. We did this on either side of a rest at our hotel near the station.

My mate had done well checking out which places would be open and easy to get served in with the ongoing restrictions. They were earthy and friendly enough, some quite historic, which saw a decent Friday out. It was a shame the Great Western was closed for refurbishment, mind.

The older pictures of Molineux have been taken from the internet to add to those from my personal collection.