Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, often referred to in the media as Wolves F.C., is an English professional football club. The club's first match in 1877, as St Luke's F.C. following its being founded by students from an academy located in Blakenhall, Wolverhampton bearing this name. A few years later, they joined with the local cricket club and soccer club The Wanderers to become Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After participating in numerous local leagues and cup tournaments in its initial period, the club was an early part of The Football League, the first professional league of global association football, in 1888.

The club has been awarded 13 "major" awards, including the League Championship three times, the FA Cup four times, the League Cup twice and the FA Charity/Community Shield four times. Wolves also took part in UEFA competitions over the course of seven seasons, with their most impressive performance came in 1972 when they finished second in the first UEFA Cup. They also have had success in lesser-known cup competitions, such as The Texaco Cup and the Football League Trophy (now the EFL Trophy).

This is a list of the team's performance at the premier team levels in cup and league competitions, as well as the top scorers of each season from their first participation in the FA Cup in 1883-84.

The 2000 version in the 2000 edition of The Rough Guide to English Football The history section located on the Wolves page reads: "The very name Wolves is a roaring sound through into the pages of English football's past". Like many others, Everton is an instance. Wolves were founded with humble beginnings, and was formed by the two influences of cricket and the Church. The club was established in 1877 and was named Saint. Luke's F.C. through John Baynton and John Brodie two students of St Luke's Church School in Blakenhall and who were presented with a football from the headmaster of their school, Harry Barcroft. The team played their first match on the 13th of January in 1877, against a reserve team that was based at Stafford Road, later merging with the football division of the local cricket club named Blakenhall Wanderers to form Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 1879. After starting out on two fields within the city, they moved to a bigger location in Dudley Road in 1881, before winning their first trophy in 1884, when they took home the Wrekin Cup, during a year in which they played their first ever FA Cup tie. When they became professionals, they was chosen to be among the 12 founding players of the Football League in 1888,in which they took part in the inaugural round Football League fixtures ever staged with Aston Villa on 8 September 1888. They finished the first season with a third-place finish and made it to their very first FA Cup Final, losing 3-3 to the premier "Double" champions, Preston North End. The end of the season, the club moved again for the final period when they moved to Molineux the former pleasure park, now known by The Molineux Grounds.

Wolves took home Wolves won the FA Cup for the first time in 1893, when they defeated Everton by 1-0. They also had a second FA Cup Final appearance in 1896. Wolves added another FA Cup Final triumph (a 3-1 victory over Newcastle United) to their 1908 success in 1893 just two years after they had been dropped to the Second Division for the first time. After struggling for a while between during the First World War to regain their spot in the highest division (a time that was marked with an additional FA Cup Final appearance in 1921) The club was then subject to another drop in 1923, and were then relegated to into the Third Division (North), which they won on the first try. After eight years of being in their former Second Division, Wolves regained their place in the top tier with the status of Second Division Champions under Major Frank Buckley after twenty-six years absent. With Buckley as the team's manager, the team established itself in the ranks of most prestigious clubs in England in the time that preceded the Second World War, as they were runners-up in the league twice consecutively (1937-38 and 1938-39) in addition to getting to the final prewar FA Cup Final, in which they were shattered by a loss to Portsmouth. In 1937-38, Wolves were within a hair of winning the premier English league title. A victory in the team's final match against Sunderland could have sealed the deal however Wolves lost 1-0 and ended the season just one point ahead of final champions Arsenal. Another thing Major Buckley and his Wolves team attracted plenty of attention during the final two seasons before being banned from league soccer in the Second World War was Buckley's insisting that his players were given extracts from monkey glands to increase their endurance and performance which was a practice that the Football League disapproved of but did not ban.

After the return of league football following the Second World War, Wolves were a victim of another day's defeat during their First Division. Similar to 1938, winning the final match could have been enough to win the title, but the loss of 2-1 against the title rivals Liverpool resulted in Liverpool were the champions, instead. The game was the final game in the Wolves jersey of Stan Cullis, and a year later he was promoted the manager of Wolves. In the first season of Cullis's his charge, he guided Wolves to their first major trophy in the last 41 years when they defeated Leicester City to lift the FA Cup, and a year later, only a goal average kept Wolves being awarded the league championship.

The 1950s were the most successful time in Wolves' history. As the captain, Billy Wright, Wolves finally won the league championship to begin the season in 1953-54, beating the local team West Bromwich Albion late in the season. Another two titles were achieved in the following seasons (1957-58 as well as 1958-1959) and Wolves competed for the title with Manchester United to be acknowledged as the best side within English football at the time. Wolves were well-known for their domestic success and also for their hosting of famous "floodlit games" against top clubs from around the globe. Wolves were among the very first clubs in Britain to make the investment in floodlighting in 1953 for a price of approximately PS10,000 (PS281,308.64 at prices in 2019). The most famous of these games witnessed Wolves defeat an Honved team that included many players of the Hungarian national team who was recently beaten by England twice, prompting the national press to declare Wolves "Champions of the World". The game was the catalyst of Gabriel Hanot, the editor of L'Equipe to suggest the idea of the European Cup (later rebranded as the UEFA Champions League). Wolves were among the very first British clubs to be a part of. In the 1957-58 campaign, Wolves were defeated by Real Madrid 5-4 (3-2 in Wolverhampton and 2-3 in Madrid) both in the away and home friendly games.

The 1960s started with an unprecedented four-time FA Cup victory and Wolves nearly achieved an unprecedented League in addition to the FA Cup 'double' of the 20th century of English football. They were defeated to the league title by just a point on the last game of the year by Burnley. In spite of a bright start to the decade in the decade of 1960, Wolves slow down. After finishing runners-up in the league in 1959-60, and a respectable third-place finish to the league in Tottenham Hotspur's double-winning season however, the team began to fade and Cullis was dismissed after 16 years as a post player in September 1964 following an unhappier beginning to the 1964-65 campaign. Cullis's dismissal did not stop the season's end with an adversity to relegate (the the first time Wolves were relegated in 1922-1923) and also the club's first season outside in the premier division after 1932. This exile from the top league lasts only two years, however and Wolves received promotion in the year 1967 after being crowned Second Division runners-up.

The final season of the year 1967 Wolves were part of a short-term season North America as part of the newly formed United Soccer Association league which brought club teams and players that were from Europe in addition to South America. The team was named"Los Angeles Wolves "Los Angeles Wolves" and winning their division Western Division and ultimately the championship after beating Washington Whips, the Eastern Division champions Washington Whips (import from Aberdeen) in the final match.

The return of the club back to the English top flight in the year 1967 marked another period of relative achievement under Bill McGarry, with a fourth place finish in the league in 1971, qualifying Wolves for the recently created UEFA Cup. On their way to finals in the UEFA Cup final, they beat Juventus and Ferencvaros but lost in the final to Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 on aggregate and a 2-1 defeat at home in the opening leg was decisive. Wolves won silverware the following year when they lifted the League Cup for the first time, defeating Manchester City 2-1 in the final. Despite being relegated again in the year 1976, Wolves bounced back at the beginning to become Second Division champions under manager Sammy Chung, and then under manager John Barnwell, the turn of the century saw them reach the top six of the league, and also win in the year 1980's League Cup, when then-record signing Andy Gray scored the only goal in the final to beat Nottingham Forest, the current European champions as well as League Cup holders Nottingham Forest.

The multi-million-pound reconstruction of the Molineux Street Stand in 1979 was to become the cause of the club's financial decline over the following decade. The decline in attendance at matches during the early 1980s, partly because of the downturn in both the local and national economy, and the resulting difficulties in repaying the loans that were taken out to finance the construction of the John Ireland Stand, led the club into be placed into receivership and eventually relegated in the year 1982. However, the club was saved from bankruptcy in the final moments when it was bought from a consortium headed by the former footballer Derek Dougan. The initial takeover, which was financed with the help of two Saudi brothers, Mahmud and Mohammad Bhatti of the company Allied Properties, brought immediate advancement into the First Division under manager Graham Hawkins however, the Bhattis' inability invest in the club in a sufficient way began to unravel and the team endured three consecutive relegations throughout the divisions of football under various manager, and the ever-present possibility of the club becoming shut down.

In 1986, the club being in liquidation, the contract resulted in Wolverhampton City Council purchase the stadium and the surrounding land as a local developer paid the club's outstanding debts in exchange for authorization to construct the land next towards the arena. The 1986-87 campaign was Wolves their first ever season within the Fourth Division, where, under the guidance of the their new coach Graham Turner and the goals of Steve Bull, who would eventually score the club's record of thirty-six goals. The team made the semi-finals of the first play-offs but were disqualified by Aldershot. Following that, the team won two Fourth as well as the Third Division championships in the subsequent two seasons. They also took home their first trophy in the year 1988. Football League Trophy Final at Wembley.

A lifelong fan Jack Hayward purchased the club in the year 1990. He immediately contributed to the massive redevelopment of a once adolescent Molineux into a contemporary all-seater stadium. When the work was finished at the end of 1993 Hayward changed his focus towards the team as a way to gain promotion to the newly created Premier League. Despite huge investment however, the team's managers, Graham Taylor nor Mark McGhee were able to achieve this feat as both of them led the team to defeats in play-offs at the semi-final stage in 1995 and 1997 , respectively. It wasn't until 2003 when Wolves were promoted when they beat Sheffield United 3-0 in the play-off final under Dave Jones to end a 19-year absence from the top of the league. The promotion was to be short-lived when they were immediately sent back to the newly renamed EFL Championship.

Following the departure of the former England coach Glenn Hoddle failed to bring an immediate back to Premier League, the rebuilding of the squad under Mick McCarthy rejuvenated the club and led to an unexpected play-off win. The club was purchased by Sir Jack Hayward by Steve Morgan in 2007 and two years later, the team was back into the Premier League as 2008-09 Football League Championship champions. Wolves had a successful fight against relegation for two seasons prior to McCarthy's departure in the 2011-12 season that led to the club's demotion under his ex-assistant Terry Connor, who was appointed to replace McCarthy.

After the club was relegated, Norwegian Stale Solbakken became the club's first manager overseas, however his time at the helm lasted just six months, before a disappointing performance was followed by his replacement Dean Saunders in January 2013. Saunders was unable to create any change, leading to both the club's demotion into EFL League One, a league that the club had not played since 1989, as well as Saunders's resignation. In the wake of that, Kenny Jackett was appointed in May 2013 to the newly renamed job of head coach and guided his team to winning the EFL Championship in his first season. He also set the club's record for points with a total of 103. This will also be an all time record of the most points earned by any team in an EFL League 3 season

On the 21st of July, 2016 it was revealed it was confirmed that Chinese investment company Fosun International had bought the club's parent company, W.W. (1990) Ltd from Steve Morgan and his own company, Bridgemere Group, for an unknown amount, including Jez Moxey quitting his post as CEO (replaced by the managing director Laurie Dalrymple). The following day the new administration announced that the contract of Kenny Jackett with the club was ended and the former Italian national Walter Zenga was appointed head coach. Zenga was dismissed after only 14 league matches and Paul Lambert appointed as his successor in November 2016 . However after the end of the season Lambert was also dismissed and the former FC Porto boss Nuno Espirito Santo taking over his place. In the era of Nuno, Wolves went on to win their 2017-18 Championship title, and be back in the Premier League after a 6-year absence.

Wolverhampton Wanderers' return in their place in the Premier League resulted in a seventh-place finish in their debut season since returning, which was their highest position in the premier division since they finished 6th in 1979-80. This also earned them a spot within the Europa League and their first European campaign since the 1980s and 1981s. They were able to win 5-3 in average against Torino during the play-off stage in August of 2019 and progressed onto the Group Stage, where they took on Slovan Bratislava, Braga and Besiktas in home and away matches between September until December 2019. The team finished with runners-up at the end of their group and beating Espanyol during the round of 32 (6-3 aggregate), Wolves beat Olympiacos from Greece at the end of the Round of 16. played over two matches (12 March 2020 in August of 2020, and on 6 August) which allowed them to reach the quarterfinal stage. In the quarterfinals which were which was played as a single tie at a neutral stadium located in Germany, Wolves lost to Sevilla 1-1 on the 11th of August 2020. Wolves repeated their seventh place performance on the Premier League in 2018-19 with similar results for their 2019-20 Premier League, albeit that they scored two more points than in the previous year and only fell short of sixth by goal difference on this occasion.

Wolves had a tough season in 2020-21. It was a season that was largely without crowds because of the COVID-19 virus. They lost most feared goalkeeper Raul Jimenez to an injury that ended the season (a broken skull) in a game against Arsenal on November 29, 2020.The club struggled to score goals throughout the rest of the season. Wolves ended the season 13th having scored 45 points. They announced the 21st of May 2021 that the head director Nuno Espirito Santo was to depart his club "by mutual agreement" following the final match in the league in the match against Manchester United on 23 May 2021. 

The 9th June of 2021 was the day that Wolves have announced that they will be hiring the former Benfica director of football Bruno Lage as Espirito Santo's replacement. The 2021-22 season was not a smooth season to Wolves under Lage After losing the initial three games 1-0 the team's fortunes improved dramatically until they finished seventh overall at the close the month of the month of January (when Lage won the Premier League Manager of the Month award [65at the time] and were within a reasonable the fourth spot However, the season fizzled out, with just two points taken from the final seven games The club ended in 10th place , with 51 points. Similar to the season of 2020-21 the goal scoring was a problem for Wolves and they only scored 38 goals scored in 38 games.

The traditional colours of the club, black and gold refer to the city's slogan "out of darkness comes light" and the two colors being the representation of darkness and light. While the original colors of the team when they formed were white and red taken from the school colors that were used at St Lukes, for much of their time their main colours were their signature gold shirts and black shorts.

In the early years of the club, a range of designs for shirts using the colours were made that included strips and halves with diagonals until the constant use of plain shirts from the 1930s. In the 1960s, an older color of gold could be employed and was referred to in the media as "old gold" and is frequently cited by the press as the club's color.

As with most English team, the first shirt usually featured an emblem on occasions like cup finals. The first badge to be put on Wolves shirt is the badge from Wolverhampton City Council. In the mid-1960s, Wolves introduced their own club badge which appeared on their shirts. It consisted of a single wolf leaping that later morphed into three leaping wolves by the mid-1970s. Since 1979, the badge has been a single "wolf head" design. The present badge was last updated in 2002.

In May the club prevailed in a legal battle brought against it Peter Davies, a 71 year old former director of the building industry, who claimed that he sketched the wolf's head when he was a student in the 1960s. He then participated in an art contest. Mr Davies claimed he developed the angular design when an instructor requested him to show the understanding Blaise Pascal's Hexagrammum Mysticum Theorem. He also participated in a contest for art that was which was advertised by The Express and Star newspaper. Mr Davies was able to file an attempt to claim copyright and demanded compensation. Mr Davies has lost his copyright infringement claim , and is now facing legal costs and expenses estimated to be around PS450,000.

Wolves typically are white, but the last few years have seen a range of colors being used, such as blue, black, teal as well as purple and maroon.

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

When it was first formed, the club played situated on Goldthorn Hill in the Blakenhall area for its home, with the capacity to accommodate around 2,000 spectators. In 1879, they moved into John Harper's Field on Lower Villiers Street in the city of Villiers Street. There they were for two years until moving into Dudley Road, with the new stadium located opposite at the Fighting Cocks inn. This was the place where the team played its debut FA Cup tie in 1883 and their first Football League fixture in September 1888. Although the stadium could be able to accommodate 2,500 people at first, it was later expanded to accommodate 10,000.

In 1889, the summer of its founding, the club relocated to its current home after, Molineux, in the Whitmore Reans area of the city. The name comes of the Molineux House constructed in the region in 1889 by Benjamin Molineux, a local merchant in the 18th century. Its grounds later were redeveloped to provide a variety of public recreation facilities. In the event that Northampton Brewery Company purchased these grounds in 1889, they let their facilities to the city's soccer club and were looking to find a new home appropriate for the requirements of a Football League member. After the renovations the first official match was played on September 7, 1889 in front of the crowd of 4,500. The ground was capable accommodating 20,000 fans, though English football teams rarely saw this number during the 19th century.

Wolves purchased their freehold on 1923, and quickly began a series of ground improvements under the aegis of Archibald Leitch, beginning with the construction of a massive stand at the Waterloo Road side. The club in 1932 constructed a stand on the Molineux Street side . They it was followed by the addition of an roof to the South Bank two years later and the South Bank was historically the second largest of Kop endings in the nation and frequently hosted crowds in over 30,000. The stadium was now home to four stands complete which would serve as the base for the remainder of the 20th century.

In the early days of seating regulations, the stadium could accommodate over 60,000 people and the highest attendance of 61,315 at an First Division match against Liverpool on the 11th of February, 1939. The 1950s and 1940s saw average attendances regularly surpass 40,000. This was in line with the highest attendance of the club in the field. In the period between 1940 and 1950, Molineux was among the first British stadiums to be equipped with floodlights. It was able to stage a series of midweek friendly matches against teams from across the world. Prior to the creation of the European Cup and international club tournaments, these matches were extremely prestigious and attracted massive crowds, and a lot of attention from the BBC frequently telecasting these events.

The Molineux Street Stand could not conform to new safety standards The club started building a new stand in the place of the one that was in place in which housing was demolished. The new stand, which was all-seater was known as"the John Ireland Stand after the former president of the club - was finished in 1979. It was also the first step in an initiative to completely rebuild the stadium. The price for the Ireland Stand increased to more than PS2 million, which led to financial trouble. In the end, it was placed in into receivership by the year 1982. At the time that the team was relegated to the Fourth Division in 1986, only the John Ireland Stand and the South Bank terrace remained in use. The new safety rules were enacted in the aftermath of the Bradford City stadium fire and they forced the closing of both the now demolished North Bank and Waterloo Road Stand. The club was not able to raise enough funds to build these structures.

After the acquisition from the team from Sir Jack Hayward in 1990, PS8.5 million in funding was allocated to develop Molineux completely. Between the months of August 1991 and December 1993, The stadium was reconstructed on three different sides. renovated to create a stadium with a capacity of 28,525 which was in line to the Taylor Report: the Waterloo Road Stand was replaced with the Billy Wright Stand, the North Bank terrace by the Stan Cullis Stand as well as the South Bank terrace by the Sir Jack Hayward Stand (named the Jack Harris Stand until 2015). Apart from the addition of an area for seating within the southeast corner that was used in Wolves season during the Premier League; this redevelopment was the basis for the stadium for nearly 20 years.

In the year 2010, plans were revealed for a massive redevelopment plan to expand the capacity and further develop the facilities. The first phase of this was to see a brand new 2-tier Stan Cullis Stand become fully operational in this season's 2012-13 campaign, increasing capacity currently to 31,700. The second stage would be the reconstruction of the old stand in the venue (built in 1979 under the name of it was the John Ireland Stand and renamed the Steve Bull Stand in 2003) to boost capacity to 36,000. However, this and any other work was put off after it was determined for the club to be eliminated to the Premier League in 2012.

Ground renovations were again put on the table following the club's purchase by Fosun in the year 2016. However, in contrast to the previously discussed plans, it was officially disclosed in February 2019 that the future plans, consisting of the deconstruction and total rebuilding of the Steve Bull Stand, followed by the revamp of Sir Jack Hayward Stand, to increase the capacity of the stadium to 45-46,600, were in the microscope for consideration. In 2020, the club announced less modest plans to make incremental enhancements to its stadium, as the club aims to preserve its distinctive character and allow prioritisation of investments on the playing part of the club.

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

As of 12 July 2022

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  POR José Sá 3 DF  FRA Rayan Aït-Nouri 6 MF  POR Bruno Jordão 7 FW  POR Pedro Neto 8 MF  POR Rúben Neves (vice-captain) 9 FW  MEX Raúl Jiménez 10 FW  POR Daniel Podence 11 FW  KOR Hwang Hee-chan 13 GK  MNE Matija Sarkic 14 DF  COL Yerson Mosquera 15 DF  CIV Willy Boly (3rd captain) 16 DF  ENG Conor Coady (captain) 18 MF  ENG Morgan Gibbs-White 19 DF  ESP Jonny

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  POR Chiquinho 21 FW  POR Fábio Silva 22 DF  POR Nélson Semedo 23 DF  ENG Max Kilman 24 DF  POR Toti 28 MF  POR João Moutinho 32 MF  BEL Leander Dendoncker 37 FW  ESP Adama Traoré 39 MF  ENG Luke Cundle 43 MF  IRL Connor Ronan 62 GK  DEN Andreas Søndergaard — DF  IRL Nathan Collins — FW  BRA Léo Bonatini — FW  ITA Patrick Cutrone

Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-23s (or the Development squad) is a football club which plays within Division 2 in the recently established Premier League 2. The club is a qualified participant in the competition because of their academy having Cat 1 status. While the competition is intended for players of less than 23 Three players over age may be eligible to participate.

This team currently is under supervision under the direction of Jamie Collins and home games are played mainly on the Kidderminster Harriers' Aggborough home however, the team also plays at Molineux. The team has been a pathway into Wolves' first team for the past two seasons[clarification needed], with the likes of current first-team players Luke Cundle, Morgan Gibbs-White, Max Kilman and Andreas Sondergaard progressing from the U21 side.

In 1975, the club was founded. Wolves Women became the club's official women's team in the year 2008. They currently play in the third division of English women's football within the FA Women's National League North. They play home matches on the CKW Stadium located in the Castlecroft part of the city.

Football staff

• Head Coach: Bruno Lage
• Assistant Head Coach: Alexandre Silva
• Coach: Luis Nascimento
• Goalkeeping Coach: Tony Roberts
• Fitness Coach: Carlos Cachada
• Head Of Coaching Strategy: Jhony Conceicao
• First Team Analyst: Diogo Camacho
• Under-23 Head Coach: James Collins
• Under-18 Head Coach: Steve Davis

Medical staff

• Club Doctor: Matt Perry
• First Team Physiotherapist: Ollie Leaper
• First Team Sports Therapist: Danny Fishwick
• First Team Therapist: Rui Fuste
• Soft Tissue Therapist: Matt Wignall

Club executives

• Owner: Fosun International
• Executive Chairman: Jeff Shi
• Technical Director: Scott Sellars
• General Manager – Football Operations: Matt Wild
• General Manager – Commercial Operations: Vinny Clark
• General Manager – Marketing & Commercial Growth: Russell Jones
• Non-Executive Directors: John Bowater and John Gough
• Honorary Vice-Presidents: Steve Bull, Ron Flowers and Robert Plant

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

The club has featured several prominent players throughout the years, with the most notable being Billy Wright, who captained England for a record-breaking 90 times. He was also one of the very first players to earn 100 international caps and also won an award called the Footballer of the Year Award (in 1952) the same award awarded to Wolves midfielder Bill Slater in 1960. There are 36 players who have earned full England caps in their time at Wolves and include the club's captain Conor Coady as well as Wolves' record-breaking scorers Steve Bull, who was the final of Wolves' England internationals to take part in a major international tournament.

Andy Gray, Emlyn Hughes, Paul Ince and Denis Irwin have all been League Championship medal winners who also played for Wolves. Joleon Lescott went on be a part of England 26 times, scoring only once. Robbie Keane went on to become the all-time top goal scorer in Ireland with 68 goals over the course of 146 games.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers Hall of Fame has inducted the following players:

•  Mike Bailey
•  Peter Broadbent
•  Steve Bull
•  Stan Cullis
•  Derek Dougan
•  Malcolm Finlayson
•  Ron Flowers
•  Johnny Hancocks
•  Billy Harrison
•  Kenny Hibbitt
•  Jackery Jones
•  John McAlle
•  Jimmy Mullen
•  Andy Mutch
•  Derek Parkin
•  John Richards
•  Bill Slater
•  Roy Swinbourne
•  Andy Thompson
•  Dave Wagstaffe
•  Bert Williams
•  Billy Wrigh

Wolves have been able to employ thirty-two different (permanently appointed) managers throughout the club's existence. The manager who was the first, George Worrall, was recognized by the title "club secretary" the position that continued until the appointment to an official manager who was full-time as it is known today was announced in 1922.

The most successful manager of the club has been Stan Cullis, whose 16-year tenure saw all three of Wolves league titles in addition to 2 FA Cup triumphs. The two other Wolves managers were admitted into the Club Hall of Fame: Major Frank Buckley and Graham Turner. Turner was responsible for two consecutive divisional championships in the latter part of the 1980s, winning his team the Fourth Division title in 1987-88 as well as also the Third Division title the following season. Bill McGarry and John Barnwell both took home The League Cup for Wolves in the 1970s and the 1980s.

Today, Dave Jones, Mick McCarthy and Nuno Espirito Santo have steered Wolves into the Premier League. Kenny Jackett took Wolves to an unprecedented EFL League One (Tier 3) points total of 103 points as they took the league title in 2013-14.

Stale Solbakken became Wolves' first manager outside of Steve Morgan's ownership. He was then followed by Walter Zenga and current manager Bruno Lage under current owners Fosun.

Wolves are also run through two ex- England National team coaches, Graham Taylor and Glenn Hoddle.

In addition to having many supporters' clubs throughout in the United Kingdom, Wolverhampton Wanderers also have a global support base, including clubs for supporters located in Australia, United States, Sweden, Spain, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Malta, Iceland and Norway among others. They have a significant Scandinavian fan base, due to the region's TV broadcast of Midlands football during the 1970s when the team was a regular top-flight club and the first English game broadcast live on television across Norway and Sweden. Sweden and Norway included Wolves (Wolverhampton Wanderers 1, Sunderland 0. Football League First Division, Saturday 29 November 1969).

Wolves Their longest-running and strongest competition is West Bromwich Albion, against which the club plays in an annual Black Country Derby. Both clubs are separated by 11 miles, have fought each other 162 times, the first time they played each other in the FA Cup tie in 1886. A survey conducted by the national football leagues discovered that the rivalry was the most intense among English football. Both clubs were founding players of the Football League and the two have fought for the title of league champions in 1953 and 1954 and Wolves winning the title.

Wolves have also shared battles with Two Birmingham teams, Aston Villa and Birmingham City which are numerous matches that date up to in the late 19th century. Wolves have the closest geographical rival is Walsall however, since they've never played at the similar level, it's of lesser significance. Since Wolverhampton was historically within the borders of Staffordshire the possibility of the possibility of a Staffordshire derby match between Wolves as well as Stoke City is also recognised.

In the 2018-19 Premier League season was the only and the first time when Wolves are the only representative for The West Midlands in the top level in English football. It was the 2020-21 Premier League season saw Wolves compete against Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion However, Albion's downfall at the conclusion of the season signifies it is now Aston Villa is Wolves' sole West Midlands rival in the Premier League in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

In the height of the club's popularity in the 1950s the most-loved home crowd track is "The Happily Wanderer" that became an instant hit across the U.K. in 1954, when Wolves first took the title of league champions. In recent years, "Hi Ho Silver Lining" is a rock tune written by Jeff Beck with its chorus changed into "Hi Wolverhampton!" Wolverhampton!" is now a standard element at home matches. "The Liquidator" instrumental by the Harry J. Allstars was also popularly played in the stadium up to a request was made by police from the West Midlands Police to cease because of concerns that the vulgar lyrics that some fans sing during the chorus might cause trouble.

Like all big city soccer teams, the club was targeted by a variety of hooligans during the 1960s. In the latter part of the 1970s and into the early 1980s, an infamous hooligan organization called "The Subway Army" would often snare fans in the subway that was adjacent to the stadium. The group gradually broke down and was eliminated because of a number of arrests, many of which were an element of police's national "Operation Growth" (or "Get Eliminated of Wolverhampton's troublesome hooligans") at the latter part of 1980.

The club encourages interactions with its fans and is home to an annual fans' Parliament, in which individuals who have been selected by themselves sit down with club officials to and discuss matters pertaining to the club. A fanzine that is independent, titled "A Load of Bull" (ALOB) that was as a reference to the most prolific goal-scorer Steve Bull, published supporters their views from 1989 to the year 2012.

The club is controlled by the Chinese group of conglomerates called Fosun International, which purchased the parent company of Wolves, W.W. (1990) Ltd., on 21 July 2016 for PS45 million from former manager Steve Morgan and his company Bridgemere Group. In the most recent accounts of Wolves their parent company group (covering for the 2017-19 Premier League season), the pre-tax profit was less than PS20 million was reported and the revenue of PS172.5m. PS92.1 millions was dedicated to wages for staff and other costs.

As with most football clubs, substantial revenue for commercial purposes comes through shirt sponsorship agreements. Previous shirt sponsorship deals included like this: Tatung (1982-86), Benjamin Perry (1986), Staw Distribution (1986-88), Manders Paint & Ink (1988-90), Goodyear (1990-2002), Doritos (2002-04), Chaucer Consulting (2004-09), Sportingbet (2009-13), What House? (2013-15), Silverbug (2015-16), The Money Shop (2016-18) and W88 (2018-19). The club's affiliation currently has been with betting site ManBetX which have signed the "long time" sponsorship agreement in June of 2019.

Fosun purchased Wolves by acquiring the club from Steve Morgan, who had purchased the club from the club in July 2007 with a small amount in the region of PS10 with the condition that PS30 million was invested into the club. This ended the search for a new owner. Morgan managed nine full seasons before putting the club up for sale to find a new owner in September of 2015. Morgan purchased this club through Sir Jack Hayward, a lifelong supporter of the club, who bought the club at the time of its purchase in PS2.1 million. During his time at the club, Sir Jack made an investment of PS50 millions of his own wealth to build the stadium of the club and to fund new players. However, the team was unable to achieve a single campaign in the upper division in his 17 years in charge even with this increase in spending capacity.

Hayward's acquisition significantly helped the financial health of the club after a turbulent period in the 1980s during which the club was twice declared bankrupt. In 1982, The club had been "saved" from being put into liquidation after it was bought from two Saudi brothers, Mahmud and Mohammad Bhatti in the company Allied Properties. But their inability to invest sufficient funds into the club saw it be subject to numerous winding-up orders along with relegations successively in the divisions for football. In 1986, the official receiver was summoned and a deal was eventually reached to allow Wolverhampton City Council to purchase the stadium of the club at a price of PS1.12 million, which included the surrounding land. In addition, local developers, Gallagher Estates, in conjunction with the Asda supermarket chain has agreed to pay off the club's debts due in exchange for the construction the Asda superstore in the area adjacent to the stadium.

The all-time league table shows that since the league's creation at the age of the year 1888 Wolves rank fourth the amount of points earned in all divisions (as at the end in the season 2018-19) and just Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal have more points. Wolves have been the very first team to take home every division that comprise the English professional football league and have also won every contest that is currently played by English national football.

League

Football League First Division, superseded by the Premier League (Tier 1)

• Champions (3): 1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59
• Runners-up (5): 1937–38, 1938–39, 1949–50, 1954–55, 1959–60

EFL Championship/Football League Second Division (1892–1992) (Tier 2)

• Champions (4): 1931–32, 1976–77, 2008–09, 2017–18
• Runners-up (2): 1966–67, 1982–83
• Play-off winners (1): 2002–03

EFL League One/Football League Third Division (Tier 3)

• Champions (3): 1923–24 (North), 1988–89, 2013–14

Football League Fourth Division (Tier 4)

• Champions (1): 1987–88

Cup

UEFA Cup

• Runners-up (1): 1971–72

FA Cup

• Winners (4): 1892–93, 1907–08, 1948–49, 1959–60
• Runners-up (4): 1888–89, 1895–96, 1920–21, 1938–39

Football League Cup

• Winners (2): 1973–74, 1979–80

FA Charity Shield

• Winners (4): 1949*, 1954*, 1959, 1960* (* shared)
• Runners-up (1): 1958

Football League Trophy

• Winners (1): 1987–88

Football League War Cup

• Winners (1): 1942

Texaco Cup

• Winners (1): 1970–71

Wolverhampton Wanderers was a founder of the Football League in 1888. The 2021-22 season will be Wolves their 123rd season within their time in the Football League system. Wolves have played all 116 seasons to date in the top two divisions in English football. Wolves were in the third tier of football on four occasions, each only lasting one season. three of those seasons ended with promotions back to the second division as Champions and the fourth with the club being relegated to the fourth class. Wolves have been in England for two seasons, but only in the fourth division (in during the 1980s).

• 1888–1906 Division 1
• 1906–1923 Division 2
• 1923–1924 Division 3 North
• 1924–1932 Division 2
• 1932–1965 Division 1
• 1965–1967 Division 2
• 1967–1976 Division 1
• 1976–1977 Division 2
• 1977–1982 Division 1
• 1982–1983 Division 2
• 1983–1984 Division 1
• 1984–1985 Division 2
• 1985–1986 Division 3
• 1986–1988 Division 4
• 1988–1989 Division 3
• 1989–2003 Division 2/Division 1 (Tier 2)
• 2003–2004 Premier League
• 2004–2009 Championship
• 2009–2012 Premier League
• 2012–2013 Championship
• 2013–2014 League One
• 2014–2018 Championship
• 2018– Premier League

• Seasons spent at Tier 1 of the football league system: 67 (incl. 2021–22)
• Seasons spent at Tier 2 of the football league system: 50
• Seasons spent at Tier 3 of the football league system: 4
• Seasons spent at Tier 4 of the football league system: 2 

• Longest continuous run of seasons spent in Tier 1: 26 (1932–1965; league football suspended 1939-46 due to World War II)
• Longest continuous run of seasons spent in Tier 2: 14 (1989–2003)
• Longest continuous run of seasons spent in Tier 3: 1 (1923–24; 1985–86; 1988–89; 2013–14)
• Longest continuous run of seasons spent in Tier 4: 2 (1986–1988)