Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
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Template:Football club infobox
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. is a Wolverhampton-based football club playing at Molineux.
Molineux Stadium is situated on Waterloo Road and has four stands all named after players who have become legendary at the club - Billy Wright, Steve Bull, Stan Cullis and Jack Harris.
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History of the club
The team was founded in 1877 by John Baynton, Jack Addenbrooke and Jack 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 the local cricket and football club to form The 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.
Notable Players
It enjoyed prominence in the 1950s under manager Stan Cullis, winning the first division championship three times and winning the F.A. Cup twice. The club was described by some as the greatest football team in the world after beating the Hungarian side Honvéd 3-2 after being 2-0 down at half time. Players in the team included Billy Wright (OBE) who was the first footballer to win over a hundred international caps (taking 105 caps in total) and captained the England team 90 times. The club's top goalscorer is Steve Bull with 306 goals. Other notable players include Derek Dougan, John Richards, Frank Munro, Mel Eves, Bill Slater, Ron Flowers, Kenny Hibbet, Bert Williams Robbie Keane, Alex Rae, Paul Ince, and Seol Ki-hyun.
Wolves are the only club to have won titles in five different Football League divisions (see Club Honours below).
Decline and rescue
The club went through a bad spell in the 1980s, being relegated to the Fourth Division and almost going bankrupt. More recently the club was bought by Sir Jack Hayward and is enjoying better times. Graham Turner was appointed manager in October 1986, shortly after Wolves had slipped into the Fourth Division for the first time in their history, and by 1989-90 Wolves were back in the Second Division following two successive promotions. The key player behind these successes was Steve Bull (born in Tipton on 28th March 1965), who had been signed from neighbours West Bromwich Albion for £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. Bull scored 306 league goals for Wolves until he retired at the end of the 1998-99 season.
Wolves narrowly missed out on the Second Division playoffs - and the chance of a unique third successive promotion - at the end of the 1989-90 season. They made three appearances in the new Division One playoffs (1995, 1997 and 2002) but lost in the semi finals every time until a 3-0 win under Dave Jones against Sheffield United in the 2003 final helped Wolves reach the Premiership after 19 years outside top flight football.
In 2003-04, Wolves managed just eight Premiership wins - including a surprise 1-0 win over title chasing Manchester United - and failed to win away from home. They collected just 33 points all season, and were relegated in bottom place on goal difference - bracketed together on points with Leicester City and Leeds United. After a poor start to the 2004-05 Coca Cola League Championship campaign, Dave Jones was sacked after nearly four years in charge and he was replaced by Glenn Hoddle.
The club's fierce local rivals are West Bromwich Albion, "shit on the Albion" being a common chant for Wolves fans, regardless of the occasion. Also the "Subway Army" are renowned for hooliganism at Wolves' matches.
The Future
Under Glenn Hoddle, Wolves lost only one of their final 25 league fixtures, but they had 15 draws and this was not enough to merit a playoff place the Coca-Cola League Championship. They finished ninth, highest of the three teams relegated from the Premiership, and just three more wins would have been enough to secure a playoff place.
Wolves should begin the 2005-06 season as favourites to win promotion to the Premiership, and the current squad looks perfectly capable of achieved that ultimate target - even more so if new signings are made this summer.
Stadium
Wolverhampton Wanderers have played at the Molineux, Whitmore Reans, for over 100 years. Their previous home was in the Blakenhall area, and although no signs of the ground remain, a nearby road is called Wanderers Avenue.
When Wolves were at their height of success during the 1950's (three league championships and two F.A Cups) the Molineux regularly held over 50,000 mostly standing spectators. But by the time of the sharp decline during the 1980's, only the newly built 8,000-seat John Ireland Stand (in 2003 renamed the Steve Bull Stand) was in use.
Between 1991 and 1993, the 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 1993-94 season the Molineux had a 28,000 all-seated capacity and was one of the largest stadiums in England. But by the time of the 2003 promotion, the 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. The corner between the Billy Wright and Stan Cullis Stands has since been filled in to create a further 1,000 seats, bringing the ground's capacity to 29,500. If Wolves win promotion again, the other three corners will be filled in to achieve a 32,500 capacity. When Wolves are eventually re-established as a top division team, the Steve Bull and Billy Wright Stands are set to be expanded to create a 40,000+ capacity.
Club Honours
- Division One Champions : 1953/4, 1957/8, 1958/9
- Division Two Champions : 1931/2, 1976/7
- Division Three Champions : 1988/9
- Division Three North
Champions : 1923/4
- Division Four Champions :1987/8 * Division OnePlay-Off Winners : 2003
- FA Cup Winners : 1893, 1908, 1949, 1960
- FA Cup Runners-Up : 1889, 1896, 1921, 1939
- Football League Cup Winners : 1974, 1980
- United Soccer Association Champions 1967 (As Los Angeles Wolves)
- Sherpa Van Trophy Winners : 1988
- Texaco Cup Winners : 1971
- UEFA Cup Runners-Up : 1971/2
Club Records
Appearances
- Most appearances (total) : Derek Parkin - 609 (1968-82)
- Most appearances (league) : Derek Parkin - 501 (1968-82)
- Most consecutive appearances : 171 (127 league) - September 1970 to September 1973
Individual Records
- Most goals scored (career) : Steve Bull - 306 (1986-99)
- Most league goals scored (career) : Steve Bull - 250 (1986-99)
- Most goals scored (season) : Steve Bull - 52 (1987-8)
- Most league goals scored (season) : Dennis Westcott - 38 (1946-7, First Division)
- Most goals scored (FA Cup) : John Richards - 24 (1969-83)
- Most goals scored (League Cup) :
- John Richards - 18 (1969-83)
- Steve Bull - 18 (1986-99)
- Most hat-tricks scored : Steve Bull - 18 (1986-99)
- Most goals in European competition football : Derek Dougan - 12 (1967-75)
- Most goals scored (individual, game) :
- 5 - Joe Butcher against Accrington Stanley - 1892 (Division 1)
- 5 - Tom Phillipson against Bradford City - 1926 (Division 2)
- 5 - Billy Harthill against Notts County - 1929 (Division 2)
- 5 - Billy Harthill against Aston Villa - 1934 (Division 1)
- Fastest recorded goal : 12 seconds, John Richards against Burnley - 1976-6 (Division 2)
- Most international caps received whilst playing for Wolves:
- England - Billy Wright, 105 - 90 as captain (1939-59)
- Scotland - Andy Gray, 13 (1979-83)
- Wales - Dai Richards, 11 (1927-35) {need to check this statistic - Paul Jones is current first choice goalkeeper for Welsh team)
- Northern Ireland : Derek Dougan, 26 (1966-75)
- Republic of Ireland : Robbie Keane, 9 (1998-99)
Team Records
- Most league goals (season) : 115 (Division 2 ; 1931-2)
- Most points scored :
- Two points for a win : 64 (Division 1, 1957-8)
- Three points for a win : 92 (Division 3, 1988-9)
- Best home victory (league) : 10-1 against Leicester City, Division 1 ; 15 April, 1937
- Best away victory (league) : 9-1 against Cardiff City, Division 1 ; 3 September, 1955
- Worst home defeat (league) : 0-8 against West Bromwich Albion, Division 1 ; 27 December, 1897
- Worst away defeat (league) : 1-10 against Newton Heath, Division 1 ; 15 October, 1892
- Best home victory (FA Cup) : 14-1 against Crosswell's Brewery ; 2nd round, 13 November 1886
- Best away victory (FA Cup) :
- 5-0 against Reading ; 1st round, 15 January, 1910 (match played at Molineux)
- 5-0 against Grimsby Town ; semi-final at Old Trafford, 25 March, 1939
- Worst home defeat (FA Cup) : 3-6 against Derby County ; 3rd round, 14 January, 1933
- Worst away defeat (FA Cup) : 0-6 against Rotherham United ; 1st round, 16 November 1985
- Best home victory (League Cup) : 6-1 against Shrewsbury Town ; 2nd round, 1st leg, 24 September 1991
- Best away victory (League Cup) : 5-1 against Fulham ; 2nd round, 2nd leg, 3 October 1995
- Worst home defeat (League Cup) :
- 1-3 against Fulham; 2nd round, 11 September 1974
- 1-3 against Luton Town; 2nd round, 30 August 1977
- Worst away defeat (League Cup) :
- 0-5 against Fulham; 3rd round, 5 October 1966
- 0-5 against Sunderland; 2nd round, 2nd leg, 27 October 1982
- Highest transfer fee paid : 3.5 million pounds to Bristol City for Ade Akinbiyi, September 1999
- Highest transfer fee received : 6 million pounds from Coventry City for Robbie Keane, August 1999
External link
- Official Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. site (http://www.wolves.co.uk)
- Wolves statistics (http://www.soccerbase.com/teams2.sd?teamid=2848)
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