Wolverhampton Wanderers

Lore & Background

Formed as St. Luke's F.C. in 1877, the club changed name to Wolverhampton Wanderers two years later and became one of the founding members of the Football League in 1888. They won the FA Cup for the first time in 1893, and again as a Second Division team in 1908 following the club's relegation two years previously. They fell to the third tier in 1923, but went on to win the Third Division North in 1923–24 and the Second Division in 1931–32. The team was crowned English League champions three times – in 1953–54, 1957–58 and 1958–59 – all under the management of Stan Cullis. Wolves also won another two FA Cup finals, in 1949 and 1960. Relegated in 1965, after 26 consecutive seasons in the top flight, they secured promotion back to the First Division in 1966–67. Wolves won the League Cup in 1974 and 1980, and again won the Second Division title in 1976–77. Wolves suffered a financial crisis during the early-1980s recession that led to the club coming close to liquidation in 1982. In the five seasons between 1981–82 and 1985–86 Wolves were relegated four times (although there was also one promotion in 1982–83), meaning the club ended up in what was then the Football League Fourth Division (now EFL League Two) for the first (and so far only) time in the club's history. However, the club immediately started a swift turn-around, and having been beaten in the inaugural Football League play-off final in 1987, Wolves won the Fourth Division and Football League Trophy titles in 1987–88, followed by the Third Division title in 1988–89. After fourteen seasons in the second tier between 1989 and 2003, Wolves reached the Premier League, founded in 1992, for the first time with victory in the 2003 play-offs, though they were relegated after a single season in the top division on this occasion. Wolves won the Championship in 2008–09 to return to the Premier League, but endured relegation in 2011–12, followed by relegation again (to EFL League One) in 2012–13. The club then returned to the Premier League after first winning the League One title in 2013–14, followed by another Championship title in 2017–18. After becoming one of the first British clubs to install floodlights at its home ground in 1953, Wolves arranged televised "floodlit friendlies" against leading overseas club sides between 1953 and 1956, the most notable being the famous Honved game, which were instrumental

In Their Own Story

The rain lashed against the terraces of Filbert Street on a grey afternoon in the late 1950s. The air was thick with anticipation as the Wolves' black and gold stripes approached the pitch, a stark contrast to Leicester's blue and white halves. Whistles blew, drums thumped, and for ninety minutes, two Midland powerhouses collided in a battle that would echo through the club's history books.

Reader's Guide

The club was founded in 1877 as St. Luke's F.C. by John Baynton and John Brodie, two pupils of St Luke's Church School in Blakenhall, who had been presented with a football by their headmaster Harry Barcroft. The team played its first game on 13 January 1877 against a reserve side from Stafford Road, later merging with the football section of a local cricket club called Blakenhall Wanderers to form Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 1879. Having initially played on two strips of land in the town, they relocated to a more substantial venue on Dudley Road in 1881, before lifting their first trophy in 1884 when they won the Wrekin Cup, during a season in which they played their first FA Cup tie. Having become professional, the club were nominated to become one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888, in which they played in the first round of Football League fixtures ever staged, against Aston Villa on 8 September 1888. They ended the inaugural season in third place, as well as reaching their first FA Cup Final, losing 0–3 to the first "Double" winners, Preston North End. At the conclusion of the campaign the club relocated for a final time when they moved to Molineux, then a pleasure park known as the Molineux Grounds. Wolves lifted the FA Cup for the first time in 1893 when they beat Everton 1–0, and made a third FA Cup Final appearance in 1896. The club added a second FA Cup Final triumph (a 3–1 win against Newcastle United) to their 1893 success in 1908, two years after having dropped into the Second Division for the first time. After struggling during the years either side of the First World War to regain their place in the top division (a period that was punctuated by another FA Cup Final appearance in 1921), the club suffered a further relegation in 1923, entering the Third Division (North), which they won at the first attempt. Eight years after returning to the Second Division, Wolves regained their top-flight status as Second Division Champions under Major Frank Buckley after twenty-six years away. With Buckley at the helm the team became established as one of the leading club sides in England in the years leading up to the Second World War, as they finished runners-up in the league twice in succession (1937–38 & 1938–39), as well as reaching the last pre-war FA Cup Final, in which they suffered a shock defeat to Portsmouth. In 1937

Did You Know?

• Wolves were one of the first British clubs to install floodlights at their home ground in 1953.
• The club's floodlit friendlies against Honvéd helped inspire the creation of the European Cup.
• Wolves won the FA Cup in 1949 by beating Leicester City.
• The club's traditional kit has included a wolf's head logo since 1979.