|
|
|
|
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
|
| |
|
| |
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is a professional football club based in the City of Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands of England. Nicknamed Wolves, the club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has been based at Molineux Stadium.
Historically, Wolves have been highly successful, being founder members of the Football League, and winning the FA Cup twice before the outbreak of World War I. Wolves really established themselves as a top side under the management of Stan Cullis after the Second World War, going on to win the League three times and the FA Cup twice between 1949 and 1960.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.' Start a new discussion about 'Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is a professional football club based in the City of Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands of England. Nicknamed Wolves, the club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has been based at Molineux Stadium.
Historically, Wolves have been highly successful, being founder members of the Football League, and winning the FA Cup twice before the outbreak of World War I. Wolves really established themselves as a top side under the management of Stan Cullis after the Second World War, going on to win the League three times and the FA Cup twice between 1949 and 1960. It was at this time that the European Cup competition was initiated in the mid-1950s after English newspapers declared Wolves "Champions of the World" following victories against top European sides. Wolves have yet to match the successes of the Stan Cullis era, although they did contest the first UEFA Cup final in 1972 against Tottenham Hotspur, and won the League Cup in 1974 under Bill McGarry and in 1980 under John Barnwell. Since 1984 they have, spent just one season in the top division, however they are still consistently ranked as one of the top six teams in all-time English football statistics since the league's inception in 1888, placed behind only Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal on popular website Football 365's all-time league table.
History
The team was founded as St. Luke's in 1877 by John Baynton and John Brodie after a group of pupils at St Luke's school in Blakenhall had been presented with a football by their headmaster Harry Barcroft. Two years later, they merged with local cricket and football club The Wanderers, to form Wolverhampton Wanderers. The club was given the use of two fields John Harper's Field and Windmill Field both off Lower Villiers Street in Blakenhall in its early years. From there, they moved to a site on the Dudley Road opposite the Fighting Cocks Inn in 1881. The club became one of the twelve founders of the English Football League in 1888 and finished the inaugural season in a creditable third place, as well as reaching their first ever FA Cup Final, losing 3-0 to the first "Double" winners, Preston North End.
Early cup triumphs
Wolves remained as members of the Football League First Division from 1888 until relegation in 1906, winning the FA Cup for the first time on 26 March 1893. They beat Everton 1-0 at Fallowfield Stadium in Manchester. Two years after relegation the team enjoyed another FA Cup win, as a Second Division club, surprisingly beating Newcastle United 3-1 in the final on 25 April 1908. After struggling for many years to regain their place in the top division, Wolves suffered relegation again in 1923, dropping into the Third Division North. Wolves' first promotion was won just a year later, narrowly claiming the Third Division North title at the first attempt ahead of Rochdale.
Inter-war adventures
Following eight more years back in the Second Division, Wolves finally achieved a return to top division football in 1932, claiming the Second Division title and another promotion. In the years leading up to the Second World War, the team became established as one of the leading club sides in England. In 1938, Wolves needed only to win the last game of the season to be champions for the first time, but were beaten 1-0 at Sunderland and Arsenal claimed the title. They again finished as runners-up in 1939, this time behind Everton, and endured more frustration with defeat in the FA Cup Final, losing 4-1 to underdogs Portsmouth.
The Stan Cullis era
When league football resumed in 1946, Wolves suffered yet another heartbreaking failure in the First Division. Just as in 1938, victory in their last match of the season against Liverpool would have won the title but a 2-1 win gave the 1947 championship to the Merseyside club instead. That game had been the last in a Wolves shirt for Stan Cullis, and a year later he became manager of the club. In Cullis' first season in charge he led Wolves to a first major honour in 41 years as they beat Leicester City 3-1 in the FA Cup Final, and a year later, only the goal average prevented the First Division title being won.
The 1950s were by far the most successful period in the history of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Captained by Billy Wright, Wolves finally claimed the league championship for the first time in 1954, overhauling fierce rivals West Bromwich Albion late in the season. In this period, football played under floodlights was still a novelty. The summer of 1953 saw the first set of lights installed at Molineux, which were first tested in a friendly game against a South African XI. Over the next months, Wolves played a series of "floodlit friendlies" against foreign opposition. Beginning with Racing Club of Argentina, they also played Spartak Moscow of the USSR, before meeting Honvιd of Hungary in a game televised live on the BBC. The Honved team included many of the "Magical Magyars" team who had humbled England twice. Wolves won the game 3-2, beating the Hungarian side despite having been 2-0 down at half time, which led many, including Cullis, to proclaim Wolves "Champions of the World", in spite of Honved's defeat to Red Star Belgrade (then lying seventh in their domestic league) days earlier. This was the final spur for Gabriel Hanot, the editor of L'Ιquipe, who had long campaigned for a Europe wide club tournament to be played under floodlights.
The UEFA congress of March 1955 saw the proposal raised, with approval given in April of that year, and the kick-off of the first European Cup the following season. Later, Spartak Moscow, Dynamo Moscow and Real Madrid all came to Molineux and were beaten. Wolves were also league champions in 1958 and 1959, and in 1960 became the first team to pass the 100-goal mark for three seasons in succession. Coming agonisingly close to a hat-trick of titles and the first "double" of the twentieth century, Wolves finished just one point behind Burnley and had to make do with a fourth FA Cup win, beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0 in the final.
Cullis goes
The early 1960s saw Wolves begin to decline, and Cullis was sacked in September 1964 at the start of a dreadful season during which the club was never out of the relegation zone. The club's first spell outside the top division in more than thirty years would last just two seasons, as an eight game winning run in the spring of 1967 led the way to promotion.
During the summer of 1967, Wolves played a season in North America as part of a fledgling league called the United Soccer Association. This league imported twelve entire clubs from Europe and South America to play in American and Canadian cities, with each club bearing a local name. Wolverhampton, playing as the "Los Angeles Wolves", won the Western Division and then went on to earn the league title by defeating the Eastern Division champion Washington Whips (Aberdeen of Scotland) in the championship match. (This FIFA-sanctioned league merged the following season with the non-sanctioned National Professional Soccer League, which had also begun in 1967, to form the North American Soccer League.).
Cup finals and relegation struggles
The club's return to the English top flight heralded another period of relative success, finishing the 197071 season in fourth place, qualifying them for the newly created UEFA Cup. Stars of this era included Derek Dougan, Kenny Hibbitt and Frank Munro. En route to the final, they beat Acadιmica 7-1 on aggregate, ADO Den Haag (again 7-1 on aggregate), FC Carl Zeiss Jena 4-0 on aggregate, Juventus 3-2 on aggregate in the quarter-final and Ferencvaros 4-3 in the semi-final. Reaching the UEFA Cup final, Wolves lost the home leg against Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 (goal from Jim McCalliog) and drew at White Hart Lane 1-1 with a goal from David Wagstaffe).
Two years later they beat Manchester City to win the League Cup for the first time. Despite relegation again in 1976, Wolves were to bounce back as Second Division champions, and three years later, an Andy Gray goal defeated reigning European champions Nottingham Forest to again bring League Cup glory to Molineux in 1980.
Sharp decline and revival
Wolves went through a bad spell in the 1980s, triggered by serious financial difficulties that almost resulted in the club's extinction. After bouncing straight back from relegation in 1982, the club suffered three consecutive relegations in 1984, 1985 and 1986, sliding into the Fourth Division for the first time in their history. The nadir came with the FA Cup 1st Round 2nd replay defeat at non-league Chorley (where Wolves were defeated 3-0) in 1986. Ownership of the club changed, and Graham Turner was appointed manager in October 1986, shortly after the drop into Division Four, and by 1989 Wolves were back in the Second Division following two successive promotions. This period included one further visit to Wembley, for the Sherpa Van Trophy final in May 1988. Wolves' 2-0 victory over Burnley drew a record attendance of 80,841, more than 50,000 of whom were supporting Wolves.
The key player behind the club's resurgence was Steve Bull who had been signed, along with Andy Thompson, from neighbours West Bromwich Albion for a combined fee of £64,000. He had scored 50+ goals in all competitions during both promotion-winning seasons, and while still a Third Division player he was capped by England and took part in the Italia 90 World Cup Finals. Bull scored 306 goals for Wolves (250 of them in league matches) before retiring at the end of the 199899 season.
Play-off agony
In 1990 Wolves were bought by lifelong supporter Sir Jack Hayward, and his money led to much better times for the club. Wolves narrowly missed out on the Second Division play-offs and the chance of a unique third successive promotion at the end of the 198990 season. They did not make the playoffs until 1995, by which time the Premiership had been formed and its feeder division was now called Division One.
The club's ageing ground was comprehensively rebuilt to meet new government regulations in the early 1990s with the Stan Cullis Stand erected on the site of the North Bank in 1992, and the Billy Wright Stand replacing the Waterloo Road Stand in August 1993. Both of these stands were funded by the club owner. In December of that year the ground was completed when the Jack Harris Stand replaced the South Bank and the John Ireland Stand (renamed as the Steve Bull Stand in the summer of 2003) was completely refurbished by the owner.
Graham Turner had quit in March 1994 to make way for former England manager Graham Taylor. Wolves looked set for a return to the big time after beating Bolton 2-1 in the first leg of the play-off semi finals, but a 2-0 defeat in the second leg ended their promotion hopes.
Taylor was ousted on 13 November 1995 after Wolves made a slow start to the 199596 season. His successor Mark McGhee inspired a brief turnaround in fortunes and as late as March they were just outside the play-off zone. But poor form returned and by the end of the season they had finished 20th just two places above the drop zone and their lowest league finish since they slipped in the Fourth Division a decade earlier.
Wolves were much more confident in 199697, but were pipped to the second automatic promotion place by Barnsley and lost to Crystal Palace in the play-off semi-finals. They reached the F.A. Cup semi-finals a year later but McGhee was dismissed in November 1998 with Wolves slipping out of contention for the play-off places. His assistant Colin Lee took over but the club just missed out on the play-offs. A similar disappointment followed in 19992000 and Lee was dismissed in December 2000 with Wolves just a few places above the drop zone.
Former Southampton manager Dave Jones was named as Lee's successor and Wolves improved during the second half of the 200001 season, but their dismal early season form counted against them and they were unable to achieve anything more than a mid table finish. Wolves returned to their winning ways in 200102 and spent much of the season in the top two places. However, end of season slump saw them being pipped to automatic promotion by deadly rivals West Bromwich Albion. Defeat at the hands of Norwich City in the play-off semi-finals finally put paid to their promotion hopes.
Wolves in the Premiership
Wolves experienced sporadic form during the early part of 200203, and thus were never in contention for the automatic promotion places. Following a patchy first half of the season, Dave Jones' side turned the corner with a 3-2 FA Cup win over Newcastle United in a game said to be one of the greatest F.A Cup ties of recent times. The team lost just two of their 20 league games after this, securing them 5th place, and a play-off semi-final clash against newly-promoted Reading. Wolves had trailed 1-0 in the home leg but hit back with two goals in ten minutes to secure a 2-1 victory. Alex Rae scored the goal in a 1-0 win at the Madejski Stadium, and earned Wolves a place in the Play-off Final against Sheffield United. In the Cardiff final, three goals in the first half from Mark Kennedy, Nathan Blake and Kenny Miller, respectively, were enough to earn Wolves a long awaited place in the Premiership, after 19 years in the lower echelons of British football.
With key players Matt Murray & Joleon Lescott out for entire season and several others like Kenny Miller injured from the start of the season, life in the Premiership was hard for Wolves, they did not win until their eighth match. They did manage some decent results, in particular a 1-0 win over Manchester United in January, but failing to win a single away game meant that their relegation battle was ultimately lost. Wolves finished bottom of the table on goal difference, bracketed together on 33 points with the two other relegated teams Leicester City and Leeds United.
Setback and fightback
Wolves made a dismal start to the 200405 Championship campaign, and at one point sat as low as 19th in the table. Following a humiliating encounter with Gillingham at Priestfield, which Wolves had lost 1-0, Jones was sacked at the beginning of November with the dreaded double drop looking a real possibility.
Coach Stuart Gray was put in temporary charge of the first team for a month after Jones's dismissal, before Glenn Hoddle was appointed on a rolling one-year contract. Wolves lost only one of their final 25 league games but drew 15 of their games and finished ninth in the final table not enough to qualify for the play-offs.
A lack of fortitude in the striking department, a lack of passion and pride on the whole from the team, and ultimately dull, cautious and bizarre tactics from Glenn Hoddle, including the placing of 6ft 4" Carl Cort on the wing, and 5ft 9" Tomasz Frankowski in the middle, saw Wolves finish a disappointing seventh in 200506. It was a gut wrenching season for the Wolves faithful, many of whom had vowed towards the end of the season that they would not be renewing their season ticket as long as Hoddle was in charge. Though the board expressed no displeasure with Hoddle, with Jez Moxey affirming his faith in the under fire manager, the season had been frowned on by both local media, and most importantly, the fan base. However, few had anticipated Hoddle's sudden resignation mere moments before England's World Cup quarter-final clash with Portugal.
A new approach
In pre-season 2006, Wolves cut their wage bill in half following the departure of 12 senior players, receiving transfer fees for only two Joleon Lescott and Seol Ki-Hyeon.
Former Republic of Ireland and Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy was confirmed as Glenn Hoddle's replacement as manager on 21 July 2006. Wolves therefore commenced the 2006/07 season with only the bare bones of a first team squad and with the lowest expectations around the club in years. Mick McCarthy acknowledged the challenge, stating to local media "The initials MM on my top stand for Mick McCarthy, not Merlin the Magician".
The manager quickly scraped together a squad, largely from the club's youth ranks, out of contract players and loanees. After an inconsistent first half to the season, an impressive run of form followed and the club eventually made the play-offs, despite earlier expectations. They were paired with local rivals West Bromwich Albion in the semi-finals, where they lost out over two legs, losing 3-2 at Molineux and 1-0 at The Hawthorns. Goalkeeper Matt Murray, voted player of the season by Wolves supporters, broke his shoulder in the final training session, which led to Wayne Hennessey making his Wolves debut in his place.
On 9 August 2007, businessman Steve Morgan finally completed a protracted takeover of the club for £10 in return for a £30million investment into the club, resulting in the departure of Sir Jack Hayward after 17 years as chairman.
After the previous year's surprising play-off finish, hopes were high for the club to go one step further this time. However, an injury suffered by key player Michael Kightly seemed to severely weaken the team's creativity and preceded a dismal Christmas period that saw them pick up just four points from a possible 21, leaving them mid-table, and without hopes of an automatic finish. A late rally that saw them lose just twice in their final 15 games, aided by the goal power of new signing Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, kept them in contention, but the side finished outside the final play-off spot on goal difference, two goals short of Watford.
200809 season
The club have continued their recent policy of signing young players with potential from lesser clubs rather than pursuing their heavy investment strategy of early times. The close season saw the likes of Richard Stearman, David Jones and Sam Vokes arrive, along with the experience of Chris Iwelumo, while making a transfer profit by selling off players such as Seyi Olofinjana, Jay Bothroyd and Freddy Eastwood. The squad was also boosted by retaining their most valuable assets in Wayne Hennessey, Michael Kightly and the division's top goalscorer of last season, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
The season saw the club's strongest start since 194950, as a draw away to Plymouth was followed by seven consecutive wins scoring 23 goals and conceding only seven goals in the first eight games. That streak was ended by a 3-0 home defeat to Reading but they remained at the top of the league at the end of September. A run of three defeats in four games, including a 5-2 defeat away to Norwich, saw Wolves surrender top spot to Birmingham City. After drawing the remaining two fixtures of 2008, and a winless start to 2009, Wolves went on a winless run of five matches, including a 1-0 defeat at second-placed Reading. This saw their lead at the top of the table cut to just two points. This run was ended following a 3-1 home victory against Watford. The FA Cup also provided interesting competition, as Wolves were drawn against local rivals Birmingham City in the 3rd Round. In the previous clash between the two promotion contenders in late November, the game ended 1-1. Using the Cup to play some fringe players including George Friend, Sam Vokes and Andy Keogh, Wolves won the match 2-0 after an impressive performance at St Andrews. After a credible performance with a weakened side, Wolves went out of the FA Cup in the 4th round with a 2-1 home defeat to Premier League side Middlesbrough.
Transfer deadline day witnessed three new defenders joining the Wolves ranks George Friend, Matt Hill and Jason Shackell. An injury crisis did leave the club without the attacking talent of Michael Kightly, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Matt Jarvis, meaning Wolves were without seven first team regulars in the 3-1 away defeat to Swansea City. The January transfer window also saw the arrival of three new faces, following a run of five games without a win over the Christmas and New Year period. Kyel Reid and Nigel Quashie both joined the club on loan for the remainder of the season from West Ham United. Christophe Berra also joined from Scottish club Hearts for an undisclosed fee on the 2 February 2009.
Colours and badge
Wolverhampton Wanderers play in one of the most famous and recognisable strips in British football. The clubs traditional colours allude the city's moto "out of darkness cometh light" with the gold being a representation of the light and the black being a representation of the dark. In the club's early days the team sported various versions of these colours including old gold and black stripes and old gold and black diagonal halves. The traditional away colour of Wolves is all white.
The first badge to be worn on Wolves shirts was the city crest of Wolverhampton which was usually worn on special occasions such as cup finals. In the late 1960s, Wolves introduced their own club badge which consisted of a single leaping wolf which later became three leaping wolves. In 1979, Wolves changed to the now famous wolf-head badge. Its simple and stylised design has made it one of the most recognisable club badges in British football and, despite a brief return to the Wolverhampton city crest in the mid 1990s, it is still in use to the present day.
Stadium
History
Wolverhampton Wanderers have played at Molineux, Whitmore Reans, since 1889. Their previous home was in the Blakenhall area, and although no signs of the ground remain, a nearby road is called Wanderers Avenue.
The Molineux name originates from Benjamin Molineux, a local merchant who built his home on the grounds. Northampton Brewery, who later owned the site, rented its use to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1889, who had previously lacked a permanent home. After renovating the site, the first ever league game was staged on 7 September 1889 in a 2-0 victory over Notts County before a crowd of 4,000.
In 1953, the stadium became one of the first to install floodlights, at a cost of around £10,000. The first ever floodlit game was held on 30 September 1953, as Wolves won 3-1 against South Africa. The addition of the floodlights opened the door for Molineux to host a series of midweek friendlies against teams from across the globe. 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, the BBC often televising such events.
The old South Bank at Molineux is also historically the second largest of all Kop ends closely followed by Aston Villa's Holte End, both of which regularly held crowds in excess of 30,000.
Fluctuating attendances
When Wolves were at their height of success during the 1950s (three league championships and two F.A Cups) Molineux regularly held over 50,000 mostly standing spectators. By the time of their sharp decline during the 1980s, only the newly built 9,500-seat John Ireland Stand (now the Steve Bull Stand) and the much reduced South Bank (15,500) were in use. This reduction in capacity was due to the fact that the other two stands were wood-built and declared unsafe following the Bradford City disaster, in which a wood-built stand caught fire and killed 56 people in 1985. In the days before the Taylor Report, which required British football stadia to provide seating for all those attending, the ground had a capacity of over 60,000; the record attendance for a match at the ground is 61,315 for a game against Liverpool in the First Division on 11 February 1939.
The total seated capacity today is approximately 28,525, making Molineux the twenty-sixth largest in English football, although this was expanded in 2003 by the building of a temporary stand, known as the Graham Hughes Stand (The Clubs Official Historian), providing capacity for another 900 fans. These temporary seats were removed during the 2006 close season.
Redevelopment
Between 1991 and 1993, Molineux was comprehensively redeveloped. The Waterloo Road stand was replaced by the all-seat Billy Wright Stand, the North Bank terrace was replaced by the Stan Cullis Stand, and the South Bank terrace was replaced by the Jack Harris Stand. By the 199394 season the Molineux had a 28,525 all-seated capacity and was one of the largest stadiums in England. But by the time of the 2003 promotion, Molineux was the fifth smallest Premiership stadium. In the previous decade, many of the smaller stadiums had either been expanded or replaced to hold a capacity of between 30,000 and 67,000 seated spectators. For the 200304 to 200506 seasons, the corner between the Billy Wright and Jack Harris Stands was filled in with temporary seating to create a further 900 seats (called the Graham Hughes by most of the fans and now the club), bringing the ground's capacity to 29,400. For the 200607 season the temporary seating was removed.
Millionaire owner Steve Morgan is keen to 'transform the city centre ground into a venue fit for Premiership football' although the scale and speed of the expansion plans will depend on Wolves being promoted to, and stabilising in, the Premier League. Accordingly, the Steve Bull and Billy Wright Stands would be modified, linking all four stands and expanding both side stands to create a 4045,000+ capacity, making Molineux one of the top ten stadia in England by capacity.
Training ground
The Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground, opened in 2005, is a £4.6m, state-of-the-art site located in Compton, Wolverhampton. It stands approximately one mile to the west of the stadium.
The two-storey building has five high-quality training pitches, eleven changing rooms, medical and physiotherapy facilities, gymnasium, and a hydrotherapy pool, one of only a handful of English clubs to own one.
Wolves Community Trust
'Football in the Community' started life in 1991. Since then, it has grown and now comes into direct contact with over 150,000 young people and 20,000 adults. The project encourages participation, regardless of ability, age and gender, in supporting and playing football. It is made up of coaching programmes, education and training, social inclusion initiatives, a disability programme and other activities, such as birthday parties and stadium tours.
DTM Project
The Wolves in the Community scheme has received a welcome funding boost to support its work with young people and community groups across the region.
The cash injection from the Football Foundation stands at £138,506 over the next three years and will specifically aid the Dusk, Twilight and Midnight Leagues. These leagues form part of a social inclusion football project in areas of the city, aiming to reduce levels of anti social behaviour.
The Dusk, Twilight and Midnight league sessions started in 1998, most recently taking place in Dudley and Wednesfield. Two new venues were launched in September, with 35 players participating in one each of the three sessions twice weekly, meaning over 200 people have access to the initiative each week.
The social-inclusion activities within the city over the years have made a real difference within our local communities, engaging young people through football and education. The project has also benefited from the support of our sponsors Birmingham Midshires, who have continued to provide additional funding for the leagues, a commitment stretching over ten years. This combined investment will enable us to continue our work to tackle health, education and social inclusion issues. It is great news for literally thousands of children and young adults in the local community.
Development Centre
The Wolves Development Centre is an invite only session run by the Coaches from the clubs Community department, it acts as a vital stepping stone for players that wish to enter and progress through an academy or football of a decent standard. The coaches provide advanced coaching styles and sessions to utilise abilities and improve skills in every area of the players game. The age groups are split as follows: Under 7/8s, Under 10s, Under 12s and Under 13/14s. Each group has two goalkeepers which get specifically trained in Goalkeeping by the onsite GK coach. The teams take part in friendly matches against other development groups and teams.
Wolves Aid
Wolves Aid is the biggest club charity in football, supporting both the local community in Wolverhampton, and abroad.
Supporters
Wolverhampton Wanderers have an international support base, with supporters' clubs in Australia, United States, Sweden, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Malta, Iceland and Norway amongst others. They also have supporters' clubs across the United Kingdom.
Fanzine
The Wolves fanzine is called A Load Of Bull (ALOB), in part reference to Wolves legend Steve Bull. The publication was founded in 1989 and is written voluntarily by ordinary Wolves supporters. ALOB is currently edited by long serving editor Charles Ross.
Hooliganism
As with all large city teams the club attracted a number of hooligans in the 1960s. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, a group of teenagers calling themselves "The Subway Army" would ambush fans in the subway adjacent to the ground. They attended only selected games and many of the members claimed that they were not actually Wolves fans. Indeed, on visits to several away fixtures, including Leeds, they stood apart from the travelling Wolves supporters, and the vast majority of Wolves supporters have never had any involvement with hooliganism.
The Subway Army were eventually dissolved due to the large number of arrests and were replaced by other groups. Many of this faction were arrested in one of the nationally organised police dawn raids, under code name 'Operation Growth' or Get Rid of Wolverhampton's Troublesome Hooligans.
In the 1950s and '60s, the club's signature tune was "The Happy Wanderer". Later "The Liquidator" by the Harry J. Allstars became very popular, although use of the song ceased following a request from the West Midlands Police who claimed that the obscene lyrics the fans sang as a chorus could lead to hooliganism. The tune has made occasional re-appearances at important promotion and play-off matches over the years. Wolverhampton Wanderers now use "Hi Ho Silver Lining", a rock song released in 1967 by Jeff Beck. Wolves supporters modify the lyrics of the chorus to "Hi Ho Wolverhampton!"
Current squad
- As of 3 March 2009
Out on loan
Current Coaching Staff
Under 18s squad
- As of 8 October 2008
NB Numbers are from training kits and are not actual shirt numbers
Notable former players
English Football Hall of Fame
The following have either played for or managed Wolves and have been inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame:
Manager history
Honours
Wolverhampton Wanderers are the tenth most successful club in English football history, having won the FA Cup on four occasions and been League Champions three times, Charity Shield winners four times and winning the League Cup twice. Cumulatively, they are the eighth most successful club, behind Chelsea, with 13 wins (see English Football Records). They are the only club to have won titles in five different Football League divisions, and the only club to have won all top national cups (FA Cup, Football League Cup and Football League Trophy).
In 1988, their Fourth Division title glory made them the first team to have been champions of all four professional leagues in English football, although this feat has since been matched by Burnley in 1992 and Preston in 1996.
They are also the first team to score 7,000 league goals.
- Division One Champions: 1953/54, 1957/58, 1958/59
- FA Cup Winners: 1893, 1908, 1949, 1960; runners-up: 1889, 1896, 1921, 1939
- Division Two Champions: 1931/32, 1976/77
- Division One Play-off Winners: 2003
- Division Three Champions: 1988/89
- Division Three North Champions: 1923/24
- Division Four Champions: 1987/88
- League Cup Winners: 1974, 1980
- Sherpa Van Trophy Winners: 1988
- Texaco Cup Winners: 1971
- UEFA Cup runners-up: 1972
- FA Community Shield Winners: 1949 (shared Portsmouth), 1954 (shared West Bromwich Albion), 1959 (outright), 1960 (shared Burnley)
- Football League War Cup Winners: 1942
- FA Youth Cup Winners: 1958; runners-up: 1953, 1954, 1962, 1976
- United Soccer Association Champions 1967 playing as Los Angeles Wolves
- North American Soccer League International Cup Winners 1969 playing as Kansas City Spurs
Club records
- Attendance: 61,315 Liverpool (FA Cup Fifth Round, 11 February 1939)
- Gate receipts: £525,000 West Bromwich Albion (Championship play-off semi-final, 13 May 2007)
- Best league win: 10-1 Leicester City (Division 2, 15 April 1938)
- Worst league loss: 1-10 Newton Heath (Division 1, 15 October 1892)
- Best cup win: 14-0 Cresswell's Brewery (FA Cup Second Round, 13 November 1886)
- International appearances: 105 caps Billy Wright (England, 194659)
- League appearances: 501 Derek Parkin (196782)
- League goals: 250 Steve Bull (198699)
- League goals in a season: 38 Dennis Westcott (Division 1, 194647)
External links
|
| |
|
|
