Wolves’ longest serving players from its history have been honoured at a special event at Molineux, where they were inducted into the prestigious 300 Club.
Attended by a host of Wolves legends from past and present, as well as the family members of those gold and black heroes who are no longer with us, the event saw the names of the 36 male and three female players who have made 300 or more appearances in old gold engraved onto a new 300 Club Board.
The board – which was unveiled during the Wolves’ latest One Pack Week – is now displayed in the Billy Wright Stand reception, permanently honouring those players who have contributed so much to the history of the football club.
Alongside the legendary players in attendance at the 300 Club induction event were Wolves chairman Jeff Shi, directors John Gough and John Bowater, head coach Julen Lopetegui and sporting director Matt Hobbs, who said the ‘humbling’ event is just a small way of honouring former players.
“Without the past, you don’t have the present,” Hobbs said. “It’s always important we do everything we can to support our former players and bring them into the club as they will always be part of the Wolves family. We’re a family club, it’s one of our values, so nights like this, which can bring players and their families together, is another way we can display the values that we hold.
“It’s important to celebrate the players who have given so much to this club and being able to bring all these legendary players and their families together means a lot for us and is the least we can do for them from the service they have given the club.
“It’s quite humbling to come to events like this because we all have dreams of playing 300 matches for such a great football club. I was never good enough to have that opportunity, so it has been humbling to attend such a great event and the more of these we can do, the better.”
The 300 Club board is the first club display to recognise the achievements of its legendary women’s players alongside their male counterparts, with the inclusion of the three women’s first-team players – Anna Price, Anne Johnson and Amber Quick – who have appeared at least 300 time for Wolves.
Hobbs added: “Our women’s players is fully integrated into the club now and we’re striving to do what we can to integrate them even more and grow that area of the football club.
“It’s absolutely right that they are part of this as they are a big part of the club, and they will be a big part going forward.”
Honouring 300 appearances for Wolves or @WolvesWomen 👏
— Wolves (@Wolves) April 25, 2023
After a special unveiling event last week, the 300 Club board now has a permanent home at Molineux.
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The board includes space for more names to be added in the future, but Hobbs acknowledged the rarity of players reaching such a high number of appearances for one club.
“We hope to add even more players in the future and we’d love to add a player to the board every couple of years, and I know we have a few players who are close, but we also understand that modern football will make it a difficult task as 300 appearances for one club is not often seen.
“Everyone wants these long-standing players at the football club, and a lot of the names on this board are players who either came through our youth set-up or feeder clubs, so we know that if we can bring players through our academy or if young players join us early, they could have the opportunity to do it.”
