History

Early success

Established in 1877, Wolverhampton Wanderers were founder members of the Football League along with eleven other clubs. Now known as the English Football League (EFL), it was the world’s first domestic football league.

Wolves, as they are commonly known, have won 17 major trophies in their history, including 11 league titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups.

The club won the FA Cup for the first time in 1893 by beating Everton 1-0 in the final at Fallowfield, Manchester.

When they won it for a second time by beating Newcastle United 3-1 in the final at Crystal Palace, London, they became the lowest-placed Football League club to win the trophy, having finished ninth in the second division.

“Champions of the World”

Legendary former player Stan Cullis became manager in 1948 and helped Wolves win their third FA Cup, defeating Leicester City 3-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium the following year. Cullis, together with England captain Billy Wright, led Wolves throughout the 1950s – the most successful period in the club’s history.

Wolves became champions of England for the first time when they won the first division in the 1953/54 season, becoming the only club to have been champions of three division (they won the third division north in 1923/24 and the second division in 1931/32).

Also in the 1953/54 season, Wolves became one of the first clubs in Britain to install floodlights in their stadium.

Wolves played a number of floodlit friendlies against some of the top sides in Europe. The most famous match saw Wolves defeat Honved 3-2, whose team included many of the Hungarian national side who had just beaten England twice.

The result led the national media to proclaim Wolves “Champions of the World”. Others, notably Gabriel Hanot, editor of French magazine l’Equipe, wanted a competition where the best teams in Europe would play each other and Wolves’ floodlit wins were the catalyst for the formation of the European Cup.

Now known as the UEFA Champions League, Wolves were one of the first British clubs to take part in the competition.

Two further league championship titles were won by the club in the 1957/58 and 1958/59 seasons, before another FA Cup – Wolves’ fourth and most recent – was added to the trophy cabinet in 1960, thanks to a 3-0 final victory over Blackburn Rovers.

Ups and downs

Wolves had another period of success in the early 1970s, reaching the final of the first ever UEFA Cup (now known as the Europa League), defeating Juventus on the way.

After winning two League Cups, in 1974 and 1980, Wolves suffered three consecutive relegations, ending up in the fourth division.

The signing of the club’s record goal scorer Steve Bull followed in 1986, with Bully’s 306 goals over 13 seasons helping the club climb back to the second division. “Bully” scored a half century of goals in successive seasons, the only player to have done so in English football.

In 1990, Sir Jack Hayward bought the club, but he had to wait until 2003 for Wolves to be promoted back to the top-flight of English football – now known as the Premier League, thanks to a 3-0 victory over Sheffield United in the division one play-off final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

Wolves went back down to the Championship, as the first division became known, and won the league title in 2009 which enabled them to spend three more seasons in the Premier League.

However, back-to-back relegations saw Wolves playing in League One, but the club bounced back up to the Championship at the first attempt, winning the title with 103 points – a new record.

The Fosun years

Fosun bought the club in 2016, and appointed Nuno Espirito Santo as manager in May 2017. Wolves were promoted back to the Premier League in Nuno’s first season in charge.

The signing of experienced Portuguese national team stars Rui Patricio and Joao Moutinho, together with a core built around the likes of Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and Conor Coady, saw Wolves finish their first season back in the top-flight in seventh position.

Together with an FA Cup semi-final appearance, Wolves earned a place in the UEFA Europa League – the club's first outing in European competition in almost 40 years.

After securing a consecutive seventh place finish in the Premier League during a Covid-19-hit finish to the campaign, Wolves reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League, falling to eventual winners Sevilla.

Nuno Espirito Santo departed following a season behind closed doors and Bruno Lage's first campaign secured a top half finish in the Premier League. The Portuguese's second campaign was over by October, but in came Julen Lopetegui with the club sat bottom of the Premier League. Key signings including Craig Dawson and Mario Lemina guided the club to safety, however. 

On the eve of the 2023/24 season, Gary O'Neil replaced Lopetegui as head coach, with Wolves embarking on their sixth successive Premier League season. 

Colours

The club's famous colours, black and gold, are unique in the English League. They originate from the motto of the city, 'Out of Darkness Cometh Light'.

Black represents darkness and gold represents light - "After darkness (black) always comes light (gold)."

The colours were changed from old gold to gold in 1954 as the club wanted a brighter shirt colour when playing under Molineux's famous floodlights.

Molineux

Molineux has been the home of the Wolves since 1889 and has provided the city with one of its most famous landmarks.

31,700 fans currently fit into the stadium after £18 million was invested in the Stan Cullis Stand - the North Bank, as it's commonly known - in 2012.

The ground has also staged four England full international games and various England under-21 matches, most recently in 2020.

Owners - Fosun International

Founded in 1992 in Shanghai, Fosun is a world-class investment group with broad roots in China.

Fosun has been dedicated to combining the growth momentum of China with global expansion and has carried out many investment projects abroad, including the purchase of Wolves in July 2016.

Currently, Fosun has invested in more than 50 projects in all over the world, with a total amount exceeding USD 11 billion.

England captains

Current club skipper Conor Coady was a member of the England squad which reached the final of the European Championship in 2021.

When winning his second cap in a friendly against Wales, Coady wore the captain’s armband for the last 32 minutes after Kieren Trippier had been substituted.

He was the sixth player to have skippered England in a full international, following Jack Brodie, Stan Cullis, Billy Wright, Ron Flowers and Emlyn Hughes.

Famous fans

Rock legend, Robert Plant CBE, who was the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, is a great follower of Wolves and became a vice president in 2009.

TV presenter Suzi Perry and the singer Beverley Knight MBE are also fans of the club, as is Jacqui Oatley MBE, Wolves Foundation Ambassador and the first woman to commentate on a game for BBC’s Match of the Day.

Tennis player Andy Murray and boxer Mike Tyson have also been shown wearing the club’s black and gold shirt, while almost certainly, the first nationally-known fan of Wolves was composer Sir Edward Elgar.