Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers
Basic data
Surname	Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club
Seat	Wolverhampton , England
founding	1876
Members	22,500
board of directors	Jeff Shi
Website	wolves.co.uk
First soccer team
Head coach	Bruno location
Venue	Molineux Stadium
Places	30,852
league	Premier League
2020/21	13th place
home Away Evasive

The Wolverhampton Wanderers (officially: Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ) - also known as Wolves (German: " Wolves ") - are an English football club from the city ​​of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands . The club, founded in 1876, was one of twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888 , but did not develop into a top club in England until after the Second World War, despite two successes in the FA Cup in 1893 and 1908 .

In the period between 1949 and 1960, the "Wolves" under coach Stan Cullis won three English championships as well as two FA Cup trophies and, after victories against top European clubs, were named "best club team in the world" by the local media in the mid-1950s “Celebrated. Since then, the club is with the exception of two victories in the League Cup (1974 and 1980 ) and a move into the final of the UEFA Cup ( 1972 against Tottenham Hotspur ) without success in one of the major competitions ("Major Titles"). From 1983 to 2018 the club only played four seasons ( 2003/04 and 2009/10 to 2011/12 ) in the English top division, but then returned to the 2018 season under Portuguese coach Nuno Espírito Santo and the new Chinese owner Fosun / 19 back to the Premier League. The "Wolves" are the only club that won five different championships of the Football League ( First Division , Second Division , Third Division , Third Division North , Fourth Division ) and also the only club that won the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Football League Trophy won the three most prestigious English cup trophies.

The club has played its home games at the Molineux Stadium since 1889 . The Wolverhampton Wanderers share the greatest rivalry with West Bromwich Albion ("WBA") - duels against Aston Villa and Birmingham City are of somewhat less intensity . Games against WBA or the nearby FC Walsall are known as " Black Country Derby".

story

Early period (1878–1888)

Like many English football clubs, the Wolverhampton Wanderers were born in English school sports. With the help of the sports-loving director Harry Bancroft , a number of students from St. Luke's School in Blakenhall, under the leadership of the later national players Jack Baynton and Jack Brodie, decided to start a football club on November 10, 1876. After several training sessions at the end of the year, the team first competed on January 13, 1877 against a reserve selection from Stafford Road and still had to learn the hard way in the 8-0 defeat. After two years of development work and continuous progress, not insignificantly due to the first club secretary, George Worrall , the merger with the cricket and football club "The Wanderers" to form "Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club" in August 1879 ensured a concentration of forces. The domestic venues also became more professional, and after the Windmill Field was used up to May 1879 and John Harper's Field on Lower Villiers Street from August 1879 to April 1881, the venue on Dudley Road had space for up to after continuous expansion 10,000 spectators.

The club attracted more and more promising talents from the region, including Charlie Mason , who later became the first England international for the Wolves. Of 18 games in the 1881/82 season, the Wanderers have now won ten games, but the popularity of the population was still largely absent. On average, there were only 1,500 spectators on Dudley Road. In the season 1883/84, the Wolves took the first time at the National FA Cup in part, but ended after the 4: 1 victory in the first round against the Long Eaton Rangers early on with a 2: 4 defeat to Wednesbury Old Athletic from the Say goodbye to the competition. The replacement was the "Wrekin Cup", which was the first trophy in the history of the Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1884 - among other things after a 5-1 win against the highly rated Stafford Road. In the meantime, William Shipton , the first coach, had been hired, who ensured regular training with three units per week.

When the FA, the national football association, legalized professional football in June 1885, the Wolverhampton club was one of the addresses that paid its players a weekly salary. Under the club secretary and new coach Jack Addenbrooke , numerous newcomers found their way into the team, displacing many players from the early days. With renewed momentum, the team moved into the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time in the 1885/86 season and lost 3-1 in their first encounter with local rivals West Bromwich Albion . Nevertheless, the national breakthrough had not yet been achieved in the first ten years; in addition, there was the relatively low popularity of a maximum of 3,000 spectators in the city of Wolverhampton, which then had around 75,000 inhabitants. Both the participation in the national soccer league starting in 1888 and the move to a new stadium north of the city center a year later provided a remedy. The Wanderers had already played in a domestic cup competition on March 20, 1886 on the Molineux Grounds - a public park in the city since 1860 - and marked themselves as a possible new home outside Blakenhall.

Founding member of the Football League, two FA Cup trophies (1888-1915)

The winning FA Cup team from 1893.

As one of twelve founding members, the Wanderers took part in the Football League in the 1888/89 season and took third place in the opening season behind champions Preston North End and Aston Villa . For the first time in the club's history they also reached the FA Cup final, but were defeated there by the men from Preston, who were then “unbeatable”. For the new 1889/90 season , the club moved into the new Molineux stadium . With the active support of the city of Wolverhampton, which was promoted to the status of a county borough under the Local Government Act of 1888, a stadium suitable for top football was built in a prominent location near the Molineux estate, which was built in the 18th century . With the fourth place in the championship in 1890 and 1891 as well as the entry into the FA Cup semi-finals in the season 1889/90, the sporting level was maintained before the team slipped into the middle of the table in the league.

In the season 1892/93 , however, the Wolves moved into the FA Cup final after a 2-1 semi-final win against Blackburn Rovers in Nottingham . Opponent there was Everton , which had been defeated 2: 4 in the league just a week earlier and which went into the final as slightly favored. At Fallowfield Stadium in Manchester , England international Harry Allen scored 1-0 with a long shot after exactly one hour of play for the Wanderers, who defended this opening goal to the end and thus brought the FA Cup to Wolverhampton for the first time. Since the team had focused on the cup competition early in the season, it only finished eleventh in the championship and even received a 1:10 against bottom-of-the-table Newton Heath , which is the highest competitive defeat in the club's history to this day. In the following years the successes were more in the financially lucrative cup games and in the midst of mediocre championship seasons the Wolves reached the FA Cup final for the third time in 1896. After relegation had only just been prevented, the team at the Crystal Palace faced league rivals Sheffield Wednesday and lost 2-1.

Although the club achieved the best table placement in the 1890s with third place in the league in the 1897/98 season , from then on a negative development took its course behind the scenes. Many important players left the club despite a good fourth place in the 1899/1900 season , the tendency showed more and more towards the lower half of the table. In the FA Cup, too, the team did not get past the third round and as a consequence of this development, the Wolves rose after only eight wins in 38 league games at the end of the 1905/06 season in the second-rate Second Division .

With new players such as Alf Bishop and goal scorer George Hedley , who from then on played almost 600 competitive games together for the club, the club went into its first second division season. Hopes for a quick return to the English elite class had to be buried, however, as it was only enough for places in the upper midfield until the outbreak of the First World War . On the other hand, there was another surprisingly good run in the FA Cup round in 1907/08, when the Wolves reached another FA Cup final after victories against Bradford City , Bury FC , Swindon Town , Stoke FC and Southampton FC . After goals from Kenneth Hunt , George Hedley and Billy Harrison , the Wolves defeated the first division fourth-placed Newcastle United 3-1 and thus won the FA Cup for the second time. It was to be the last success in the club's history for the time being and in the years up to the First World War the team made little sporting talk with the exception of a 10-0 FA Cup victory against Watford FC .

Four trainers and one new build (1919–1927)

During the fighting, the Wolves completed only a few games before they returned to regular play in the Midland Victory League in March / April 1919. When the Football League was resumed in August 1919, the team had a significantly changed face, because only eight players from the pre-war period were still in the squad. Although the first game against Leicester Fosse was won 2-1, the rest of the time was not a good star. The negative climax was a game against FC Bury in October 1919 , when their own spectators stormed the pitch in Molineux and knocked down the referee, which resulted in a two-game suspension. As before the "great war", the sporting successes were concentrated on the FA Cup and so the Wolves moved back into the final of the English cup competition in 1921 despite being barely relegated to the second division. There the team held a goalless draw against Tottenham Hotspur in the first half thanks to some good defensive actions by goalkeeper Noel George and were even superior shortly after the restart. However, a goal by Spurs striker Jimmy Dimmock after a mistake by Maurice Woodward ensured the game-winning goal to the detriment of Wanderers.

In June 1922, the club announced that long-time coach Jack Addenbrooke had been given a six-month leave of absence for health reasons. The loss of the figure of integration, who finally died on September 7th of the same year, meant a serious turning point. In the further course of the 1920s, the line-up changed four times, with George Holley , a former player of Sunderland AFC first tried. The Wolverhampton Wanderers, from which a Limited Liability Company (a kind of limited partnership without " full liability ") had become in April 1922 , continued the downward spiral and rose from bottom of the table at the end of the 1922/23 season in the northern division of the two-part third division third division . This descent left room for extensive rebuilding, which was rewarded after only one year with winning the championship in the "Third Division North" and direct promotion. In the promotion team of 1924, with goalkeeper George, only one player from the cup final team of 1921 remained.

Holley left the club after the successful promotion and Albert Hoskins , who had been the club secretary after Addenbrooke's death, was the new coach of the Wolves. Despite major concerns about this, often regarded as a "stopgap," Hoskins led the team, which largely corresponded to the players put together by Holley, to a comfortable sixth place in the 1924/25 season and stayed in the following season until he left Gillingham FC in the upper half of the table. New coach was Fred Scotchbrook, a former Stockport County coach, in March 1926 . However, Scotchbrook had little backing in club management and after a mixed season 1926/27, which ended in 15th place, he was sacked as a result of the events of the annual general meeting on June 27, 1927. Scotchbook had vehemently demanded the purchase of a central defensive player in the half position ("Center-Half") in order to stabilize the defense in the long term.

The "Regiment" of Major Frank Buckley (1927–1944)

The following obligation of the 43-year-old Frank Buckley represented a turning point. The war veteran known as the "iron major" relied on obedience and a strict code of conduct as a trainer and handed every player a rule book that had to be followed unconditionally. However, there were still no good results between 1927 and 1929 and the time was rather characterized by far-reaching experiments and construction work - Buckley, for example, tried no fewer than six different goalkeepers between November 1927 and April 1929. Further weak points were in the defense, which manifested themselves in the 100 goals conceded in the 1927/28 season and which in the following year were still well above average with 82. Above all , the major used a sensational defeat against the amateur club Mansfield Town in the FA Cup to fundamentally rebuild the defense.

The first noticeable fruit was the groundwork in the 1929/30 season, when the team showed good form until the turn of the year, until then poor results in winter meant that the Wolves were passed down to ninth place. The positive overall trend continued in the following season with rank 4, until the long-awaited return to the English elite class was successful in the 1931/32 season. After a quick start in which, among other things, Tottenham Hotspur had been defeated 4-0, a three-way battle for the promotion places against Leeds United and Stoke City emerged . The 2-0 home win against Port Vale provided the decisive points in front of 29,000 spectators and, with a total of 115 goals for the club, which for the first time in its history had an average attendance of over 20,000, Billy Hartill drove 30 goals for the third time in a row most goals in one season within the club. From a financial point of view, the club was now more relaxed thanks to the promotion, especially since the prospect of first division football improved the income situation.

Buckley relied mostly on his promotion team, which secured relegation in the 1932/33 season after an exciting fight and a 4-2 home win against FA Cup winners Everton FC with two points behind the relegation ranks. The problems still lay in the high number of goals conceded (96) and although this weakness tended to remain in the following season of 1933/34 with 86, the offensive was constant with newcomers such as the Scottish right inner striker Jack Beattie and the center forward George Goddard and closed with it 40 points at the end with less distance to fourth Derby County than to the relegation ranks. In the mid-1930s, Buckley gradually exchanged the entire team and after another two seasons from 1934 to 1936 with 17th and 15th place respectively, the team began to "fly high" in the 1936/37 season . With the tall goalkeeper Alex Scott , the brothers Jack and Frank Taylor in the full-back positions and from February 1937 above all with the center forward and crowd favorite Dennis Westcott , the team worked its way up to fifth place and thus achieved the best placement since the beginning of the 20th century . Especially in the home games, the team developed a special level of performance and in the 1937/38 season , the former candidate for relegation became a championship contender. After some significant wins, such as a 10-1 win over Leicester City , the Wolves needed a win at Sunderland AFC on the final day of the game to win the championship. Since the decisive game was lost with 0: 1, Arsenal FC became the new champions as runners-up in front of the Wolves. In the following season 1938/39 , the last full Football League season before the outbreak of World War II , the Wanderers again narrowly missed their first championship and now had to face Everton , which "dismantled" 7-0 in Molineux in February 1939 had been given way. The “ double ” of championship and cup victory was still possible for a long time , but the FA Cup final was surprisingly lost 4-1 despite being favorites against Portsmouth FC .

Already for the return series of the still running 1938/39 season Buckley made it free to his players to report to the voluntary reserve and to join this after the end of the season. When the game was canceled after only three rounds of the 1939/40 season due to the Second World War, many players followed this recommendation. The sport of football was still maintained in regional war game rounds, which had the advantage that the travel distances were short and therefore players were more quickly available for military service. Between September 1939 and April 1946, the Wolves completed more than 230 games and won two titles during that time. In addition to the 1940 championship in the “Midland Regional League”, the victory in the Wartime League North Cup two years later with a 2-2 draw and a 4-1 draw against final opponents AFC Sunderland was a respectable success. In the intervening season 1940/41 there had been no game in Molineux because the stadium had been used as an air raid control center. In March 1944, Buckley resigned from his coaching position and passed the successor to Ted Vizard , a former Welsh international and FA Cup winner with the Bolton Wanderers .

The "Stan Culli era" (1948–1964)

Before the club went into the next long-term coaching era with former team captain Stan Cullis in 1948, the team built on the performances shown at the end of the 1930s in the first season of the Football League after World War II. With 3rd place in the 1946/47 season, the Wolves again narrowly missed the championship due to a 0-1 home defeat on the last game day against Liverpool FC. Particularly noticeable was Jesse Pye , who was signed up in May 1946 and who developed into one of the Wanderers' best scorer in the following years and contributed three goals to the 6-1 win against Arsenal in the first post-war championship game. After a fifth place in the 1947/48 season , Vizard was replaced by Cullis in June 1948, who had already held the post of cotrainer alongside Vizard for a year .

Like his coaching mentor Buckley, Cullis relied on a good physique, but also shaped a new style of play. In addition to the two wingers, who were mostly served with wide passes, there were mostly three inside strikers who each pushed into the front of the attack from a withdrawn position, depending on the game situation. In addition, there was an exceptionally offensively oriented outside player in half position. Led by captain Billy Wright and offensive players like Jimmy Mullen , Johnny Hancocks and, in addition to the aforementioned Jesse Pye, the Scots Jimmy Dunn and the Northern Irishman Sammy Smyth , the team moved from Cullis to victories against Chesterfield FC , Sheffield United , in the first year of coaching Liverpool FC and arch-rivals West Bromwich Albion as well as a work victory after a replay against Manchester United in the FA Cup final against Leicester City . Two Pye goals with a header and a spin shot in the first half ensured a quick decision there and after the third goal by Sammy Smyth to make it 3-1, the Wolves won the English Cup for the third time - but for the first time at Wembley Stadium . In the following season the title defense failed due to the elimination in the fifth round, but in the league the team won the third runner-up after finishing sixth in the preseason - compared to the new champions Portsmouth FC only the poorer goal quotient was decisive. Following the World Cup in Brazil , which ended with a disappointing preliminary round for England with team captain Wright, the Wanderers' performance collapsed in the two league seasons that followed. After a negative run of 13 defeats in 17 games, initially only 14th place was to book, which was even undercut in the following year with 16th place . Pye then left the club and in addition to the commitment of the amateur national player Bill Slater and Jack Taylor , Cullis put on extensive restructuring. The promotion of the up-and-coming “self-grown” Eddie Clamp and Colin Booth to the professional squad also put the “established” players under pressure. The measures led to a turnaround in the 1952/53 season , which was rewarded with third place and within reach of the new champions FC Arsenal.

With attractive offensive football, the Cullis-Elf played for the championship again in the 1953/54 season despite a cup defeat against the second division side Birmingham City and were now ahead for the first time. The team lost only two games from December 1953 and the 1-0 victory at competitor West Bromwich Albion had a key function, as the "Baggies" then did not recover from this defeat. The team, which brought the English championship to Wolverhampton for the first time in the 55th season of the Football League, consisted of goalkeeper Bert Williams , defenders and half-players Jack Short , Roy Pritchard , Bill Slater, Bill Shorthouse and Billy Wright as well as attacking the wingers Johnny Hancocks and Jimmy Mullen and in the center from Roy Swinbourne , Peter Broadbent and Dennis Wilshaw . In the 1954/55 season it was possible to defend the title for a long time, until a 0-1 defeat at the new champions Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge through a controversial penalty from Peter Sillett and three defeats in the last five players in the event of second place worried. At the end of the 1955/56 season, the team finished 3rd again, but now had no chance in the championship race against the up-and-coming " Busby Babes" from Manchester United - as in the following year with 6th place .

In the second half of the 1950s, however, the club began a second dominant phase in English football. He won his second English championship in the 1957/58 season and only marginally missed the record of 66 points set by Arsenal. Despite an early bankruptcy in the first participation in the European Cup against the German champions FC Schalke 04 , the domination in the domestic league continued afterwards and in the last season with Billy Wright and Jimmy Mullen the old and new champions kept up with the competition 28 clear wins over a distance. The next triumph followed in 1960 by winning the FA Cup, which came about through a 3-0 victory in a one-sided final against Blackburn Rovers . The " championship trick " and thus the possible " double " prevented Burnley FC , who only took the lead on the last day of the 1959/60 season with a 2-1 win at Manchester City . The following year, the Wolves moved into the semi-finals of the first edition of the European Cup Winners' Cup , where they lost to the Glasgow Rangers . In the English championship, the team took third place again ; the heyday of the Wolves was obviously over.

This was followed by a crash into the table basement, with the 18th place in the table in the 1961/62 season only avoiding relegation due to good results around Easter. Despite a short-term recovery in the 1962/63 season , when the Wolves once again achieved fifth place and even topped the table in the meantime, the sporting trend clearly showed a downward trend in the medium term. After the 16th place in the 1963/64 season, the Cullis team took last place at the beginning of the following season and the club management, which had only found its new chairman in July 1964 with John Ireland, dismissed the long-time coach in September of the same year . In retrospect, the Cullis era was by far the most successful period in the club's history: the Wanderers won the English championship three times and the FA Cup in 1949 and 1960. By two games in 1954 against the teams of Kispest-Honvéd Budapest and Spartak Moscow , which the team both won (against Budapest after 2-0 deficit still 3-2, against Moscow 4-0), the team was replaced by the English The press was even named "World Champion", which in turn caused displeasure in countries outside of England and was partly responsible for the fact that a European Cup of National Champions was brought into being.

Cup finals and relegation battles (1964–1984)

Andy Beattie took over the sporting management on an interim basis six weeks after the dismissal of Cullis. The former Scottish national coach made an important change in the Christmas season of 1964 with the purchase of Dave Wagstaffe , but was not very successful overall despite reaching the quarter-finals in the FA Cup. At the end of the season 1964/65 he rose with his new team from the first division and left only Birmingham City in the table , which "ironically" was now looked after by Stan Cullis. Just a year after his appointment, Beattie was sacked again - following a 9-3 defeat at Southampton FC - and he was inherited by his co-trainer Ronnie Allen in September 1965 .

With new players like Ernie Hunt and from March 1966 Mike Bailey as well as the later " world champion " Ron Flowers , who remained from the victorious team of the 1950s, Allen succeeded in turning the trend. The 1965/66 season ended with the sixth place missing promotion, but the return to the House of Lords of English football succeeded just a year later - with eight winning games in a row in the spring of 1967, the Wolves won the runner-up title behind Coventry City . The club celebrated a premiere in the same season with their first participation in the League Cup , which ended with a clear 5-0 defeat against Fulham FC in the third round. Particularly noticeable at the end were the achievements of Northern Irish center forward Derek Dougan , who was only engaged in March 1967 and who became a crowd favorite as "Doog".

During the English league summer break, the Wolves took part in a tournament of the United Soccer Association and competed under the name " Los Angeles Wolves ". They won the round of the "Western clubs" and then won against the Eastern champions " Washington Whips " (aka FC Aberdeen ). Overall, the sporting importance of the event was of secondary importance; Nevertheless, the performance of the Aberdeen player Frank Munro was so impressive that he joined the Wolves in December 1967 and became a fixture. In the summer 1969 when there was no play, the Wolves returned to US professional football when they played for Kansas City Spurs in the first half of the second NASL season, the so-called International Cup, against other professional teams from the British Isles - including Aston Villa , West Ham United and Dundee United - won. In the domestic league, the club found itself in the relegation battle of the First Division and finished 17th in May 1968 .

In the following two years, the club, to which the future record player and midfielder Kenny Hibbitt had joined in February 1968 with full-back Derek Parkin and a short time later with midfielder Kenny Hibbitt , operated in the lower half of the table and showed itself in the domestic cup competitions as well not very successful. The team, which has been coached by Bill McGarry since November 1968 , succeeded in the 1970/71 season with fourth place, the best placement for ten years and also won the Texaco Cup after a final victory against the Scottish Heart of Midlothian . The good league placement entitled them to participate in the UEFA Cup , which was held for the first time , where the Wolves were defeated in the inner English final against Tottenham Hotspur after victories against Académica Coimbra , FC Den Haag , FC Carl Zeiss Jena , Juventus Turin and Ferencváros Budapest - a disappointing one 1: 2 home defeat in the first leg was no longer made up for 1: 1 in the second leg. In the league , the team finished an average of ninth place, but was still involved in the championship decision when the FA Cup winner Leeds United, who had only been crowned two days earlier , was defeated 2-1 on the last day of the game , thus missing the "double" . The upward trend continued in the 1972/73 season , when the semi-finals were reached in addition to the fifth championship place in the two domestic cup competitions. In the League Cup, the club came back to a title win after 14 years in 1974, with the goals of Kenny Hibbitt and John Richards in the final for the 2-1 win over Manchester City . However, this success could not prevent the impression that the trend was pointing downwards again. After two twelfth places in 1974 and 1975 , the Wolves had to go to the second division at the end of the 1975/76 season . The main reason for this was a bad start to the season with only two wins in 15 games and a home defeat against Liverpool on the last day of the match, which at the same time secured the championship.

Both in the club management with the new chairman Harry Marshall and in the coaching question with the commitment of Sammy Chung , the club repositioned itself, but remained largely from the first division players in the team and returned after a 1-1 in the penultimate game of the season against fellow promoters Chelsea FC immediately returned to the First Division as second division champions. There the team found themselves despite two wins in the opening games of the 1977/78 season again in the fight for relegation, which ultimately succeeded with four points behind on the relegation places. In the following season 1978/79 , the team, which got a new coach in November 1978 with John Barnwell , once again made it to the FA Cup semi-finals, where they lost 2-0 to Arsenal . The championship round was mixed with 18th place, but after the subsequent commitment of Emlyn Hughes , who immediately became the new team captain, the Wolves fought their way up to a surprisingly good sixth place in the 1979/80 season . In addition, there was the second League Cup success in the same year, when the regained team in the final after a goal by Andy Gray defeated the high favorites and two-time European champions Nottingham Forest 1-0.

The increased expectations were henceforth disappointed again. With the repeated entry into the FA Cup semi-finals, the club set another exclamation point in 1981, but after a fall in 18th place in the championship season 1980/81 , the club rose in the season 1981/82 as penultimate from the table. The Wolves made a name for themselves outside of the field and after the resignation of John Barnwell in November 1981 followed with Ian Ross (temporarily until February 1982) and Ian Greaves (until August 1982) only short-term coaching engagements. The club's management had previously traded “big names” with Alex Ferguson for coaching and Michel Platini for the squad. Instead, in the summer of 1982, the club revealed a £ 2.5 million financial hole that almost led to the club's liquidation until a consortium - led by former player Derek Dougan - was bailed out. Former chairman John Ireland returned as president and with Graham Hawkins a former Wolves player for the 1982/83 season became the third coach of the year. The team coped well with the turbulence in the summer of 1982 and was particularly nervous towards the end of the season with only one defeat in 14 league games, which made it possible to return directly to the English elite class behind second division champions Queens Park Rangers . As an "elevator team" at the beginning of the 1980s, however, the renewed stay in the First Division was not permanent and with the worst start to the season in the club's history, it went straight back to the Second Division as the bottom of the table in the 1983/84 season . Graham Hawkins was released in April 1984 and under interim coach and ex-goalkeeper Jim Barron , the team played the season to the end.

Farewell to excellence (1984-2000)

The coach Tommy Docherty, who was signed up in June 1984, did not understand how to return the team to the group of aspirants for promotion and instead had to watch as his men were passed with full force towards the bottom of the table after a reasonably good start with seven defeats in a row. In the end, he was relegated from bottom of the table directly to the third division and took his hat at the end of the season - like Dougan in January 1985. Once again, the liquidity was secured at the last minute, and with mixed feelings the team went with interim coach Sammy Chapman in the first third league season since 1924. From September 1985, the former coach took over Bill McGarry again the line before, led by Chapman season, which should bring another low point, was played to the end. In an environment of dwindling spectator numbers, steadily weak team performances and the uncertainty whether the financial means are sufficient for the game operation, the club crashed in 1986 as the penultimate of the third division in the fourth division fourth division . In the summer of the year there was also an acute danger that the association would have to be dissolved. It was not until August 5, 1986 that the Wolverhampton city administration put together a package with the Asda supermarket chain and the real estate company Gallagher Estates Limited, which provided that the city administration would take over the Molineux Stadium and other land and buildings from the club's possession while the two of them Companies that paid off outstanding debts - nine days later, the Football League approved this plan, thereby ensuring the club's continued existence. The new owner was a consortium led by Richard Homden and Jack Harris and the future patron was the multi-millionaire Jack Hayward , who first became president, bought the club completely in 1990 and invested more than 40 million pounds in it by 2006.

With Brian Little , the new club management quickly found a coaching successor for Chapman, but filled the position with Graham Turner in October . He discovered the difficulty of his task in the 3-0 defeat in the FA Cup against the amateur club FC Chorley, but made a purchase with the commitment of Steve Bull , which in the next few years (also against the background of the low transfer fee: in the " Package “with full-back Andy Thompson for just £ 65,000) turned out to be a stroke of luck. With fourth place, the Wolves reached the play-off games, but missed the promotion there due to the defeat against FC Aldershot . In the two seasons between 1987 and 1989, however, the team set out to correct the humiliation suffered by the fall in fourth division. First and foremost, it was Steve Bull who, with 52 competitive goals, almost single-handedly led the Wolves to the fourth division championship and "incidentally" to win the Sherpa Van Trophy . With almost the same squad succeeded in the 1988/89 season as third division champions the direct march through to the second division and Bull, who was the first player in the third division to become an English national player, almost equaled this previous record with 50 goals. Although the striker finally scored his 27 goals in the 1989/90 season at the 1990 World Cup in Italy , the time of "easy wins" was over in the Second Division; The team took tenth place, however, a comfortable place beyond all relegation worries.

After another midfield position in the subsequent 1990/91 season, Hayward saw the time had come to help the club to take a further development step through high investments. To this end, he initiated the stadium renovation project that had been planned for a long time and also provided coach Turner with a generous budget for the players' area. With a good start to the 1991/92 season, this seemed to pay off, but after ten defeats from the subsequent twelve games, the team suddenly came threateningly close to the relegation zone. However, the club overcame this crisis, in which Turner's position was massively questioned, and finished the season in eleventh place. With the promotion of Jack Hayward's son Jonathan as new chairman and the appointment of additional board members, the club's management realigned itself, but the structural changes could not prevent the Wolves from becoming the second division after the introduction of the Premier League in the 1992/93 season now called "First Division" - again with eleventh place 15 points away from the promotion playoffs. For the season 1993/94 Bull's longtime strike partner Andy Mutch left the club and was immediately replaced by the Irish international David Kelly . Further commitments brought new optimism, which was also nourished by the completion of the conversion of Molineux into a purely seated stadium - which thus met the requirements of the Taylor Report for top division football - in December of that year. The performances did not keep pace and early defeats in the cup competitions as well as a steady place in the "cloudy league midfield" ensured Turner's dismissal in March 1994, with a 0-3 defeat at Portsmouth FC .

As before Turner, a former sporting director from Aston Villa found the Wanderers in the former English national coach Graham Taylor . Ultimately, three points were missing at the end of the season to participate in the qualifying games, but as the number of spectators increased, the club went confidently into the 1994/95 season. Taylor put no fewer than 17 players on the transfer list and made two million purchases with wingers Tony Daley and Steve Froggatt . Although the team struggled with ten injured players in the meantime - the injury to Daley, who only appeared in one game for eleven minutes during the season, was particularly bitter - the team qualified for the play-offs and lost there but the Bolton Wanderers . The initial skepticism in the supporters towards Taylor seemed to be overcome, however, and with further costly new purchases, such as defenders Eric Young and Dean Richards (the latter for the club's record transfer fee of 1.85 million pounds), the club upgraded its personnel. The first ten weeks of the 1995/96 season, however, brought great disillusionment and after a 0-0 win against Charlton Athletic , the club management dismissed Turner in November 1995 and appointed the Scots Mark McGhee as his successor, who in turn was still working at Leicester City quit. McGhee, who immediately after his arrival complained about the lack of physical and tactical condition of the team, quickly found himself in the relegation battle and barely saved the relegation with 20th place. With new staff, which McGhee recruited in addition to Keith Curle from Manchester City with Steve Gorica and Iwan Roberts mainly from his old club Leicester City, the Wolves played for a long time for a direct promotion place in 1997. However, second place went to Barnsley FC in the end and Crystal Palace prevented their first participation in the Premier League prematurely in the playoff semifinals . Also in the subsequent 1997/98 season it looked like a successful season. The team was only eliminated in the semi-finals against Arsenal in the FA Cup, but the promotion dreams were shattered due to a weak end to the season with only one win in the last eight games, leaving only ninth place "beyond good and evil".

Despite a good start to the 1998/99 season with four wins in a row, the team maneuvered itself back into a sporting crisis with only two successes in twelve games, which resulted in McGhee's dismissal in November 1998. His co-trainer Colin Lee took over the management and, despite slight consolidation, missed promotion to seventh place in the final table. Several key players then left the club, such as the new young star Robbie Keane for the record transfer of six million pounds to Coventry City , or, as in the case of Steve Bull, ended their careers. As a result, the team, which landed in seventh place again in the 1999/2000 season, suddenly had a problem in the offensive game and scored too few goals with 64 goals for a promotion candidate.

The wolves in the 21st century (since 2000)

In the first half of the 2000/01 season, the Wolves won only two league games and before Christmas the club responded with the dismissal of Colin Lee. With Dave Jones , the former coach of Southampton FC , the team went into the back series and showed continuously better performances, which were only rewarded with a midfield position due to the burden of poor results at the beginning of the season. Jones then redesigned the team according to his own ideas and also during the 2001/02 season the team got a completely new shape after the commitment of striker Kenny Miller and especially in midfield with Colin Cameron , Mark Kennedy , Shaun Newton and Alex Rae . She fought behind the escaping second division champions Manchester City against local rivals West Bromwich Albion for second place and thus for direct promotion to the Premier League. It was only last month that the WBA overtook the Wolves, so that they had to go into the play-off games in third place and lost their second chance there in the semifinals with a defeat against Norwich City . In the 2002/03 season, reaching a direct promotion place was already out of reach at an early stage, but with fifth place the team qualified one more time for the play-off games. There, the team turned in the semifinals to FC Reading from before with a highly acclaimed 3: 0 victory in the final against Sheffield United in the Millennium Stadium at Cardiff 's return to the first division and the first participation in the Premier League was secured.

The joy of returning to the English House of Lords quickly evaporated. Only the eighth game of the season was won and apart from a highly regarded 1-0 win against Manchester United , the problems arose especially in the away games, where the Wolves remained without a win for the entire season . Together with the tied Leicester City and Leeds United , it went back to the second division after only one year. The negative run continued there and in November 2004 it looked as if a direct crash into the third division might be possible. David Jones was then sacked and said he was disappointed that Jack Hayward had denied him an orally promised transfer budget of £ 20 million and was now offering the club for sale. Jones' successor was former England international and coach Glenn Hoddle , who managed to lose only once in the remaining 25 league games. But since 15 draws only brought 15 points, the promotion ranks in the 2004/05 season with ninth place remained far away. In the 2005/06 season, 19 draws ensured that the Wolves were not easy to defeat, but ultimately also prevented their place among the top six teams, which seemed possible for a long time. Although the club's management was satisfied with the consistent work of Glenn Hoddle, both the supporters and the local media expressed their displeasure and generated increasing pressure, which led to Hoddle's resignation on July 1, 2006.

In addition to the coaching change to Mick McCarthy , extensive personnel changes took place, especially in the board, which included the resignation of Rick Hayward , another son of Jack Hayward. McCarthy, a former Irish national coach, brought his former team captain from Sunderland AFC with him, Gary Breen, and despite predictions to the contrary in the media, according to which the Wolves were only given a lower midfield position, the team reached fifth place at the end of the season and was then in play -off semifinals again facing rivals West Bromwich Albion. There the Wanderers lost 2: 3 and 0: 1, whereby the sudden injury of the goalkeeper Matt Murray was a significant weakening. On May 21, 2007, Jack Hayward sold the club to Steve Morgan , who agreed to invest £ 30 million for a purchase price of £ 10. In the following season 2007/08, the club again just barely missed the play-offs in seventh place. The decisive factor was a goal difference that was only two hits worse than Watford FC . In the 2008/09 season, the Wolverhampton Wanderers secured two game days before the end of the season as the first promoted team to participate in the Premier League for the 2009/10 season . With seven wins from the first eight games, the team quickly moved to the top of the table and especially the creative midfielder Michael Kightly and the top scorer Sylvan Ebanks-Blake were the guarantors for the second division championship, which was ultimately won with superiority.

Back in the top class, the team was much better prepared for the second “Premier League adventure” than six years earlier; 15th place and eight points before a relegation place ultimately brought safe relegation. The methods of the "Wolves", with whom Kevin Doyle in particular knew how to please, remained controversial at times, as coach Mick McCarthy spared his team against top clubs in December 2009 in order to be able to build on well-rested strength against direct competitors. It was much closer in the second year, when the Wolves, despite a better overall point yield on the last day of the game with a home defeat in the relegation battle, were dependent on both rivals Birmingham City and Blackpool FC losing their duels at the same time. The downward trend in the table finally continued and in February 2012 the club management prematurely released McCarthy from his ongoing contract after his team had previously only collected 21 points in 25 Premier League games. Under assistant coach Terry Connor Wolverhampton went into the final phase of the 2011/12 season, but in the end it was clear after the 31st match day of relegation to the second division.

On May 11, 2012, Jez Moxey confirmed the engagement of Ståle Solbakken as a new coach from July 1, 2012. Solbakken thus became the first non-British or Irish coach of the "Wolves". Due to the disappointing season, the club announced on January 5, 2013 the premature separation from Solbakken; Kevin Thelwell took over his role on an interim basis. On the evening of the next day, Dean Saunders was signed by third division Doncaster Rovers as the new coach. Saunders did not succeed in the remaining games of the season to stop the sporting downward trend and after relegation to the third division he was succeeded by Kenny Jackett , who had recently led Millwall FC to the FA Cup semi-finals.

With a jacket he immediately returned to the second division, with the 103 points on the way to the third division championship in 2014 signifying a new club record.

On April 14, 2018, he was promoted to the Premier League again. After six years of absence, the club will play in the top English division again in the 2018/19 season.

In the FA Cup semi-finals they had to admit defeat to FC Watford 3: 2 afterwards despite a 2-0 lead. Wolverhampton Wanderers had previously eliminated Liverpool, Shrewsbury Town, Bristol City and Manchester United. With Manchester City's final victory over Watford, the Wolves were able to qualify for the Europa League in the coming 2019/20 season via 7th place in the Premier League .

Venues

The inside view of the Molineux Stadium

After the Wolverhampton Wanderers first used Windmill Field until May 1879 and John Harper's Field on Lower Villiers Street from August 1879 to April 1881, they played on Dudley Road, where there was already space for up to 10,000 spectators after continuous expansion. Although nothing remains of that time in the original home in Blakenhall , the nearby "Wanderers Avenue" is a reminder of the club's early years.

Since 1889, the Wolves played their home games at Molineux Stadium , which is located in the downtown district of Whitmore Reans . The name "Molineux" goes back to the merchant Benjamin Molineux, who had built his house on the site. The Northampton Brewery later bought the property and from 1889 rented it to Wolverhampton Wanderers, who had been looking for a permanent home ground. After diligent work, the park was turned into a football stadium within a few months, which was ready for league football from September 7, 1889 and had a capacity of 4,000 spectators at the premiere (2-0 against Notts County ). When the Wolves were the first club to install a floodlight system in 1953 , a series of friendly matches against well-known opponents from all over the world took place in the 1950s, which were often broadcast on television by the BBC . The south stand alone housed around 30,000 spectators at that time and when the club was at its peak, more than 50,000 people regularly came to the games. During the 1980s, after the Valley Parade fire disaster in Bradford , two large grandstands could no longer be used for safety reasons, and since performance declined until the crash in the fourth division, the capacity and the number of spectators fell significantly.

Between 1991 and 1993, the club converted the Molineux into a purely seated stadium according to the specifications of the Taylor Report , which was then one of the largest converted stadiums in England at its time for the 1993/94 season with a capacity for 28,525 spectators. Ten years later, after being promoted to the Premier League, it was the fifth-smallest venue in the English top division, although the capacity was expanded by a temporary additional grandstand in the southwest corner for 900 more spectators by 2006. After the club was taken over by millionaire Steve Morgan , he announced that he wanted to upgrade the stadium in the event of promotion to the Premier League. To this end, the expansion of the Steve Bull and Billy Wright grandstands to a total capacity for around 40,000 visitors is being considered.

In 2005, a £ 4.6 million training ground opened in Compton - a suburb to the south west of Wolverhampton - named "Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground" in honor of its longtime patron. The site, about 1.5 kilometers away from Molineux, has five high-quality training areas, eleven changing rooms, medical and physiotherapy facilities, a gym and a hydrotherapeutic pool .

Supporters of the club

In addition to several fan clubs in much of the United Kingdom , Wolverhampton Wanderers have major fan associations in the United States, Sweden, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Malta, Iceland and Norway. Established in 1984, the Wolves Official Fan Club ("Wolverhampton Wanderers Official Supporters Club") is run entirely by volunteers. Representatives of these fan clubs are invited to regular “Fans' Parliament” sessions, in which they are heard and involved in decision-making processes for the club's activities. The magazines (“ Fanzines ”) that are published by the Wolverhampton Wanderers include in particular “A Load Of Bull” since 1989, the name of which is derived from the record scorer Steve Bull.

Like many British football clubs, Wolves' supporters also use well-known songs for regular singing with repositioned lyrics. This initially included, from the 1950s and 1960s, “The Happy Wanderer”, the English version of the German folk song “My father was a wanderer”. Today “Hi Ho Wolverhampton!” Is the most popular fan song and goes back to the rock song “Hi Ho Silver Lining” published by Jeff Beck in 1967 . In the meantime, "The Liquidator" by the Harry J. Allstars was also popular, but increasingly lost its importance as the local police criticized the provocative textual content - especially against rival West Bromwich Albion - and the song was therefore no longer played before kick-off . During important promotion or relegation games, however, the liquidator occasionally experiences his "resurrection". In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wolverhampton, like other English cities, had a problem with hooligans . This included the "Subway Army", consisting primarily of teenagers , the name of which referred to the fact that opposing fans were attacked from behind from underground hiding spots. The position within the supporter community remained controversial, however, as a large part of the Subway Army only appeared to selected games and emphasized that they did not feel part of the club.

The supporters cultivate a special rivalry, especially in relation to West Bromwich Albion. According to the study in the “Football Rivalries Report 2008”, the derby is considered the most bitter duel in English football. The duels against Birmingham City and Aston Villa are somewhat less intense. This is followed by the games against Stoke City and FC Walsall , with games against FC Walsall and West Bromwich Albion being referred to as "Black Country Derby".

Owner question and financial situation

The Wolverhampton Wanderers operate under the name "Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (1986) Limited" and have only existed legally in this form since 1986 - the year when the club went bankrupt after serious financial problems and was re-established under the leadership of then President Jack Hayward. Hayward bought the football company completely in 1990 and, according to media reports, invested more than 40 million pounds by the time it retired in 2006. In the same year Steve Morgan took over the club, which made investment commitments of 30 million pounds in addition to the symbolic purchase price of only ten pounds. In addition to the owner and CEO, a four-person “ Board of Directors ” manages the club's business, with Jez Moxey - previously active at Stoke City , the Glasgow Rangers and Partick Thistle - managing the operational business as CEO . The Wolves are represented by honorary president Steve Morgan, Steve Bull (the club's record scorer) and Rachael Heyhoe-Flint (one of the most famous female cricket players), two other “legends” of Wolverhampton as vice-president.

Although the club had to report mostly annual input tax losses up to the end of the 2002/03 season - the end of a season is always equivalent to the end of a financial year - it has since been considered to be solidly financed. Supported by the promotion to the premier league in 2003 and a good infrastructure, such as a progressive stadium, a new training facility and a large number of fans, the Wolves are consistently at breakeven with positive operating results . In the 2009/10 financial year, the club had sales of £ 61 million and a pre-tax profit of £ 9 million; no net debt was reported.

In July 2016, the club was sold to the Chinese company Fosun .

Club crest and colors

Wolverhampton City Coat of Arms

It was not until the end of the 1960s that the Wolverhampton Wanderers designed their own logo, after the city of Wolverhampton had only been sewn onto the jerseys on a few occasions, such as a cup final. After the first versions, which initially showed a jumping wolf - then three wolves in the same position - the club developed the hexagonal wolf head design that is still known today in 1979, which is highly recognizable in British football due to its simple design (only it is somewhat similar to the pentagonal logo of Watford FC with the head of an elk). The club only used the city coat of arms as a logo for a short time in the mid-1990s, but quickly returned to the popular wolf head emblem.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers are known in British football for their extraordinary jersey color choices. The golden shirts, with which black shorts are usually worn, are based on the coat of arms of the city of Wolverhampton and refer to the motto "Out of darkness cometh light" - the golden color represents the "light that comes out of the darkness" . When the team was founded, the team still wore red and white striped shirts and only later discovered the gold and black combination for themselves. This was initially striped or worn on diagonal halves, before a more or less strict separation between gold shirt and black trousers followed. For away games, the Wolves usually appear completely in white clothing.

player

Squad of the 2021/22 season

As of August 19, 2021

No.	Nat.	Surname	date of birth	in the team since
gate
01		José Sá	Jan. 17, 1993	2021
21		John Ruddy	Oct. 24, 1986	2017
62		Andreas Søndergaard	Jan. 17, 2001	2018
Defense
02		Ki-Jana Hoever	Jan. 18, 2002	2020
03		Rayan Ait-Nouri	June 6, 2001	2020
05		Marçal	Feb. 19, 1989	2020
15th		Willy Boly	Feb 3, 1991	2018
14th		Yerson Mosquera	May 2, 2001	2021
16		Conor Coady	Feb 25, 1993	2015
19th		Jonny Otto	March 3, 1994	2019
22nd		Nélson Semedo	Nov 16, 1993	2020
49		Max Kilman	May 23, 1997	2018
midfield
08th		Ruben Neves	March 13, 1997	2017
10		Daniel Podence	Oct 21, 1995	2020
18th		Morgan Gibbs-White	Jan. 27, 2000	2008
27		Romain Saïss	March 26, 1990	2016
28		João Moutinho	Sep 8 1986	2018
32		Leander Dendoncker	Apr 15, 1995	2019
39		Luke Cundle	Apr. 26, 2002	2020
54		Owen Otasowie	Jan. 6, 2001	2017
storm
07th		Pedro Neto	9th of March 2000	2019
09		Raúl Jiménez	May 5, 1991	2018
11		Francisco Trincão	Dec 29, 1999	2021
17th		Fábio Silva	July 19, 2002	2020
37		Adama Traoré	Jan. 25, 1996	2018

Former players

For a complete listing of all Wolverhampton Wanderers players, see Wolverhampton Wanderers Player List .

Coach chronicle

Surname	nation	from	To
George Worrall		Aug 1877	May 1885
Jack Addenbrooke		Aug 1885	June 1922
George Jobey		June 1922	May 1924
Albert Hoskins		June 1924	March 1926
Fred Scotchbrook		March 1926	June 1927
Frank Buckley		July 1927	March 1944
Ted Vizard		Apr. 1944	May 1948
Stan Cullis		June 1948	Sep 1964
Andy Beattie		Nov. 1964	Aug 1965
Ronnie Allen		Sep 1965	Nov 1968
Bill McGarry		Nov 1968	May 1976
Sammy Chung		June 1976	Nov 1978
John Barnwell		Nov 1978	Jan. 1982
Ian Greaves		Feb 1982	Aug 1982
Graham Hawkins		Aug 1982	Apr. 1984
Tommy Docherty		June 1984	July 1985
Bill McGarry		Sep 1985	Nov 1985
Sammy Chapman		Nov 1985	Aug 1986
Brian Little		Aug 1986	Oct 1986
Graham Turner		Oct 1986	March 1994
Graham Taylor		March 1994	Nov 1995
Mark McGhee		Dec 1995	Nov 1998
Colin Lee		Nov 1998	Dec 2000
Dave Jones		Jan. 2001	Nov 2004
Glenn Hoddle		Dec 2004	July 2006
Mick McCarthy		July 2006	Feb. 2012
Ståle Solbakken		July 2012	Jan. 2013
Dean Saunders		Jan. 2013	May 2013
Kenny jacket		May 2013	May 2016
Walter Zenga		Aug 2016	Oct. 2016
Paul Lambert		Nov 2016	May 2017
Nuno Espírito Santo		June 2017	May 2021
Bruno location		June 2021

successes

English championship : 3rd

• 1954, 1958, 1959

English Cup (FA Cup): 4th

• 1893, 1908, 1949, 1960

English League Cup (League Cup): 2

• 1974, 1980

Football League Trophy : 1st

• 1988

Texaco Cup : 1st

• 1971

English "Supercup" (FA Community / Charity Shield): 4

• 1949 (shared), 1954 (shared), 1959, 1960 (shared)

Football League War Cup : 1

• 1942

Youth work, reserve team and scouting

The club has had its own academy since the 1990s - the Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy. It encompasses all youth work and has been headed since April 2008 by Kevin Thelwell, who previously briefly coached the Derby County 's professional team and was the youngest academy manager of an English football club. The two age categories U-9 to U-16 and U-16 to U-18 are subordinate to him, who in turn are supervised by his two assistants Gareth Prosser and John Perkins. The U-18 team currently represents the club in Group C of the Premier Academy League , the top division consisting of four divisions for the academy teams of the English professional football clubs. The greatest national success of a Wolves youth team comes from the "golden age" of the 1950s. After the junior team in 1953 and 1954 was still defeated against the later "Busby Babes" from Manchester United, it defeated Chelsea in 1958 with 7: 6 goals on both legs. One of the academy's best-known alumni is Irish international Robbie Keane , who scored 29 goals in 88 games for the Wolves before joining Coventry City in August 1999 for the then record transfer fee (based on a teenager) of six million pounds . Another example of successful youth work from the recent past is Joleon Lescott , who joined Everton FC in 2006 and became England international one year later.

"Wolverhampton Wanderers Reserves" is the official second team of the Wolverhampton Wanderers. The history of this reserve team goes back to the late 19th century. For the first time as part of an organized league operation, she acted in the "Birmingham & District League" in the 1892/93 season and immediately won the championship in the ten-team division. Three more championship trophies followed in 1898, 1899 and 1901, but thereafter the team remained without another title until the withdrawal from the league in 1921. The next successes came in the 1950s, when the reserve team, which was now in the "Central League", won three championship trophies in a row between 1951 and 1953 and two more titles before the turn of the decade (1958 and 1959). With the exception of the 2003/04 season, when the "Substitute Wolves" were allowed to play in the Northern Division of the Premier Reserve League due to the first division membership of the professional team , they remained steadily in the Central League. Due to the renewed first division promotion of the first team in the 2008/09 season, the reserves will play a second time in the top English reserve division for the 2009/10 season.

Dave Bowman has been responsible for the organized talent search system since August 2006. The former Nike consultant and trained coach worked with Mick McCarthy for the first time at Barnsley FC and, after he switched to coaching in the scouting area, supported him at Millwall FC , the Irish national team and Sunderland AFC .

successes

• FA Youth Cup Winner : 1 (1958)
• Champion in the "Central League": 5 (1951, 1952, 1953, 1958, 1959)
• Champion in the "Birmingham & District League": 4 (1893, 1898, 1899, 1901)

Social commitment - "Wolves Community Trust"

With the “Football in the Community” program, launched in 1991, the club is involved in popular sport for currently over 150,000 young people and 20,000 adults. The support of regional football for all age groups includes trainer training and football training units. There are also various social projects, including a program for disabled sports. The initiative, which became the “Wolves Community Trust” in February 2009, receives special funding from the national Football Foundation , which particularly supports leisure league activities. Another longstanding sponsor is the Birmingham Midshires regional bank . As part of the “Wolves Community Trust”, the club owns the “Wolves Aid” aid program, which it claims is the largest charity in football. The initiative has projects in Wolverhampton as well as in foreign countries such as Uganda .

The club has had a partnership with the Indian soccer club JCT Football Club since December 2008 . It is part of a cultural exchange between the city of Wolverhampton and India, in which schools, universities and business organizations from the region take part. The Wolves, who traditionally have a high proportion of supporters from Punjab - and their own fan club ("Punjabi Wolves") - strive for a long-term cooperation with the first division team, which pays special attention to youth and coaching work.

Women's football - "Wolves Women"

The Wolverhampton Wanderers women's football team, known for short as "Wolves Women", has been playing in the Midland Combination Women's Football League, a regional and overall third-highest English division, since the 2006/07 season. She is coached by Dave Ball and most of the home games take place at the Goodrich Sports Stadium.

The initially independent women's club was originally founded as "Heathfield Rovers" and first appeared in the 1975/76 season in the Second Division of the West Midlands League. The club quickly renamed itself to "Wolverhampton & Wednesbury Tube LFC", rose to the top division of the West Midlands League and made it to the round of 16 in the national FA Women's Cup during the 1977/78 season . In the 1980s, the team, which was now called "Wolverhampton Ladies" for short, developed back athletically and, after relegation in 1983, played again in the lower division of the West Midlands League. It was not until 1989 that the club returned to the First Division and even finished as runner-up just a year later.

In 1991 the new FA Women's Premier League was launched and an invitation to participate also found its way to Wolverhampton. After two initial seasons in midfield of the second-rate northern division, the club asked the Wanderers to officially compete as "Wolverhampton Wanderers Women's FC". Inspired by this first cooperation approach with the traditional club, the new "Wanderers Women" won the second division championship in the northern division and thus took part in the "National Division", the top English women's football league, for the first time. There the competition proved to be too powerful and in 1996 the women from Wolverhampton were relegated to the second-rate Northern Division.

The club turned into a private company in October 1999 and filled the board with prominent people, such as the former BBC presenter Jenny Wilkes and the Wolverhampton "cricket legend" Rachael Heyhoe-Flint . Nevertheless, the return to the top division failed, although the team was coached from the 2001/02 season by Dennis Mortimer - the former European Cup winner and team captain of Aston Villa . Mortimer continued to be involved in Wolverhampton women's football, but in 2004, Paul Taylor, a former physiotherapist, briefly took over the sporting direction from him. Under Taylor's leadership, the rise failed just barely after winning the runner-up in the 2004/05 season. Two years later, however, the team even descended into the third-class "Midland Combination".

The fall into the third division was the starting signal for an expanded cooperation with the men's club of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Building a competitive cadre financially had proven increasingly difficult; In addition, there was an expanded collaboration with Wolverhampton College and more professional youth work by the U-10 to U-16 youth teams, which are trained as part of the club's own academy (“Center of Excellence”). The overall focus is on long-term development and, according to the company's own statements, the long-term cooperation should be independent of the sporting success of the professional men's team.

Statistics and records

Player with the most stakes

Note: only official competitions (incl. Substitutions) - The information in brackets stands for the goals scored.

Billy Wright, the first England international with more than 100 internationals, completed the fourth most appearances for the "Wolves"

#	Surname	period	league	FA Cup	League Cup	Others	total
1	Derek Parkin	1968-1982	501 ( 006)	046 ( 001)	035 ( 002)	027 ( 001)	609 ( 010)
2	Kenny Hibbitt	1968-1984	466 ( 089)	047 ( 010)	036 ( 012)	025 ( 003)	574 (114)
3	Steve Bull	1986-1999	474 (250)	020 ( 007)	033 ( 018)	034 ( 031)	561 (306)
4th	Billy Wright	1939-1959	490 ( 013)	048 ( 003)	000 ( 000)	003 ( 000)	541 ( 016)
5	Ron Flowers	1950-1967	467 ( 033)	031 ( 004)	000 ( 000)	014 ( 000)	512 ( 037)
6th	John McAlle	1965-1981	406 ( 000)	044 ( 000)	027 ( 001)	031 ( 002)	508 ( 003)
7th	Peter Broadbent	1951-1965	452 (127)	031 ( 010)	000 ( 000)	014 ( 008)	497 (145)
8th	Geoff Palmer	1970-1987	416 ( 013)	038 ( 000)	033 ( 002)	008 ( 000)	495 ( 015)
9	Jimmy Mullen	1937-1959	445 ( 098)	038 ( 014)	000 ( 000)	003 ( 000)	486 (112)
10	John Richards	1967-1983	385 (144)	044 ( 024)	033 ( 018)	024 ( 008)	486 (194)
11	Andy Thompson	1986-1997	376 ( 043)	020 ( 001)	022 ( 000)	033 ( 001)	451 ( 045)
12th	Mike Stowell	1989-2001	385 ( 000)	022 ( 000)	030 ( 000)	011 ( 000)	448 ( 000)
13	Mike Bailey	1966-1977	361 ( 019)	020 ( 002)	029 ( 000)	026 ( 004)	436 ( 025)
14th	Bert Williams	1945–1957	381 ( 000)	038 ( 000)	000 ( 000)	001 ( 000)	420 ( 000)
15th	David Wagstaffe	1964-1976	324 ( 026)	031 ( 002)	023 ( 001)	026 ( 002)	404 ( 031)
16	Alf Bishop	1905-1920	357 ( 006)	025 ( 000)	000 ( 000)	000 ( 000)	382 ( 006)
17th	Phil Parkes	1962-1988	303 ( 000)	023 ( 000)	023 ( 001)	033 ( 003)	382 ( 000)
18th	Johnny Hancocks	1946-1957	343 (157)	033 ( 008)	000 ( 000)	002 ( 002)	378 (167)
19th	Bill Shorthouse	1941-1957	344 ( 001)	030 ( 000)	000 ( 000)	002 ( 000)	376 ( 001)
20th	Frank Munro	1967-1977	296 ( 014)	020 ( 000)	023 ( 002)	032 ( 003)	371 ( 019)

Player with the most goals

Note: only official competitions (incl. Substitutions) - The information in brackets stands for the competitive games played.

#	Surname	period	league	FA Cup	League Cup	Others	total
1	Steve Bull	1986-1999	250 (474)	007 ( 020)	018 ( 033)	031 ( 034)	306 (561)
2	John Richards	1967-1983	144 (385)	024 ( 044)	018 ( 033)	008 ( 024)	194 (486)
3	Billy Hartill	1928-1935	162 (221)	008 ( 013)	000 ( 000)	000 ( 000)	170 (234)
4th	Johnny Hancocks	1946-1957	157 (343)	008 ( 033)	000 ( 000)	002 ( 002)	167 (378)
5	Jimmy Murray	1953-1963	155 (273)	007 ( 014)	000 ( 000)	004 ( 012)	166 (299)
6th	Peter Broadbent	1951-1965	127 (452)	010 ( 031)	000 ( 000)	008 ( 014)	145 (497)
7th	Harry Wood	1885-1898	110 (241)	016 ( 048)	000 ( 000)	000 ( 000)	126 (289)
8th	Dennis Westcott	1937-1948	105 (128)	019 ( 016)	000 ( 000)	000 ( 000)	124 (144)
9	Derek Dougan	1967-1975	095 (258)	004 ( 012)	007 ( 022)	017 ( 031)	123 (323)
10	Kenny Hibbitt	1968-1984	089 (466)	010 ( 047)	012 ( 036)	003 ( 025)	114 (574)
11	Roy Swinbourne	1944-1957	107 (211)	005 ( 018)	000 ( 000)	002 ( 001)	114 (230)
12th	Dennis Wilshaw	1943-1957	106 (211)	007 ( 007)	000 ( 000)	000 ( 001)	113 (219)
13	Jimmy Mullen	1937-1959	098 (445)	014 ( 038)	000 ( 000)	000 ( 003)	112 (486)
14th	Tom Phillipson	1923-1928	104 (144)	007 ( 015)	000 ( 000)	000 ( 000)	111 (159)
15th	Andy Mutch	1986-1993	096 (289)	002 ( 012)	004 ( 014)	004 ( 023)	106 (338)
16	Jesse Pye	1946-1952	090 (188)	005 ( 020)	000 ( 000)	000 ( 001)	095 (209)
17th	Billy Wooldridge	1899-1911	081 (328)	009 ( 028)	000 ( 000)	000 ( 000)	090 (356)
18th	Terry Wharton	1957-1967	069 (224)	009 ( 016)	001 ( 002)	000 ( 000)	079 (242)
19th	Norman Deeley	1948-1962	066 (206)	006 ( 016)	000 ( 000)	003 ( 015)	075 (237)
20th	George Hedley	1906-1913	065 (193)	009 ( 021)	000 ( 000)	000 ( 000)	074 (214)

Club records

Gates

• Most championship goals scored in one season - 115 in 42 games, second division season 1931/32
• Most championship points scored in one season (2-point rule) - 64 in the first division season 1957/58
• Most championship points scored in a season (3-point rule) - 103 in the third division 2013/14 season

Games

• Debuts
  • First game - 8-0 on January 13, 1877 in the friendly against Stafford Road (reserve selection)
  • First championship game - 1-1 on September 8, 1888 against Aston Villa
  • First FA Cup game - 4-1 on October 27, 1883 against Long Eaton Rangers
  • First league cup game - 2-1 on September 13, 1966 against Mansfield Town
• Record victories
  • Biggest championship win - 10-1 on April 15, 1937 in the home game against Leicester City in the first division season 1936/37
  • Biggest league away win - 9-1 on September 3, 1955 at Cardiff City in the first division season 1955/56
  • Biggest win in the FA Cup - 14-0 on November 13, 1886 in a second-round home game against Crosswell's Brewery
  • Biggest league cup win - 6-1 on September 24, 1991 in the first leg of the first round at home against Shrewsbury Town
• Record defeats
  • Biggest championship defeat - 1:10 on October 15, 1892 in the away game against Newton Heath in the first division season 1892/93
  • Biggest home defeat - 8-0 on December 27, 1893 against West Bromwich Albion in the first division season 1893/94
  • Biggest defeat in the FA Cup - 6-0 on November 16, 1985 in the first round away game against Rotherham United
  • Biggest league cup defeats - 5-0 in away games on October 5, 1966 against Fulham FC (third round) and on October 27, 1982 against Sunderland AFC (second round, second leg)
• Attendance records
  • Highest attendance at a home game - 61,315 on February 11, 1939 at Molineux Stadium against Liverpool FC in the fifth round of the FA Cup

Other player records

Individual club records

• Youngest player to appear in a league game - Jimmy Mullen , aged 16 years and 43 days against Leeds United on February 18, 1939
• Oldest player used in a league match - Archie Goodall , aged 41 and 116 days against Everton FC on December 2, 1906
• Most goals in a season - 52 scored by Steve Bull in 1987/88
• Most championship goals in a season - 38 scored by Dennis Westcott in the 1946/47 first division season

International matches

• First (England) international - Charlie Mason against Ireland on February 5, 1887
• Record international - Billy Wright made 105 appearances for England during his time with Wolverhampton Wanderers

literature

• Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record. Breedon Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1-85983-632-3 .

Web links

• Official website of Wolverhampton Wanderers

Individual evidence

1. ^ Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . 2008, p. 8-11 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} "England - Football Statistics Archive - League Records" (The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation)
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} At this point in time two points were awarded for every win and one point for every draw. The goal quotient is calculated from the quotient of goals scored by oneself (numerator) and the goals scored against (denominator).
4. ^ Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . 2008, p. 11-18 .
5. ^ Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . 2008, p. 18-23 .
6. ^ Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . 2008, p. 23-30 .
7. ^ Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . 2008, p. 30-40 .
8. ↑ For the 1976/77 season, the goal difference replaced the goal quotient as a criterion for placing teams with equal points.
9. ↑ From the 1981/82 season onwards, a winning team was awarded three points in a championship game instead of two previously.
10. ^ David Wangerin: Soccer in a Football World: The Story of America's Forgotten Game . WSC Books Limited, London 2006, ISBN 0-9540134-7-6 , pp. 146 .
11. ^ Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . 2008, p. 40-48 .
12. ↑ After the introduction of the Premier League as the new top division in 1992, the second English professional league was henceforth called "Football League First Division".
13. ^ Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . 2008, p. 48-55 .
14. ^ After a league reform for the 2004/05 season, the "Football League First Division" became the " Football League Championship ".
15. ^ Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . 2008, p. 55-59 .
16. ↑ "Wolverhampton dismisses coach McCarthy" ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (Handelsblatt)
17. ↑ "Wolverhampton Signs Solbakken" ( Memento of May 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
18. ↑ Ståle Solbakken leaves Wolves ( Memento of January 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), communication on the Wolverhampton Wanderers website of January 5, 2013 (accessed on January 6, 2013).
19. ↑ wolves.co.uk: Club Statement: Dean Saunders ( January 8, 2013 memento in the Internet Archive ), January 6, 2013, accessed January 7, 2013
20. ↑ "Kenny Jackett: Wolves name ex-Millwall boss as head coach" (BBC Sport)
21. ↑ Thanks to China-Millions: Wolves rise to the Premier League In: Kicker , April 15, 2018.
22. ^ Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . 2008, p. 60-64 .
23. ↑ "Wolverhampton Wanderers FC Supporters Clubs" ( Memento from March 26, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (www.thewolvessite.co.uk)
24. ↑ "Supporter Clubs" ( Memento from February 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)
25. ↑ "Fans' Parliament" ( Memento from December 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)
26. ↑ "ALOB (A Load Of Bull)" ( Memento of 8 December 2008 at the Internet Archive ) (www.thewolvessite.co.uk)
27. ↑ "Can we play you every week?" (BBC News Online)
28. ↑ Armstrong, Gary and Hobbs, Dick: Football, Violence and Social Identity . Routledge, 1994, ISBN 978-0-415-09838-0 , pp. 196-228 .
29. ^ "Who's Who - President and Board of Directors" ( Memento from February 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)
30. ↑ "Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (1986) Limited" (The Political Economy of Football)
31. ↑ "English clubs pile up huge mountains of debt" (Handelsblatt)
32. ↑ "1984: Wolves' recurring nightmare" (The Guardian)
33. ↑ First Team , wolves.co.uk.
34. ↑ Squad , premierleague.com
35. ^ "Staff Profiles" ( Memento from April 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)
36. ^ "The Graduates" ( Memento from May 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)
37. ↑ Wolverhampton Wanderers Reserves (Football Club History Database)
38. ^ "Backroom Staff" ( Memento from April 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)
39. ↑ "Community Scheme Secures Charitable Status"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)  
40. ↑ "Wolves Aid" ( Memento from August 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (wolves-aid.co.uk)
41. ↑ "Wolves Aid - Uganda" ( Memento from August 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (wolves-aid.co.uk)
42. ^ "Wolves Sign Agreement With Top Indian Side" ( Memento from May 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)
43. ↑ "Wolverhampton Wanderers Women's Football Club history" (BBC Sport)
44. ↑ "Wolves women link up with men's side" (The Guardian)
45. ↑ ^{a b} It includes competitive appearances in the European Cup competitions, in the Anglo-Italian Cup , Texaco Cup , Watney Cup , the Football League Trophy , the play-off games and the Charity / Community Shield .

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on April 27, 2009 .