Despite these changes, Wolves have been able to continue an impressive unbeaten run in their festive fixtures which runs all the way back to 2013. In the nine years since Stale Solbakken’s gold and black side fell to a 3-0 defat at Molineux to Peterborough United, Wolves have not lost a Boxing Day fixture – either at home or away.
Ahead of the 2021 clash with the Hornets, we’re looking back through the recent history books and reflect on that impressive Christmas run the old gold are aiming to extend this weekend.
#1 | 26th December 2013 | Wolves 2-0 Crewe Alexandra
Having been relegated into the doldrums of League One in the summer of 2013, manager Kenny Jackett set about rebuilding the famous club, and got their season off to a stunning start. Wolves lost just three matches in the first half of the 2013/14 campaign, and one of the 14 victories in that time was at home to Crewe Alexandra on Boxing Day.
Jackett’s men headed into the fixture off the back of a 3-3 draw on the road at Rotherham, while Crewe were battling against relegation, and it looked as though the gulf between the teams in the league standings was going to mirror itself on the pitch, with the hosts taking the lead after just three minutes.
Michael Jacobs, who was on loan from Derby County at the time, started the move which brought the opening goal, as he headed home Scott Golbourne’s left-wing cross from six yards out. Despite plenty of Crewe pressure, Wolves were comfortably the stronger team in the contest, striking the woodwork twice through Danny Batth and Leigh Griffiths, before sealing the victory two minutes into added time through the Scottish striker. The league’s top scorer at the time, Griffiths fired in his 13th of the season from the edge of the box.
#2 | 26th December 2014 | Watford 0-1 Wolves
This weekend will not be the first time Wolves have taken on Watford on Boxing Day, with their last meeting coming in the winter of 2014, with the old gold back in the Championship following their season-long jaunt in the third tier of English football. But instead of going head-to-head at Molineux, the pair faced off at Vicarage Road, as Wolves moved to within four points of the top six thanks to Nouha Dicko’s winner.
Watford, who were eventually promoted to the Premier League this season by finishing second in the standings, were under pressure from the opening stages of the game, as the visitors carved out a string of first-half chances. Hornets goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes was the busier of the number ones, making fine saves to deny Dave Edwards and Kortney Hause, before producing a spectacular full-length save to tip over a long-range strike from Bakary Sako.
But Wolves broke the deadlock just before the hour mark, with Dicko firing in from close range after being played in on goal by Rajiv van la Parra. Wolves were reliant on Carl Ikeme and the post to keep their lead, with both denying Odion Ighalo in the closing stages.
#3 | 26th December 2015 | Wolves 1-0 Reading
Wolves made it three Boxing Day wins in succession in 2015, while earning their first win at Molineux since the October of that year, as James Henry scored the only goal of the game against Reading. Kenny Jackett’s men were not in the best of form as the festive period began, having won just four times in the previous four months, and arrived at Molineux following a 3-2 loss at Leeds and a 4-1 defeat at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday.
Reading thought they should have had an early penalty when they claimed Dominic Iorfa blocked a Gareth McCleary shot with his arm, before Ollie Norwood hit the post for the Royals. Both Wolves and Reading had penalty calls turned down either side of Henry’s winner – against his former club – as he got his head on the end of a Jordan Graham free-kick to decide the points.
The Boxing Day win gave Wolves a big boost heading into 2016, being the catalyst for a four-game winning run in the Championship, as Jackett’s side also overcame Charlton Athletic, Fulham and a play-off bound Brighton & Hove Albion side to move from 17th in the table to the heady heights of 10th – their highest league position that season.
#4 | 26th December 2016 | Wolves 3-2 Bristol City
The arrival of Fosun as the club’s new owners in May 2016 brought new optimism for the club heading into the 2016/17 Championship season. However, that optimism wasn’t replicated on the field, with Wolves going through four managers during the course of the season as they struggled to cement a place in the top half of the table.
Similarly to their previous campaign, Wolves went into their Boxing Day clash with Bristol City having won just four league matches in four months, under the leadership of Walter Zenga and Rob Edwards, until Paul Lambert came in at the start of November. Wolves were flirting with relegation as December arrived, but three wins in the month, including the victory on the 26th, saw the side move out of trouble – for the time being, at least.
Back to the on-pitch action, and it took a late Ivan Cavaleiro penalty to give Wolves their fourth successive three points on Boxing Day, while condemning the Robins to a fourth successive defeat. Dave Edwards’ header put Wolves ahead inside the opening three minutes, only for then-City striker Tammy Abraham to notch his 14th goal of the season.
The visitors lead before half-time through Aden Flint’s header, but Helder Costa’s volley just before the hour mark levelled the scores, before Flint’s handball led to the spotkick which was dispatched by Cavaleiro. Wolves survived late drama, when Marlon Pack’s header was cleared off the line, with City’s players feeling it had snuck over, to record back-to-back wins for the first time since August.
#5 | 26th December 2017 | Millwall 2-2 Wolves
Despite the 2017/18 Championship season being one of the most successful second-tier campaigns in the club’s history, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men ended Wolves’ run of successive Boxing Day wins when they headed to The Den. An impressive start to the season saw Wolves sit comfortably at the top of the table, eight points clear, by the time Christmas came along, with the side winning all but two matches from October.
London wasn’t Wolves’ favourite destination that season, as the old gold had failed to win in the capital in their two previous trips, and the club was haunted by one of their former players, as Jed Wallace’s fast break and pass set up Lee Gregory to put Millwall in front on 17 minutes. It was the first time Wolves had conceded a goal in four matches heading into the fixture, however, the visitors went into the break level as Diogo Jota was set up by Helder Costa in added time.
Chances flowed at either end as the game progressed, and it was Costa again who had a hand in Wolves’ second, just minutes into the second-half, as he pulled the ball back for Romain Saiss to power a 25-yard strike into the net. But it was the hosts who showed the character late on to claim a point against the eventual league champions. Wolves failed to deal with a far-post corner and allowed Shaun Hutchinson to direct a looping header back across goal for Jake Cooper to bundle in a header.
#6 | 26th December 2018 | Fulham 1-1 Wolves
It was another Boxing Day draw in London for Nuno’s men in 2018, as the side played their first festive fixture in the Premier League since 2011 against Fulham. Their return to the top-flight had been a topsy-turvy one, with Wolves losing just once in their opening eight matches, which saw the team in the familiar spot of seventh, before a run of five defeats and a draw before December arrived, which yielded more positive results.
Following a 2-0 loss at home to Liverpool, Wolves headed to Craven Cottage for their most recent of Boxing Day clashes, and despite galling behind to a Ryan Sessegnon strike with just 15 minutes remaining, ‘Saissy Claus’ offered successive Christmas gifts to the gold and black following after his finish at The Den the previous season. It was an evenly-fought contest throughout much of the game, by substitute Sessegnon put the hosts – who moved off the bottom of the table with the points – ahead when he notched his first Premier League goal after Wolves had failed to clear a cross.
But not to be outdone, Saiss made it two Boxing Day goals in two, also scoring his first top-flight goal, with just five minutes remaining on the clock, when a low cross from Ivan Cavaleiro was not cleared by the Cottagers, allowing the Moroccan to strike from close range at the back post. Fulham almost grabbed a late winner, but Conor Coady heroically slid in to clear Aleksandar Mitrovic’s shot just before it trickled over the line.
#7 | 27th December 2019 | Wolves 3-2 Manchester City
One of the most memorable Wolves matches of recent times was the club’s festive fixture back in 2019, when Premier League champions Manchester City came calling to Molineux. Despite balancing Europa League football with their league campaign, Wolves had lost just three times in the opening months of the campaign and came into the game sat in the top six places and hopes of making it successive European seasons for the first time in almost 50 years.
Having already earned a 2-0 win against City earlier in the season thanks to Adama Traore’s double, fortune looked to be on Wolves’ side once again at Molineux, as the visitors went down to 10-men after just 12 minutes when Ederson scythed down Diogo Jota when the forward had been played over the top of the defence and the goalkeeper was dismissed. But the sending off appeared to inspire City, as Raheem Sterling needed two attempts to put his side ahead from the penalty spot, before the England winger doubled his tally five minutes into the second-half.
Although two-goals down to Man City, Wolves were never out of the contest and constantly got bodies forward in search for a goal, which finally came on 55 minutes when Traore made it three in two games against City when he smashed a powerful shot in the bottom corner. The winger was enjoying his battles with the visitors, and bundled Benjamin Mendy off the ball to cross for Raul Jimenez, with the forward tapping the ball home with just eight minutes remaining.
Molineux was pulsating and the winning goal was only going to be going one way, with Wolves creating the best of the chances in the closing stages, and it finally arrived in the final minute of the game, as Matt Doherty latched onto Jimenez’s pass and after dropping Nicolas Otamendi to the ground, the Irishman fired a low drive into the corner of the net – sending the supporters in the South Bank wild.
#8 | 27th December 2020 | Wolves 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Wolves made it eight festive fixtures unbeaten when Nuno’s men hosted Tottenham Hotspur behind closed doors 12 months ago. Once again being moved back to the 27th December due to the game being selected for TV broadcast, the game got off to the worst of starts for those in gold and black, with Spurs stunning their hosts when Tanguy Ndombele rifling in from 25 yards after just 57 seconds.
The latter stages of the Covid-hit 2019/20 season hadn’t been the greatest for Wolves, who, despite finishing the season in seventh place once again and reached the Europa League quarter-finals before falling to eventual winners Sevilla, missed out on the chance to play in the competition’s qualifiers. And 2020/21 didn’t start in the best way either for Wolves, who saw talismanic striker Raul Jimenez suffer a life-threatening fractured skull. Results hadn’t been going Wolves’ way since that day, with the side only picking up one win between Jimenez going down and Christmas, coming in a 2-1 win over Chelsea two weeks previously.
But back on the 27th, Wolves tried their hardest to keep hold of their unbeaten Christmas record as they recovered well against Spurs to go close twice through Daniel Podence, who was thwarted on both occasions by Hugo Lloris, while Fabio Silva fired narrowly wide. If Wolves need a festive finish, then look no further than Romain Saiss. The defender scored his third in four years to earn Wolves a late point, when he headed in an 86th-minute equaliser.
