Throughout the history of the Premier League there aren’t a lot of clubs that have been through as many ups and downs as Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Molineux – general view
Since it’s inception back in 1992, only 47 clubs across England and Wales have played in the Premier League. Some of those sides found great success and are still in the top flight to this day. Others, however, experienced fleeting moments of brilliance before succumbing to relegation. One such is club is Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Despite only spending four seasons at the top table of English football, the Wanderers hit the headlines on many occasions during their tenure. The club’s first season back in the big time came in the 2003/04 season, where a relatively poor campaign saw them relegated straight back to the Championship after finishing bottom of the table. It wasn’t without it’s highlights, though, with headline victories including a memorable 1-0 triumph over Manchester United, as well as a 4-3 victory over Leicester City after being 3-0 down at half time!
Fast forward five years and it was time for Wolves to take another shot at Premier League success, with the pressure firmly on manager Mick McCarthy (who was infamously remembered for Sunderland’s diabolical 19-point relegation season). McCarthy, however, didn’t help himself stay away from the headlines, as halfway through the season the club was fined for fielding a weaker team against Manchester United – which he did in order to prepare his side for a must-win match against fellow relegation candidates Burnley.
After doing the double over Tottenham and avoiding relegation with two games to spare, it seemed that Wolves would be able to build on the success of their first season back in the Premier League. 2010/11, however, was set to be one of the most dramatic and bizarre seasons a club could ever endure.
Mick McCarthy
At the start of that season the Wanderers got off to a poor start with just one win in their first nine games, until the arrival of Manchester City and their team of superstars saw the underdogs pick up the first of many famous victories throughout the next nine months. With sporadic victories being sandwiched between numerous defeats over sides they should’ve beaten, the inconsistency and constant late-goal drama was driving fans insane.
From November to February the club played 16 league games and only won five of them – losing the rest. Usually this sort of form would easily signify relegation, but those victories included triumphs against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. The first two came within the space of a week, meanwhile the Manchester United showdown saw Wolves end the Red Devils’ unbeaten season.
Another run of poor performances soon followed, until the home stretch saw the team burst into life. With three games remaining the old gold and black welcomed their bitter rivals West Bromwich Albion to Molineux, and on that fateful day they finally got the best of the Baggies after so many years of heartbreaking defeats. Not only did they take home the bragging rights, but it also rounded off a hat-trick of successes over their fellow Midlands teams, including Birmingham and Aston Villa.
With all this drama already unfolded, it seemed only fitting that survival for another year would be decided on the final day. Wolves knew that all they had to do was defeat fellow strugglers Blackburn and that they’d be safe – but keeping with the pattern, it wasn’t that easy. The Wanderers quickly found themselves 3-0 down, and other results meant they fell into the relegation zone. A Jamie O’Hara strike provided a brief moment of hope, as fans began to realise that just one more goal would drag their side up into 17th on goal difference. With chants of “we only need one goal” echoing around Molineux, the ball fell kindly to Stephen Hunt who curled the ball beautifully into the top corner to send the crowd into ecstasy.
Wolverhampton Wanderers never do things the easy way, and just twelve months on from their great escape the club found itself back in the Championship after a thoroughly disappointing season. A miserable 5-1 home defeat at the hands of West Brom sealed both the club and Mick McCarthy’s fate, and to this day Wolves have remained outside the top flight.
The mood is positive again this season, however, and Wolves fans are already beginning to dream of new Premier League adventures to come.
Jeff Shi of Fosun International and Wolverhampton Wanderers owner
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