Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club

Wolverhampton Wanderers History

2006-07 Season

5th in the Championship, lost 4-2 on aggregate to West Brom in the play off semi finals
League Cup: 1st round: Chesterfield a. lost 6-5 on penalties
FA Cup: 4th round: West Bromwich Albion h. 0-3

Highlight:
1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, 11/3/07

Low Spot:
3-0 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup 4th round, 28/1/07

Good:
Matt Murray
Absolutely outstanding in the Wolves goal Murray has all the attributes needed to become a top class keeper. Big, agile, decisive in his decision making and commanding in the area he presents a formidable barrier to opposition forwards.
Andy Keogh
We like this guy and he was excellent after signing from Scunthorpe in January. Scored five in nineteen but it was his scheming for others that really caught the eye.
Clever in his movement and crafty with his flicks and passes he is the type of striker who will make the most of any decent movement from a colleague.

Bad:
Carl Cort
No goals at all in his limited appearances although he did manage one red card. By the end of the season the club were playing a brand of football which was basically alien to him and it was no surprise at all when he left on a free for Leicester City.
Jemal Johnson
Once again flattered to deceive, scoring twice in his first three games before fading badly. Even though the team developed into a style that should have suited him Johnson was unable to establish himself and ended up on loan at Leeds.
Does not look capable of the consistency needed to cut it at this level.

In Brief:
This was an excellent season for Wolves despite eventually losing out in the play offs to local rivals West Brom. Under Mick McCarthy the club made giant steps forward and, more surprising, evolved into an attractive, attacking side after the signing of Andy Keogh, Michael Kightly and Michael McIndoe.
It was a while before McCarthy's influence truly kicked in and a disappointing home defeat to Leicester in early December left the club precariously placed in 14th position.
An improvement had already begun when the transfer window reinforcements arrived to bring about a serious upturn in fortunes.
Starting with a good win at Norwich at the end of January the club proceeded to take 19 points from the next 21 and the play offs were definitely in the equation.
There was a blip as only one point came in four games which included a 0-6 drubbing at home by Southampton but even this game highlighted the new found optimism at the club as the fans resolutely chanted McCarthy's name as the goals piled up against them.
By winning their last two games of the season the club claimed a play off spot but then lost both games of their semi final, narrowly, to West Brom.
The massive consolation to everyone with the club at their hearts is that Mick McCarthy is currently way ahead of schedule in his rebuilding programme and next season promises to offer another opportunity of challenging for a place in the Premier League.

Wolves FC - Club History

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club was formed in 1877 by football enthusiasts at St Lukes School, Blakenhall. Two years later this club amalgamated with Blakenhall Wanderers Cricket Club. The club formed would become one of the most famous names in English football.

Wolves became founder members of the Football League in 1888 and finished 3rd in the inaugral season as well as reaching the FA Cup final where they lost 3-0 to the Preston North End "Invincibles".

In 1893 they reached the final again and this time collected the trophy after a 1-0 win over Everton. Three years later the club were again runners up after a 2-1 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday.

In 1906 the club suffered their first relegation but this did not prevent them winning the FA Cup again, as a second division team, in 1908 after a 3-1 victory over Newcastle United at Crystal Palace.

Despite reaching another cup final in 1921 Wolves suffered relegation into Division Three North in 1923, although they bounced straight back as champions the following year and regained a place in Division One in 1932.

Wolves were beginning to establish themselves as a real force just before World War II having finished runners up in the league in the two seasons leading up to that conflict and also reaching the 1939 FA Cup final only to lose 4-1 to Portsmouth.

When football resumed after the war Wolverhampton Wanderers enjoyed a golden era, remaining among the countries leading teams for almost two decades and becoming perhaps the most famous club side in the world during the mid 1950's.

Wolves won the FA Cup for the third time in 1949 with a 3-1 victory over Leicester City with two goals from Jesse Pye.

Stan Cullis, a former playing stalwart, had just taken over as manager and under his guidance, allied with the on field presence of England captain Billy Wright, the men in gold and black began to dominate English football.

In 1954 the club won their first league championship, a feat they repeated in 1958 and 1959. The following year they missed out on a famous treble by just one point behind Burnley but found ample consolation in winning the FA Cup after a 3-0 defeat of Blackburn Rovers at Wembley, right winger Norman Deeley scoring twice.

Throughout this golden period, however, Wolves perhaps became most famous for their part in a series of floodlit encounters with continental opposition in the days before organised European competition. The club became national heroes after recovering from 2-0 down to beat the Hungarian champions Honved 3-2 in front of a heaving Molineux crowd shortly after the Hungarian national side had humbled England 6-3 at Wembley.

The backbone of these great Wolves sides also played a major role in the England set up during this period with players like Bert Williams, Bill Slater, Eddie Clamp, Dennis Wilshaw, Jimmy Mullen and Ron Flowers all representing their country. Wright was the undoubted local and national hero of the time, however. Initially as a wing half and later at centre half Wright became the first man to win 100 caps for England and he also bagged himself a pop star wife into the bargain.

As with all great sides, however, their time passed and Wolves found themselves a diminishing force after the abolition of the maximum wage.

The club remained almost permanent fixtures in the first division until the mid 1980's and won the League Cup in 1974 and 1980 after fine victories over Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.

Thy were no longer a genuine force by this time, however, and an ill advised attempt to recapture the glory days at this time almost destoyed the club entirely.

Wolves set a new British transfer record in bringing Andy Gray from Aston Villa to Molineux. They also embarked on an ambitious plan to rebuild their ground, on the same site but moving it 20 yards or so sideways.

Although it was Gray who scored the winning goal against Forest at Wembley the club went backwards and were relegated to the second division in 1982.

Outside the first division the club found they could not complete the rebuilding of the stadium and amid financial difficulties and boardroom turmoil Wolves disintegrated, suffering relegation to the fourth division in 1986.

Molineux was a bizarre place to visit at this time with one stand completely closed, two others wretchedly decaying and one huge, golden, brand spanking new one set back about 30 yards from the touchline.

The nadir was yet to come as the club continued to struggle in their first visit to the bottom tier. Wolves drew non league Chorley in the 1st round of the FA Cup and, after two drawn games, they fell to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at Bolton's Burnden Park ground on November 24, 1986.

The date is significant because on this same day the club also signed a West Bromwich Albion reserve called Steve Bull who would go on to eclipse perhaps even the great names of the past as a folk hero with the fans.

Transformed by the goals Bull began, and never stopped, scoring Wolves soared up into the play offs only to suffer a remarkable aggregate defeat against Aldershot having won the first leg away from home.

The following season, however, Wolves won the fourth division championship and followed that up by winning the third division title the very next season, 1988-89. Cup success in this era came in the shape of a Sherpa Van Trophy win over Burnley in 1988.

Since that time Wolves have been able to consolidate their position as a formidable side in the second tier of English football who have genuine pretensions to a regular place in the Premier League, something they have yet to earn, however.

Whatever the future holds the men in gold and black have long since written their names large in the history of English football.

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