Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

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Wolverhampton Wanderers
Full nameWolverhampton Wanderers Football Club
Nickname(s)Wolves, The Wanderers[1]
Founded1877; 147 years ago (1877), as St. Luke's F.C.
GroundMolineux Stadium
Capacity31,750[2]
OwnerFosun International
ChairmanJeff Shi[3]
Head coachGary O'Neil
LeaguePremier League
2022–23Premier League, 13th of 20
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (/ˌwʊlvərˈhæmptən/ ), commonly referred to as Wolves,[1] is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which competes in the Premier League. The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's traditional kit consists of old gold shirts and socks with black shorts. Since 1979, the kit has also featured the club's "wolf's head" logo. Long-standing rivalries exist with other clubs from the West Midlands, including Aston Villa but the main one being the Black Country derby contested with West Bromwich Albion. Since 2016, the club has been owned by the Chinese conglomerate Fosun International.

Formed as St. Luke's F.C. in 1877, the club changed name to Wolverhampton Wanderers two years later and became one of the founding members of the

1980, and again won the Second Division title in 1976–77
.

Wolves suffered a financial crisis during the

1988–89
.

After fourteen seasons in the second tier between 1989 and 2003, Wolves reached the

2012–13. The club then returned to the Premier League after first winning the League One
title in 2013–14, followed by another Championship title in 2017–18.

After becoming one of the first British clubs to install

inaugural UEFA Cup Final in 1972. Following a 39-year absence from UEFA competitions, they reached the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals in 2020
.

History

Formation and the Football League (1879–1893)

In the 2000 edition of The Rough Guide to English Football, the history section on the Wolves page begins: "The very name Wolves thunders from the pages of English football history".

first FA Cup Final, losing 0–3 to the first "Double" winners, Preston North End. At the conclusion of the campaign the club relocated for a final time when they moved to Molineux, then a pleasure park known as the Molineux Grounds.[5]

FA Cup success and world war years (1893–1950)

Wolves' 1893 FA Cup-winning team

Wolves lifted the FA Cup for the first time in

Sunderland would have clinched things, but in the event Wolves lost 0–1 and thus ended the campaign one point behind the eventual champions, Arsenal.[11] One of the things Major Buckley and his Wolves side attracted a lot of attention for in the last two full seasons prior to the suspension of league football during the Second World War was Buckley's insistence that his players be injected with monkey gland extract to enhance their stamina and performance, a practice that the Football League disapproved of but did not prohibit.[12]

When league football resumed after the Second World War, Wolves suffered yet another final day failure in the First Division. Just as in 1938, victory in their last match would have won the title but a 2–1 loss to title rivals

The Stan Cullis era (1950–1960)

The 1950s were by far the most successful period in the club's history.

Real Madrid 5–4 (3–2 in Wolverhampton and 2–2 in Madrid) in home and away friendlies.[21]

Cup success in the '60s and '70s (1960–1980)

Chart of yearly performance of Wolves in the English Football League system.

The 1960s began with

1964–65 season.[16] Cullis's dismissal did not prevent the season ending with relegation (the first time Wolves had known relegation since 1922–23) and the club's first spell outside the top division since 1932. Exile from the top flight lasted only two seasons however, as Wolves were promoted in 1967 as Second Division runners-up.[22]

During the close season in 1967, Wolves played a mini-season in North America as part of the fledgling United Soccer Association league which imported clubs from Europe and South America. Playing as the "Los Angeles Wolves", they won the Western Division and ultimately the championship by defeating the Eastern Division champions Washington Whips (import of Aberdeen) in a final decider.[23]

The club's return to the English top flight in 1967 heralded another period of relative success under

Andy Gray scored the only goal of the final to defeat the reigning European champions and League Cup holders Nottingham Forest.[27]

Financial crisis, decline and recovery (1980–1990)

The multi-million pound rebuilding of the Molineux Street Stand in 1979 was to be the catalyst for the club's near-financial ruin during the next decade. Plunging match attendances in the early-1980s,

promotion back to the First Division under manager Graham Hawkins, but the Bhattis' failure to invest sufficiently in the club soon saw things unravel as the team suffered three consecutive relegations through the football divisions under different managers,[31] as well as the almost-constant threat of the club being wound-up.[32][33]

In 1986, with the club again in receivership, a deal saw

.

The Hayward years (1990–2007)

Celebrating the Championship title in 2009

Lifelong fan

the play-off final under Dave Jones to end a 19-year absence from the top level.[37] Their stay proved short-lived however as they were immediately relegated back to the newly retitled EFL Championship
.

Promotion, relegations and turbulent times (2007–2016)

After former England manager Glenn Hoddle failed to bring a swift return to the Premier League, the rebuilding of the squad by Mick McCarthy rejuvenated the club with an unexpected play-off finish.[38] The club was bought from Sir Jack Hayward by Steve Morgan in 2007[39] and two years later the team returned to the Premier League as 2008–09 Football League Championship title winners.[40] Wolves successfully battled relegation for two seasons before McCarthy's dismissal in the 2011–12 season,[41] which precipitated relegation under his former assistant Terry Connor, who was promoted to replace McCarthy.[42]

Following relegation, Norwegian Ståle Solbakken became the club's first overseas manager[43] but his tenure lasted only six months before a poor run of results saw him replaced by Dean Saunders in January 2013.[44][45] Saunders failed to bring any upturn, culminating in both the club's relegation to EFL League One, a level the club had not played at since 1989, and Saunders's own dismissal.[46][47] Following this, Kenny Jackett was appointed in May 2013 in the retitled position of head coach,[48] and led the team back to the EFL Championship in his first season, setting a new club record points total of 103 which is also an all-time record for the most points accumulated by any team during a Tier 3 season.

Fosun era: Return to the Premier League and continental football (2016–present)

Manager Nuno Espírito Santo led Wolves back to the Premier League in 2018, and into European competition for the first time in 39 years

On 21 July 2016, Chinese investment group

managing director Laurie Dalrymple.[49][50] The new owners dismissed Kenny Jackett[51] and brought in former Italian international Walter Zenga as head coach.[52] Zenga was dismissed after just 14 league games and Paul Lambert appointed as his successor in November. At the end of the season, Lambert too was dismissed,[53] with former FC Porto boss Nuno Espírito Santo replacing him.[54] Under Nuno, Wolves won the 2017–18 EFL Championship title
and returned to the Premier League after a six-year absence.

Wolverhampton Wanderers finished 7th on their

Arsenal winning that season's FA Cup
.

In the

Spain and Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui replaced him.[62] Despite being in 20th place in the league before his first Premier League game, Lopetegui guided Wolves to a 13th place finish.[63] He left prior to the 2023–24 season due to a dispute over the transfer budget, and was replaced by Gary O'Neil.[64]

Colours and badge

Original colours.

The club's traditional colours of gold and black allude to

the city council's motto "out of darkness cometh light" with the two colours representing light and darkness respectively.[65] Although the team's original colours upon formation were red and white, adopted from the school colours of St Lukes, for much of their history their home colours have been their distinctive old gold shirts with black shorts.[66]

In the early decades of the club a variety of shirt designs using these colours were created, including stripes and diagonal halves, until the continual usage of a plain shirt design since the 1930s.[67] Before the 1960s a darker shade of gold was used,[68] known as "old gold", which is still often cited in the media as the club's colour.[69][70]

City coat of arms.

Like most English teams, their earliest shirts usually only featured a badge on special occasions such as cup finals.

Wolverhampton City Council.[67] In the late 1960s, Wolves introduced their own club badge that appeared on their shirts consisting of a single leaping wolf, which later became three leaping wolves in the mid-1970s. Since 1979 the badge has consisted of a single "wolf head" design; the current badge was last redesigned in 2002.[67][71]

In May 2019, the club won a legal challenge by Peter Davies, a 71 year old retired building industry manager, who claimed he drew the wolf head motif as a schoolboy in the 1960s and entered it in an art competition. Mr Davies said he came up with the angular design after a teacher asked him to demonstrate an understanding of Blaise Pascal's Hexagrammum Mysticum Theorem, and entered it in an art competition advertised in the Express and Star newspaper. Mr Davies had made a copyright claim and wanted compensation. Mr Davies lost his copyright infringement claim and now faces legal fees and costs estimated to be about £450,000.[72]

Wolves' traditional away colours have been all-white, but recent decades have seen a variety of colours used, including black, blue, teal, purple and maroon.[67]

Stadium

Former grounds

When first founded the club used a field on Goldthorn Hill in the Blakenhall area as its home, which could accommodate some 2,000 spectators.[5] In 1879 they relocated to John Harper's Field on Lower Villiers Street where they remained for two years before a short move to Dudley Road, with the new ground situated opposite the Fighting Cocks Inn.[5] It was here that they played their first FA Cup tie in 1883 and their first Football League fixture in September 1888. Although the site could only hold 2,500 spectators at first it was eventually developed to be capable of 10,000.[5]

Molineux

Molineux
Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, 2018
Capacity31,750[2]
Construction
Renovated1924–34; 1978–79; 1991–93
Expanded2011–12
ArchitectAlan Cotterell
(Billy Wright & Sir Jack Hayward stands)[73]
AFL (Stan Cullis stand)
Atherden & Rutter (Steve Bull stand)[74]
Main contractorsAlfred McAlpine (3 stands)
Buckingham Group (Stan Cullis stand)
Tenants
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. (1889–present)

In the summer of 1889 the club moved to its permanent home ever since, Molineux, in the Whitmore Reans area of the city. The stadium name originates from the Molineux House built in the area by Benjamin Molineux, a local merchant, in the 18th century and whose grounds were later developed to include numerous public leisure facilities. When the Northampton Brewery Company purchased these grounds in 1889, they rented their use to the city's football club, who were seeking to find a home more befitting a Football League member.[5] After renovating the site, the first ever official game was staged on 7 September 1889 before a crowd of 4,000.[5] The ground was capable of hosting 20,000 spectators, although English football crowds rarely reached that number in the 19th century.[5]

Wolves bought the freehold in 1923 and soon began a series of ground improvements under the auspices of Archibald Leitch,[75] beginning with the construction of a major grandstand on the Waterloo Road side.[76] In 1932, the club also built a new stand on the Molineux Street side and followed this by adding a roof to the South Bank two years later; this South Bank was historically the second largest of all Kop ends in the country and regularly held crowds in excess of 30,000.[77] The stadium finally now had four complete stands that would form its basis for the next half-century.

In the days before seating regulations, the ground could hold more than 60,000 spectators, with the record attendance being 61,315 for a First Division match against Liverpool on 11 February 1939.[5] The 1940s and 1950s saw average attendances for seasons regularly exceed 40,000, coinciding with the club's peak on the field.[5] During this time Molineux became one of the first British grounds to install floodlights, enabling it to host a series of midweek friendlies against teams from around the globe.[76] In the days prior to the formation of the European Cup and international club competitions, these games were highly prestigious and gained huge crowds and interest with the BBC often televising such events.[17][78]

When the Molineux Street Stand failed to meet new safety legislation, the club began building a new replacement stand behind the existing one on land where housing had been demolished. This new all-seater stand – named the John Ireland Stand after the then-club president – was completed in 1979 and was the first stage of a plan to rebuild the entire stadium.[76] The cost of the Ireland Stand escalated to over £2 million and plunged the club into a financial crisis. As a result, it was forced to enter receivership in 1982.[76] By the time the team dropped into the Fourth Division in 1986, only the John Ireland Stand and the South Bank terrace remained in use. New safety laws were implemented following the Bradford City stadium fire and these forced the closure of both the now-dilapidated North Bank and Waterloo Road Stand. The club did not have the funds necessary to rebuild them.[76]

Following the takeover of the club by

Billy Wright Stand, the North Bank terrace by the Stan Cullis Stand, and the South Bank terrace by the Sir Jack Hayward Stand (named the Jack Harris Stand until 2015).[5] Aside from the addition of a temporary seating area in the southwest corner used during Wolves' seasons in the Premier League;[79]
this redevelopment formed the stadium for almost twenty years.

In 2010, plans were unveiled for an extensive redevelopment programme to enlarge the capacity and develop the facilities.[80] The first stage of this saw a new two-tier Stan Cullis Stand become fully operational for the 2012–13 season, raising the current official capacity to 31,700.[81] The proposed second stage concerned the rebuilding of the oldest stand at the stadium (built in 1979 as the John Ireland Stand and renamed the Steve Bull Stand in 2003) to increase capacity to around 36,000, but this and any further work was shelved when it became likely that the club would be relegated from the Premier League in 2012.[82]

Ground redevelopments were once again placed on the agenda following the club's acquisition by Fosun in 2016. In contrast to previously mooted plans,[83] it was publicly revealed in February 2019 that future plans consisting of the demolition and full rebuild of the Steve Bull Stand, followed by the redevelopment of the Sir Jack Hayward Stand, to raise the stadium capacity to 45-46,000, were under active consideration.[84] However, in 2020 the club announced more modest plans for making gradual improvements to the stadium as the club seeks to retain its unique character, and enable prioritisation of investment in the playing side of the club.[85]

Players

First-team squad

As of 1 February 2024[86]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Portugal POR José Sá
2 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Matt Doherty
3 DF Algeria ALG Rayan Aït-Nouri
4 DF Uruguay URU Santiago Bueno
5 MF Gabon GAB Mario Lemina
6 MF Mali MLI Boubacar Traoré
7 FW Portugal POR Pedro Neto
8 MF Brazil BRA João Gomes
11 FW South Korea KOR Hwang Hee-chan
12 FW Brazil BRA Matheus Cunha
14 FW France FRA Noha Lemina (on loan from Paris Saint-Germain)
15 DF England ENG Craig Dawson
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF Spain ESP Hugo Bueno
20 MF England ENG Tommy Doyle (on loan from Manchester City)
21 MF Spain ESP Pablo Sarabia
22 DF Portugal POR Nélson Semedo
23 DF England ENG Max Kilman (captain)
24 DF Portugal POR Toti Gomes
25 GK England ENG Dan Bentley
27 MF France FRA Jeanricner Bellegarde
30 FW Paraguay PAR Enso González
40 GK Wales WAL Tom King
63 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Nathan Fraser

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
9 FW Portugal POR Fábio Silva (at Scotland Rangers until 30 June 2024)
10 MF Portugal POR Daniel Podence (at Greece Olympiacos until 30 June 2024)
18 FW Austria AUT Saša Kalajdžić (at Germany Eintracht Frankfurt until 30 June 2024)
32 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Joe Hodge (at England Queens Park Rangers until 30 June 2024)
39 MF England ENG Luke Cundle (at England Stoke City until 30 June 2024)
77 FW Wales WAL Chem Campbell (at England Wycombe Wanderers until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
81 DF Jamaica JAM Dexter Lembikisa (at Scotland Heart of Midlothian until 30 June 2024)
DF Hungary HUN Bendegúz Bolla (at Switzerland Servette until 30 June 2024)
DF Netherlands NED Ki-Jana Hoever (at England Stoke City until 30 June 2024)
DF Colombia COL Yerson Mosquera (at Spain Villarreal until 30 June 2024)
FW Portugal POR Chiquinho (at Portugal Famalicão until 30 June 2024)
FW Portugal POR Gonçalo Guedes (at Spain Villarreal until 30 June 2024)

Development squad and Academy

Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-23s are competing in Division 2 of the Premier League 2 during the current season, following relegation from the highest level after the previous season was curtailed and decided on a point-per-game basis.[87] The team qualifies as an entrant in Premier League 2 by virtue of Wolves's academy holding Category 1 status.[88] Although the league is designed for players aged 23 and below, three overage players may also feature.[88] Home games are primarily staged at Kidderminster Harriers' Aggborough home.[89]

The following academy players have featured in a matchday squad for the 2023–24 season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
37 FW England ENG Fletcher Holman
42 MF England ENG Harvey Griffiths
45 MF England ENG Ty Barnett
46 DF England ENG Alfie Pond
53 DF England ENG Aaron Keto-Diyawa
61 DF England ENG Wes Okoduwa
No. Pos. Nation Player
62 FW Zimbabwe ZIM Tawanda Chirewa
65 MF England ENG Matthew Whittingham
67 DF Indonesia IDN Justin Hubner
78 FW England ENG Emilio Ballard-Matthews
84 FW England ENG Leon Chiwome

Wolves Women

Originally founded in 1975, Wolves Women became the club's official women's team in 2008.[90] They currently play at the third level of English women's football in the FA Women's National League North.[91] Their home games are played at the New Bucks Head Ground in Telford. [92]

Player of the Year

Year Winner
1977 England Steve Daley
1978 England Bob Hazell
1979 Wales George Berry
1980 Scotland Willie Carr
1981 England Paul Bradshaw
1982 England Paul Bradshaw
1983 England John Burridge
1984 England Alan Dodd
1985 England Tim Flowers
1986 England Floyd Streete
1987 England Steve Stoutt
1988 England Steve Bull
1989 England Andy Mutch
 
Year Winner
1990 England Mark Venus
1991 England Mike Stowell
1992 Scotland Tom Bennett
1993 England Paul Cook
1994 England Andy Thompson
1995 England Mark Rankine
1996 England Steve Bull
1997 England Steve Bull
1998 England Keith Curle
1999 Australia Kevin Muscat
2000 France Ludovic Pollet
2001 England Lee Naylor
2002 Scotland Alex Rae
 
Year Winner
2003 England Joleon Lescott
2004 Senegal Henri Camara
2005 England Joleon Lescott
2006 Scotland Kenny Miller
2007 England Matt Murray
2008 Wales Wayne Hennessey
2009 Republic of Ireland Kevin Foley
2010 England Jody Craddock
2011 England Matt Jarvis
2012 Wales Wayne Hennessey
2013 Mali Bakary Sako
2014 Scotland Kevin McDonald
2015 England Richard Stearman
 
Year Winner
2016 Republic of Ireland Matt Doherty
2017 Angola Hélder Costa
2018 Portugal Rúben Neves
2019 Mexico Raúl Jiménez
2020 Mexico Raúl Jiménez
2021 Portugal Pedro Neto
2022 Portugal José Sá
2023 Portugal Rúben Neves

Source: [1]

Club officials

Football staff[93]
Medical staff
  • Head of medical services: England Matt Perry
  • Club doctor: Myanmar Kai Win
  • First-team physiotherapist: England Ollie Leaper
  • First-team sports therapist: England Danny Fishwick
  • First-team therapist: Portugal Rui Fuste
  • Soft-tissue therapist:England Matt Wignall

Former players and managers

Billy Wright outside Molineux Stadium

Notable players

For details on all former players, see List of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players

The club has been represented by numerous high-profile players over the years, most notably

Billy Wright, who captained England a record 90 times and was the first player to win a century of international caps,[97] as well as earning the Footballer of the Year Award (in 1952),[98] an accolade also won by Wolves half-back Bill Slater in 1960.[99] In total, 36 players have won full England caps during their time with Wolves, including the club's former captain Conor Coady[100] as well as the club's record goalscorer Steve Bull, who was the last of the club's England internationals to play in a major tournament.[101][102]

Andy Gray, Emlyn Hughes, Paul Ince and Denis Irwin are all previous League Championship medal winners who have also represented Wolves. Joleon Lescott went on to play for England 26 times scoring once. Robbie Keane
went on to become Ireland's all-time leading goalscorer with 68 goals in 146 appearances.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers Hall of Fame has inducted the following former players:[103]

Managerial history

Statue of Stan Cullis outside Molineux.

Wolves have had 32 different (permanently appointed) managers during the club's existence.[104] The first manager, George Worrall, was identified by the title of "club secretary", a post that continued until the appointment of a full-time manager in the modern sense was made in 1922.

The club's most successful manager is

League Cup for Wolves in the 1970s and 1980s.[104]

In the 21st century, Dave Jones, Mick McCarthy and Nuno Espírito Santo have led the club into the Premier League. Kenny Jackett took Wolves to a record EFL League One (Tier 3) points haul of 103 as they won this division in 2013–14.

Fosun
.

Wolves have also been managed by two former England national team managers in Graham Taylor and Glenn Hoddle.[104]

Support

As well as having numerous supporters' clubs across the United Kingdom,[108][109][110][111][112][113][114] Wolverhampton Wanderers also have an international support base, with supporters' clubs in Australia,[115] United States,[116] Sweden,[117] Spain, Germany,[118] Republic of Ireland,[119] Malta,[120] Iceland and Norway[121] amongst others. They have a particularly sizeable Scandinavian fanbase, due to the area's television coverage of Midlands football in the 1970s when the club were a regular top-flight team; the first-ever English match shown live in both Sweden and Norway involved Wolves (Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 Sunderland in the Football League First Division on Saturday, 29 November 1969).[122][123]

Rivalries

Wolves' longest-established and strongest rivalry is with West Bromwich Albion, against whom the club contest the Black Country derby. The two clubs, separated by eleven miles, have faced each other 163 times;[124] their first competitive clash being an FA Cup tie in 1886.[124] A national survey by the football pools found the rivalry to be the strongest in English football.[125] Both clubs are founder members of the Football League and the two once contested the league title in 1953–54, with Wolves finishing as champions.[126]

Wolves also share rivalries with the two Birmingham clubs, Aston Villa and Birmingham City, against whom there have been numerous matches dating back to the 19th century.[127][128] Wolves' closest geographic rival is actually Walsall but, as they have rarely competed at the same level,[129] it is of less significance. As Wolverhampton historically sat within the boundaries of Staffordshire, a Staffordshire derby between Wolves and Stoke City is also recognised.

The 2018–19 Premier League season was the first and only time ever that Wolves were the sole representatives of the West Midlands in the top flight of English football. The 2020–21 Premier League season saw Wolves play against both Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion.[130] Since Albion's relegation at the end of that season, Aston Villa has been Wolves' only West Midlands rival in the Premier League.

Fan culture

During the club's peak in the 1950s, the home crowd's signature song was "

Harry J. Allstars was also popularly used in the stadium until a request from the West Midlands Police to cease due to concerns that the obscene lyrics used by some fans during the chorus could incite trouble.[133][134]

The club attracted a number of hooligans in the 1960s. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, a

hooligan firm named "The Subway Army" would often ambush fans in the subway adjacent to the ground. The group was gradually broken up and virtually ceased to exist due to a large number of arrests – many as part of the police's nationwide "Operation GROWTH" (or "Get Rid of Wolverhampton's Troublesome Hooligans") in the late 1980s.[135]

The club invites interaction with its supporters and has a Fans' Parliament, at which independently selected candidates meet with club officials discuss issues relating to the club.[136] An independent fanzine named "A Load of Bull" (ALOB), in part a reference to leading goalscorer Steve Bull, published supporters' views between 1989 and 2012.[137][138]

Ownership and finances

The club is owned by the Chinese conglomerate group Fosun International, which purchased the parent company of the club, W.W. (1990) Ltd., on 21 July 2016 for a reported £45 million from previous owner Steve Morgan and his company Bridgemere Group.[139][140] In the last published accounts of Wolves' group parent company (covering the 2018–19 Premier League season), a pre-tax profit of just under £20 million was recorded, with turnover for the year equalling £172.5m. £92.1 million was spent on staff wages and costs.[141][142]

Like most football clubs, significant commercial income is generated from shirt sponsorship deals.

The Money Shop (2016–18), W88 (2018–19).[144] ManBetX (2019-2022) and AstroPay (2022-).[145]

Fosun bought Wolves from Steve Morgan, who had taken ownership in August 2007 for a nominal sum of £10 with the proviso that £30 million was injected into the club,[39] ending an almost four-year search for a new buyer.[146] Morgan oversaw nine full seasons, but placed the club on the market for new owners in September 2015.[147] Morgan had bought the club from Sir Jack Hayward, a lifelong fan of the club, who had himself purchased it in 1990 for £2.1 million.[36][148] During his tenure Sir Jack invested an estimated £50 million of his personal wealth to rebuild the club's stadium and fund new players, but the team only achieved one season in the top flight during his 17 years at the helm despite this increased spending power.[148][149]

Hayward's takeover greatly improved the club's financial health, after a turbulent 1980s in which the club twice was declared bankrupt.

Wolverhampton City Council to purchase the club's stadium for £1.12 million, along with the surrounding land, while a local developer, Gallagher Estates, in conjunction with the Asda supermarket chain, agreed to pay off the club's outstanding debts in return for the building of an Asda superstore on land adjacent to the stadium.[5][34][76]

Honours

In the all-time table since the league's inception in 1888, Wolves sit fourth in terms of points gathered in all divisions (as of the conclusion of the 2018–19 season), with only Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal having accumulated more points in total.[150] Wolves were the first side to win all four divisions of the English professional game and have won every competition currently contested in English domestic football.[151]

League

Cup

Records and statistics

Individual records

Derek Parkin holds the record for the most first-team appearances, with 609 (501 of which were league appearances).[5] Highest goalscorer was Steve Bull with 306 (including 250 league goals - including a record 52 in one season).[5] Billy Wright was Wolves' most capped international, winning 105 England caps while with the club.[5] Signed in August 2022 for £38 million, Matheus Nunes became Wolves' most expensive signing,[152] and became Wolves' record transfer when sold for £53 million to Manchester City in September 2023.[153]

Team records

  • Record win: 14–0 vs Crosswell's Brewery, FA Cup 2nd round, 13 November 1886[154]
  • Record defeat: 1–10 vs Newton Heath, Division 1, 15 October 1892[154]
  • Most league goals scored in a season: 115 (Division 2; 1931–32)[154]
  • Highest home attendance: 61,315 vs Liverpool, FA Cup 4th Round, 11 February 1939[5]

League history

Wolverhampton Wanderers was a founder member of the Football League in 1888. The 2023–24 season is Wolves' 125th in the Football League system. Wolves have spent 118 of their 124 completed seasons to date within the top two tiers of English football. Wolves played in the third tier on four occasions, each occasion lasting just one season; three of these seasons ended with promotion back to the second tier as Champions, and one ended in relegation to the fourth tier. The club has played two seasons in England's fourth tier (in the 1980s).

  • Seasons spent at Tier 1 of the football league system: 69 (incl. 2023–24)
  • Seasons spent at Tier 2 of the football league system: 50
  • Seasons spent at Tier 3 of the football league system: 4
  • Seasons spent at Tier 4 of the football league system: 2
  • Longest continuous run of seasons spent in Tier 1: 26 (1932–1965; league football suspended 1939-46 due to World War II)
  • Longest continuous run of seasons spent in Tier 2: 14 (1989–2003)
  • Longest continuous run of seasons spent in Tier 3: 1 (1923–24; 1985–86; 1988–89; 2013–14)
  • Longest continuous run of seasons spent in Tier 4: 2 (1986–1988)

Notes

  1. ^ The direct parent company of the club was W.W. (1990) Limited, which was acquired by Prestige Century Holdings Limited; Prestige Century was a subsidiary of Fosun Management Holdings Limited; Fosun Management Holdings was a subsidiary of Fosun International; Fosun International, a listed company of Hong Kong, is a subsidiary of Fosun International Holdings, which was majority owned by Guo Guangchang, Liang Xinjun and Wang Qunbin

References

  1. ^ a b "History | The story of Wolverhampton Wanderers". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Premier League Handbook 2022/23" (PDF). Premier League. p. 42. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Jeff Shi". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b Goldstein, Dan (editor). The Rough Guide to English Football (2000), page 582. Rough Guides Ltd.
  5. ^ .
  6. The Football League. 27 February 2013. Archived from the original
    on 2 March 2013.
  7. The Football League. 22 September 2010. Archived from the original
    on 1 May 2011.
  8. ^ "The Cup Final: Today's prospects at Wembley". The Times. London. 29 April 1939. p. 4.
  9. ^ "FA Cup final upsets". ESPN. 14 May 2010. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
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