Wolverhampton Wanderers are on the verge of something very special, but they have been in a similar position before.
Wolverhampton Wanderers are easing towards promotion to the Premier League. With that being said, it is interesting to take a look at their past near misses in order to see just how far they have come over the years.
While Wolves have spent four seasons in the Premier League since it was rebranded back in 1992, the majority of the time the Midlands club have been lingering around the lower league play-offs without actually making too much of an impact. Since the turn of the millennium, Wolves have been on the verge of either promotion or the top six on five different occasions, only for things to come crashing down around them.
2001/02 season
The first instance came when they were comfortably sat in second position by a distance of double digits, only to crumble towards the back-end of the campaign. The worst part of it all was that their rivals West Bromwich Albion capitalised on this error, claiming the second automatic promotion spot in the process.
2005/06 season
Few could have expected Wolves would do quite so well with Glenn Hoddle at the helm, and yet they wound up in seventh position once the final whistle had been blown. Towards the end of the campaign, they were not able to keep up with the top six, and they finished things off with more of a whimper than a challenge.
2007/08 season
It is all well and good missing out on the top six if you know you have given it your all, but it must have been a real kick in the teeth for Wolves when they had to sit out the play-offs by two goals. They were playing lowly Plymouth Argyle at home and a three-goal win, in hindsight, would have taken them above Watford into sixth. Unfortunately, they could only manage a 1-0 win and even that goal did not come until the 87th minute.
2014/15 season
When you have got Benik Afobe, Nouha Dicko and Bakary Sako leading the way, it should be virtually impossible not to go straight into the top six. Wolves had just been promoted from League One and should have been able to ride that momentum all the way to the play-offs, but back-to-back losses towards the end of the season meant they missed out on goal difference yet again.
2006/07 season
The worst of the worst, however, came in their first play-off venture under fan favourite Mick McCarthy. Wolves suffered the ultimate humiliation as they were defeated over two legs in the play-off semi-finals by bitter rivals West Brom. Honestly, it does not get much worse than that.
The reason we are pointing out these failures is so that Wolves fans can look at their current situation and realise how fortunate they are. The club has come a long way in the last 15 years, and a big part of that is down to the mentality of the new owners and management.
Their consistency is something that has to be admired, as it is that kind of composure which has been missing from Molineux for all these years.
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