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115-569: Belarusian Cup was established in 1992. Each year the winning team qualifies for the UEFA Europa League . The cup is a traditional single-elimination tournament . Usually, the cup involves all clubs participating in Belarusian Premier League , First League and Second League , as well a small number of amateur clubs that can qualify through local amateur Cup competitions. Unlike the league season, Belarusian Cup

230-617: 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

345-481: A CEO and replaced by managing director Laurie Dalrymple. The new owners dismissed Kenny Jackett and brought in former Italian international Walter Zenga as head coach. Zenga was dismissed after just 14 league games and Paul Lambert appointed as his successor in November. At the end of the season, Lambert too was dismissed, with former FC Porto boss Nuno Espírito Santo replacing him. Under Nuno, Wolves won

460-609: A Europa League game as a musical element of the competition's opening sequence. The competition's first anthem was composed by Yohann Zveig and recorded by the Paris Opera in early 2009. The theme for the re-branded UEFA Cup competition was first officially unveiled at the Grimaldi Forum on 28 August 2009 before the 2009–10 season group stage draw. A new anthem was composed by Michael Kadelbach and recorded in Berlin and

575-481: A Wolves shirt for Stan Cullis , and a year later he became manager of the club. In Cullis's first season in charge, he led Wolves to a first major honour in 41 years as they beat Leicester City to lift the FA Cup , and a year later, only goal average prevented Wolves winning the league title . The 1950s were by far the most successful period in the club's history. Captained by Billy Wright , Wolves finally claimed

690-588: A cup winner). Since Gibraltar was accepted as a full UEFA member at the 24 May 2013 UEFA Congress in London, their cup winner also qualified for the Europa League. Although the other teams were the next-highest-ranked in each domestic league (after those qualifying for the UEFA Champions League), France and England continued to use one spot for their league-cup winners. With the abolition of

805-523: 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

920-575: A greater number of berths in UEFA Cup to the more successful nations. Three nations had four places, five nations had three places, thirteen nations had two places, and eleven nations only one place. Since 1998, a similar system has been used for the UEFA Champions League . Before 1980, the entrance criteria of the last Fairs Cup was used. The competition was traditionally a pure knockout tournament. All ties were two-legged , including

1035-479: A modern all-seater stadium. With work completed in 1993, Hayward redirected his investment onto the playing side in an attempt to win promotion to the newly formed Premier League . Despite substantial spending, neither Graham Taylor nor Mark McGhee could fulfil this, both managers leading the team to play-off defeats at the semi-final stages in 1995 and 1997 respectively. It was not until 2003 that Wolves were promoted, when they defeated Sheffield United 3–0 in

1150-654: A modified single-leg quarter-final played in a neutral venue in Germany due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe . Wolves replicated their previous season's 7th-place finish in the Premier League in 2019–20 but with two more points and only missed out on a return to continental competition, both on goal difference and Arsenal winning that season's FA Cup . In the 2020–21 season , Wolves lost striker Raúl Jiménez to

1265-509: A multiple-winner badge. As of 2016–17 , only Sevilla has earned the honour to wear the multiple-winner badge, having achieved both of the prerequisites in 2016 . The trophy was designed and crafted by Silvio Gazzaniga , who also designed the FIFA World Cup Trophy , working for Bertoni , for the 1972 UEFA Cup Final . It weighs 15 kg (33 lb) and is silver on a yellow marble plinth. 67 centimetres (26 in) tall,

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1380-595: A practice that the Football League disapproved of but did not prohibit. When league football resumed after the Second World War, Wolves suffered yet another final day failure in the First Division. Just as in 1938, victory in their last match would have won the title but a 2–1 loss to title rivals Liverpool meant that Liverpool were crowned champions instead. This game had been the last in

1495-401: A round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (all of the knockout games except the final are played over two legs). The league phase consists of each team playing a total of eight matches, with four at home and four away. The top eight teams from the league phase receive a bye to the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9th to 24th contest the knockout play-offs with the winners advancing to

1610-532: A season-ending injury (a fractured skull) in November, and subsequently struggled for goals for the remainder of the campaign, finishing 13th. Espírito Santo left "by mutual consent", and was replaced by former Benfica head coach Bruno Lage . In 2021–22 , the club finished 10th. Wolves dismissed Lage on 2 October 2022 after eight games of the 2022–23 season with only one win and just three goals scored. Former Real Madrid , Spain and Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui replaced him. Despite being in 20th place in

1725-589: A series of midweek friendlies against teams from around the globe. In the days prior to the formation of the European Cup and international club competitions, these games were highly prestigious and gained huge crowds and interest with the BBC often televising such events. When the Molineux Street Stand failed to meet new safety legislation, the club began building a new replacement stand behind

1840-445: A single leaping wolf, which later became three leaping wolves in the mid-1970s. Since 1979 the badge has consisted of a single "wolf head" design; the current badge was last redesigned in 2002. In May 2019, the club won a legal challenge by Peter Davies, a 71 year old retired building industry manager, who claimed he drew the wolf head motif as a schoolboy in the 1960s and entered it in an art competition. Mr Davies said he came up with

1955-468: A standard number of three berths (across both the Europa League and the Conference League), except: Usually, each country's places are awarded to teams who finish in various runners-up places in its top-flight league and the winner of the main cup competition . Typically the teams qualifying via the league are those in the highest places not eligible for the UEFA Champions League ; however,

2070-494: A third year in a row beating Liverpool in the 2016 final, making them the most successful team in the history of the competition with five titles. Atlético won their third title in 2018. The 2019 all-London final between Chelsea and Arsenal was the first UEFA Cup/Europa League final between two teams from the same city. Sevilla added a record-extending sixth victory in 2020, after defeating Inter Milan , and won an unprecedented seventh title in 2023. The UEFA Cup, also known as

2185-462: A variety of colours used, including black, blue, teal, purple and maroon. When first founded the club used a field on Goldthorn Hill in the Blakenhall area as its home, which could accommodate some 2,000 spectators. In 1879 they relocated to John Harper's Field on Lower Villiers Street where they remained for two years before a short move to Dudley Road , with the new ground situated opposite

2300-499: A win in the side's last game away to Sunderland would have clinched things, but in the event Wolves lost 0–1 and thus ended the campaign one point behind the eventual champions, Arsenal . One of the things Major Buckley and his Wolves side attracted a lot of attention for in the last two full seasons prior to the suspension of league football during the Second World War was Buckley's insistence that his players be injected with monkey gland extract to enhance their stamina and performance,

2415-610: Is no longer qualified through the cup berth. These rules became effective for the 2015–16 season. Beginning with the 2018–19 tournament , all domestic champions eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League will transfer to the Europa League, rather than just teams that are eliminated in the third-qualifying and play-off rounds. Europa League qualifying will also provide a separate champions route for these teams, allowing more opportunities for domestic league champions to compete against each other. If

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2530-493: Is still played using a fall/spring schedule (while the League has switched to spring/fall schedule in 1995). The most frequently used format of the cup included six rounds. Typically, the quarterfinals and semifinals are played after the winter break and consist of two-legged ties. However, both the schedule and the number of matches in each round can be adjusted depending on the availability of domestic match dates. The final match

2645-653: Is the second-tier competition of European club football , ranking below the UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Conference League . Introduced in 1971 as the UEFA Cup, it replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup . The UEFA Cup was the third-tier European club competition from 1971 to 1999 before the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was discontinued, and it is still often referred to as the "C3" in reference to this. Clubs qualify for

2760-616: Is traditionally played in May. Since 2013, the final is played at various venues across the country. Finals before independence were: Performance since independence. UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (previously known as the UEFA Cup ), abbreviated as UEL , is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It

2875-454: The 2017–18 EFL Championship title and returned to the Premier League after a six-year absence. Wolverhampton Wanderers finished 7th on their return to the Premier League , their highest position in the top division since finishing 6th in 1979–80 , earning a spot in the qualification rounds of the UEFA Europa League , thus invoking their first continental campaign since 1980–81 . They lost to that season's eventual winners Sevilla 0–1 in

2990-418: The 2020 final . The era of the 2000s began with victory for Galatasaray , the first Turkish team to win the trophy, defeating Arsenal . Liverpool won the competition for the third time in 2001. In 2002, Feyenoord became winners for the second time, defeating Borussia Dortmund . Porto triumphed in the 2003 and 2011 tournaments, with the latter victory against fellow Portuguese side Braga . In 2004,

3105-579: The 2024–25 season, the winner of the Europa League can no longer defend their title as they automatically qualify for the Champions League league phase and teams cannot be transferred from that phase to the Europa League. From 1995 to 2015, three leagues gained one extra place via the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking . The format involves a league phase and a knockout phase consisting of preliminary knockout play-offs, followed by

3220-526: The Belgian league awards one place via a playoff between First A and First B teams. Before its discontinuation in 2020–21, France offered a place to the winners of the Coupe de la Ligue . A team may qualify for European competitions through more than one route. In all cases, if a club is eligible to enter the UEFA Champions League then the Champions League place takes precedence and the club does not enter

3335-531: The CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana — since 2023. In the 2024–25 season, the group stage was replaced with an expanded league phase. Spanish clubs have the highest number of victories (14 wins), followed by teams from Italy (10 wins) and England (9 wins). The title has been won by 30 clubs, 14 of which have won it more than once. The most successful club in the competition is Sevilla , with seven titles. Colombian striker Radamel Falcao holds

3450-600: The Coupe UEFA , is the trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Europa League. Before the 2009–10 season , both the competition and the trophy were known as the 'UEFA Cup'. Before the competition was renamed the UEFA Europa League in the 2009–10 season , the UEFA regulations stated that a club could keep the original trophy for a year before returning it to UEFA. After its return,

3565-465: The Intertoto Cup , all participants in the Europa League are qualified through domestic routes. The higher an association is ranked in the UEFA coefficients, the later its members begin the qualification. However, every team except for the title-holder (until the 2014–15 season) and the highest-ranked (the cup winner or the best Europa League-qualified) from the top (six from 2012 to 2015, 12 since

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3680-466: The League Cup for the first time by beating Manchester City 2–1 in the final . Despite relegation again in 1976 , Wolves bounced back at the first attempt as Second Division champions under manager Sammy Chung , and then under manager John Barnwell , the turn of the decade saw them finish in the top six in the league and win the 1980 League Cup , when then-record signing Andy Gray scored

3795-606: The Molineux House built in the area by Benjamin Molineux, a local merchant, in the 18th century and whose grounds were later developed to include numerous public leisure facilities. When the Northampton Brewery Company purchased these grounds in 1889, they rented their use to the city's football club, who were seeking to find a home more befitting a Football League member. After renovating the site,

3910-544: The Premier League , the top tier of English football . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's traditional kit consists of old gold shirts and socks with black shorts. Since 1979, the kit has also featured the club's "wolf's head" logo. Long-standing rivalries exist with other clubs from the West Midlands , including Aston Villa , and Birmingham City but

4025-521: The Premier League 2 during the current season, following relegation from the highest level after the previous season was curtailed and decided on a point-per-game basis. The team qualifies as an entrant in Premier League 2 by virtue of Wolves's academy holding Category 1 status. Although the league is designed for players aged 23 and below, three overage players may also feature. Home games are primarily staged at Kidderminster Harriers ' Aggborough home. Originally founded in 1975, Wolves Women became

4140-745: 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

4255-567: 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

4370-577: The UEFA Fair Play ranking winners (until 2015–16), and eleven places in the second qualifying round for the UEFA Intertoto Cup winners. Winners of the qualifying rounds then joined teams from the associations ranked 1–13 in the first round proper. In addition, non-qualifiers in the third qualifying round of the Champions League also joined the competition at this point along with the current title-holders (unless they had qualified for

4485-537: The UEFA Intertoto Cup , producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and a change in qualifying criteria. The winner of the UEFA Europa League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup , for the following season's UEFA Champions League since the 2014–15 season, entering at the group stage, as well as for the UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge — a friendly cup against the winners of

4600-553: The first League and FA Cup 'double' of the 20th century in English football. They were pipped to the league title by a point on the final day of the season by Burnley . Despite that bright start to the decade, the 1960s saw Wolves begin to decline. After finishing as league runners-up in 1959–60 and a creditable third-place league finish in Tottenham Hotspur 's 'double'-winning season , the team faded and Cullis himself

4715-457: The (first) group stage of the Champions League. From the 2004–05 season, the competition started with two knockout qualifying rounds held in July and August. Participants from associations ranked 18 and lower entered the first qualifying round with those from associations ranked 9–18 joining them in the second qualifying round. In addition, three places in the first qualifying round were reserved for

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4830-476: The 1930s. Before the 1960s a darker shade of gold was used, known as " old gold ", which is still often cited in the media as the club's colour. Like most English teams, their earliest shirts usually only featured a badge on special occasions such as cup finals. The first such badge to be worn on Wolves shirts was the coat of arms of Wolverhampton City Council . In the late 1960s, Wolves introduced their own club badge that appeared on their shirts consisting of

4945-482: The 1990s was in 1996. Internazionale reached the final the following two years, losing in 1997 to Schalke 04 on penalties, and winning another all-Italian final in 1998, taking home the cup for the third time in only eight years. Parma won the cup in 1999, the last win of the Italian-domination era. It was the last UEFA Cup/Europa League final appearance for any Italian club until Internazionale reached

5060-595: The 2012–13 season , raising the current official capacity to 31,700. The proposed second stage concerned the rebuilding of the oldest stand at the stadium (built in 1979 as the John Ireland Stand and renamed the Steve Bull Stand in 2003) to increase capacity to around 36,000, but this and any further work was shelved when it became likely that the club would be relegated from the Premier League in 2012. Ground redevelopments were once again placed on

5175-421: The 2015–16 season) associations had to play at least one qualification round. Except for the teams mentioned, all teams eliminated in the Champions League preliminary round, qualifying rounds and play-off round were transferred to the Europa League. The 12 winners and runners-up in the group stage advanced to the knockout round, with eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage. The distribution

5290-512: The 2024–27 cycle are: Decathlon 's Kipsta sub-brand is the official match ball supplier from the 2024–25 season onwards for a three-year period. Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( / ˌ w ʊ l v ər ˈ h æ m p t ən / WUUL -vər- HAMP -tən ), commonly referred to as Wolves , is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton , England. The club competes in

5405-419: The Champions League via their national league), for a total of 80 teams in the first round. After the first knockout round, the 40 survivors entered a group stage, with the clubs being drawn into eight groups of five each. Unlike the Champions League group stage, the UEFA Cup group stage was played in a single round-robin format , with each club playing two home and two away games. The top three teams in each of

5520-417: The Champions League, in addition to their other qualifying teams. More recently, clubs that are knocked out of the qualifying round and (prior to 2024–25) the group stage of the Champions League can also join the UEFA Europa League, at different stages (see below). Formerly, the reigning champions qualified for the Europa League to defend their title, but since 2015 they qualify for the Champions League. From

5635-551: The Club Hall of Fame: Major Frank Buckley and Graham Turner . Turner oversaw two successive divisional championship wins in the late-1980s, winning the Fourth Division title in 1987-88 and the Third Division title the following season . Bill McGarry and John Barnwell both won the League Cup for Wolves in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 21st century, Dave Jones , Mick McCarthy and Nuno Espírito Santo have led

5750-434: The English top flight in 1967 heralded another period of relative success under Bill McGarry , with a fourth place league finish in 1971 qualifying Wolves for the newly created UEFA Cup . En route to the UEFA Cup final , they defeated Juventus and Ferencváros before losing to Tottenham Hotspur 3–2 on aggregate; a 2–1 home defeat in the first leg proving decisive. Wolves lifted silverware two years later when they won

5865-465: The Europa League from 2021 onwards. With a majority of the former entrants into the Europa League now participating solely in the UECL, the Europa League itself would have a greatly reduced format which will focus primarily around its group stage. There would also be an additional knockout round before the knockout phase proper, allowing for third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage to fall into

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5980-527: The Europa League title holders already qualified for the Champions League group stage via their domestic league, the following changes to the access list would be made: The announcement of the UEFA Europa Conference League , a tertiary competition which would serve to split off the lower-ranked teams in the Europa League to give them a greater chance to compete, included a document from UEFA listing their intentions for qualification to

6095-480: The Europa League while still keeping the knockout stage itself at only 16 teams total. Changes would be made if the Europa Conference League title holders qualified through their league position: Changes will be made to the access list above if the Europa League or Conference League title holder qualifies for the tournament via their domestic leagues. Similar to the UEFA Champions League,

6210-608: The Fighting Cocks Inn. It was here that they played their first FA Cup tie in 1883 and their first Football League fixture in September 1888. Although the site could only hold 2,500 spectators at first it was eventually developed to be capable of 10,000. In the summer of 1889 the club moved to its permanent home ever since, Molineux , in the Whitmore Reans area of the city. The stadium name originates from

6325-464: The First Division under manager Graham Hawkins , but the Bhattis' failure to invest sufficiently in the club soon saw things unravel as the team suffered three consecutive relegations through the football divisions under different managers, as well as the almost-constant threat of the club being wound-up. In 1986, with the club again in receivership, a deal saw Wolverhampton City Council purchase

6440-509: The Jack Harris Stand until 2015). Aside from the addition of a temporary seating area in the southwest corner used during Wolves' seasons in the Premier League; this redevelopment formed the stadium for almost twenty years. In 2010, plans were unveiled for an extensive redevelopment programme to enlarge the capacity and develop the facilities. The first stage of this saw a new two-tier Stan Cullis Stand become fully operational for

6555-463: 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, which were instrumental in the launch of the European Cup (now known as

6670-417: The UEFA Champions League) in 1955. Wolves reached the quarter-finals of the competition in 1959–60 as well as the semi-finals of the 1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup and the inaugural UEFA Cup Final in 1972. Following a 39-year absence from UEFA competitions, they reached the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals in 2020 . In the 2000 edition of The Rough Guide to English Football , the history section on

6785-417: The UEFA Europa League. The UEFA Europa League place is then granted to another club or vacated if the maximum limit of teams qualifying for European competitions is exceeded. If a team qualifies for European competition through both winning a cup and league placing, the "spare" UEFA Europa League place will go to the highest placed league team which has not already qualified for European competition, depending on

6900-532: The United Kingdom, Wolverhampton Wanderers also have an international support base, with supporters' clubs in Australia, United States, Sweden, Spain, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Malta, Iceland and Norway amongst others. They have a particularly sizeable Scandinavian fanbase, due to the area's television coverage of Midlands football in the 1970s when the club were a regular top-flight team;

7015-590: The Waterloo Road side. In 1932, the club also built a new stand on the Molineux Street side and followed this by adding a roof to the South Bank two years later; this South Bank was historically the second largest of all Kop ends in the country and regularly held crowds in excess of 30,000. The stadium finally now had four complete stands that would form its basis for the next half-century. In

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7130-533: The Wednesday ten days before the Champions League final. Qualification changed significantly. Associations ranked 7–9 in the UEFA coefficients sent the cup winners and three (two since the 2015–16 season) other teams to the UEFA Europa League qualification; all other nations sent a cup winner and two other teams, except for Andorra and San Marino (who sent a cup winner and a runner-up) and Liechtenstein (who sent only

7245-464: The Wolves page begins: "The very name Wolves thunders from the pages of English football history". As with several other clubs, Everton for example, Wolves had humble beginnings shaped by the twin influences of cricket and the church . 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

7360-568: 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

7475-592: The agenda following the club's acquisition by Fosun in 2016. In contrast to previously mooted plans, it was publicly revealed in February 2019 that future plans consisting of the demolition and full rebuild of the Steve Bull Stand, followed by the redevelopment of the Sir Jack Hayward Stand, to raise the stadium capacity to 45–46,000, were under active consideration. However, in 2020 the club announced more modest plans for making gradual improvements to

7590-528: The angular design after a teacher asked him to demonstrate an understanding of Blaise Pascal 's Hexagrammum Mysticum Theorem, and entered it in an art competition advertised in the Express and Star newspaper. Mr Davies had made a copyright claim and wanted compensation. Mr Davies lost his copyright infringement claim and now faces legal fees and costs estimated to be about £450,000. Wolves' traditional away colours have been all-white, but recent decades have seen

7705-610: The close season in 1967, Wolves played a mini-season in North America as part of the fledgling United Soccer Association league which imported clubs from Europe and South America. Playing as the " Los Angeles Wolves ", they won the Western Division and ultimately the championship by defeating the Eastern Division champions Washington Whips (import of Aberdeen ) in a final decider. The club's return to

7820-400: The club could keep a four-fifths scale replica of the original trophy. Upon their third consecutive win or fifth win overall, a club could retain the trophy permanently. Under the new regulations, the trophy remains in UEFA's keeping at all times. A full-size replica trophy is awarded to each winner of the competition. A club that wins three consecutive times or five times overall will receive

7935-652: The club into the Premier League . Kenny Jackett took Wolves to a record EFL League One (Tier 3) points haul of 103 as they won this division in 2013–14 . Ståle Solbakken became Wolves’ first foreign manager under Steve Morgan ’s ownership, followed later by Walter Zenga , two Portuguese managers Nuno Espirito Santo and Bruno Lage , and Julen Lopetegui who is Spanish, under current owners Fosun . Wolves have also been managed by two former England national team managers in Graham Taylor and Glenn Hoddle . As well as having numerous supporters' clubs across

8050-497: The club's first overseas manager but his tenure lasted only six months before a poor run of results saw him replaced by Dean Saunders in January 2013. Saunders failed to bring any upturn, culminating in both the club's relegation to EFL League One , a level the club had not played at since 1989, and Saunders's own dismissal. Following this, Kenny Jackett was appointed in May 2013 in the retitled position of head coach, and led

8165-590: The club's official women's team in 2008. They currently play at the third level of English women's football in the FA Women's National League North . Their home games are played at the New Bucks Head Ground in Telford. Source: [1] For details on all former players, see List of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players The club has been represented by numerous high-profile players over

8280-506: The club's record goalscorer Steve Bull , who was the last of the club's England internationals to play in a major tournament. Andy Gray , Emlyn Hughes , Paul Ince and Denis Irwin are all previous League Championship medal winners who have also represented Wolves. Joleon Lescott went on to play for England 26 times scoring once. Robbie Keane went on to become Ireland's all-time leading goalscorer with 68 goals in 146 appearances. The Wolverhampton Wanderers Hall of Fame has inducted

8395-603: The commencement of the Italian clubs' domination, when Diego Maradona 's Napoli defeated VfB Stuttgart . The 1990s started with two all-Italian finals, and in 1992, Torino lost the final to Ajax on the away goals rule . Juventus won the competition for a third time in 1993. Inter Milan kept the cup in Italy in 1994. 1995 saw a third all-Italian final, with Parma proving their consistency after two consecutive Cup Winners' Cup finals. The only final with no Italians in

8510-475: The competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. In 1999 , the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was merged with the UEFA Cup and discontinued as a separate competition. From the 2004–05 season a group stage was added before the knockout phase. The competition took on its current name in 2009 , following a change in format. The 2009 re-branding included a merge with

8625-586: The competition in 1975 and 1979, and reached the final in 1980. Feyenoord won the cup in 1974 after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 4–2 on aggregate (2–2 in London, 2–0 in Rotterdam). Liverpool won the competition for the second time in 1976 after defeating Club Brugge in the final. During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg (1982 and 1987) and Real Madrid (1985 and 1986) won the competition twice each, with Anderlecht reaching two consecutive finals, winning in 1983 and losing to Tottenham Hotspur in 1984. 1989 saw

8740-454: The cup is formed by a base with two onyx discs in which a band with the flags of the UEFA member nations is inserted. The lower part of the sculpture symbolises the stylised footballers and is surmounted by a hand-embossed slab. A musical theme for the competition, the Anthem, is played before every Europa League game at a stadium hosting such an event and before every television broadcast of

8855-423: The cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious. CSKA Moscow won in 2005. Sevilla succeeded on two consecutive occasions in 2006 and 2007, the latter in a final against fellow Spaniards Espanyol . Zenit Saint Petersburg won in 2008. Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk , won in 2009, the first Ukrainian side to do so. Since the 2009–10 season, the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League. At

8970-436: The days before seating regulations, the ground could hold more than 60,000 spectators, with the record attendance being 61,315 for a First Division match against Liverpool on 11 February 1939. The 1940s and 1950s saw average attendances for seasons regularly exceed 40,000, coinciding with the club's peak on the field. During this time Molineux became one of the first British grounds to install floodlights, enabling it to host

9085-454: The eight groups qualified for the main knockout round along with the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage. From then on a series of two-legged knockout ties were played before a single-legged final, traditionally held on a Wednesday in May, exactly one week before the Champions League final. In the 2009–10 season , the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League to raise its profile. Eight more teams qualified for

9200-466: The existing one on land where housing had been demolished. This new all-seater stand – named the John Ireland Stand after the then-club president – was completed in 1979 and was the first stage of a plan to rebuild the entire stadium. The cost of the Ireland Stand escalated to over £2 million and plunged the club into a financial crisis. As a result, it was forced to enter receivership in 1982. By

9315-453: The final of the inaugural play-offs but were denied promotion by Aldershot . Building on that, the team achieved both the Fourth and Third Division championships in the next two seasons and won the 1988 Football League Trophy Final at Wembley . Lifelong fan Jack Hayward purchased the club in 1990 and immediately funded the extensive redevelopment of a by then dilapidated Molineux into

9430-600: The final spur for Gabriel Hanot , the editor of L'Équipe , to propose the creation of the European Cup (later rebranded as the UEFA Champions League ). Wolves were one of the first British clubs to participate. In the 1957–58 season, Wolves defeated Real Madrid 5–4 (3–2 in Wolverhampton and 2–2 in Madrid) in home and away friendlies. The 1960s began with a fourth FA Cup victory and Wolves almost achieved

9545-441: The final. Starting with the 1997–98 season , the final became a one-off match, but all other ties remained two-legged. Before the 2004–05 season , the tournament consisted of one qualifying round, followed by a series of knockout rounds. The sixteen non-qualifiers from the final qualifying round of the Champions League entered at the first round proper; later in the tournament, the survivors were joined by third-place finishers from

9660-615: 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

9775-406: The first ever official game was staged on 7 September 1889 before a crowd of 4,000. The ground was capable of hosting 20,000 spectators, although English football crowds rarely reached that number in the 19th century. Wolves bought the freehold in 1923 and soon began a series of ground improvements under the auspices of Archibald Leitch , beginning with the construction of a major grandstand on

9890-517: The following former players: Wolves have had 32 different (permanently appointed) managers during the club's existence. The first manager, George Worrall , was identified by the title of "club secretary", a post that continued until the appointment of a full-time manager in the modern sense was made in 1922. The club's most successful manager is Stan Cullis , whose 16-year tenure brought all three of Wolves' league championships as well as two FA Cup triumphs. Two other managers have been inducted into

10005-412: The group stage, which consisted of 12 groups with four teams each (in a double round-robin); the top two teams in each group advanced. The competition was then similar to the previous format, with four rounds of two-legged knockout rounds and a one-off final held at a neutral ground which met UEFA's Category Four stadium criteria . Matches are generally played on Thursdays. The final was played in May, on

10120-478: 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 1937–38 Wolves came within a whisker of winning the club's first English league title:

10235-511: The knock-out stage triggered additional bonuses: €500,000 for the round of 32, €1,200,000 for the round of 16, €1,800,000 for the quarter-finals and €2,800,000 for the semi-finals. The losing finalists received €4,600,000 and the champions received €8,600,000. The UEFA Europa League is sponsored by seven multinational corporations, which share the same partners as the UEFA Conference League. The tournament's main sponsors for

10350-412: The league before his first Premier League game, Lopetegui guided Wolves to a 13th-place finish. He left prior to the 2023–24 season due to a dispute over the transfer budget, and was replaced by Gary O'Neil . The club's traditional colours of gold and black allude to the city council 's motto " out of darkness cometh light " with the two colours representing light and darkness respectively. Although

10465-477: The league championship for the first time in 1953–54 , overhauling local rivals West Bromwich Albion late in the season. Two further titles were soon won in successive years ( 1957–58 and 1958–59 ), as Wolves vied with Manchester United to be acknowledged the premier team in English football at that juncture. Wolves were renowned both for the club's domestic success and for the staging of high-profile "floodlit friendlies" against other top club sides from around

10580-401: The loans taken out to fund the new John Ireland Stand, led the club to receivership and relegation in 1982. The club was saved from liquidation at the last minute when it was purchased by a consortium fronted by former player Derek Dougan . Initially this takeover, financed by two Saudi brothers, Mahmud and Mohammad Bhatti of the company Allied Properties, brought immediate promotion back to

10695-531: The main one being the Black Country derby contested with West Bromwich Albion . Since 2016, the club has been owned by the Chinese conglomerate Fosun International . 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

10810-434: The only goal of the final to defeat the reigning European champions and League Cup holders Nottingham Forest . The multi-million pound rebuilding of the Molineux Street Stand in 1979 was to be the catalyst for the club's near-financial ruin during the next decade. Plunging match attendances in the early-1980s, at least partly due to recession in both the national and local economies , and consequent difficulties in repaying

10925-420: The play-off final under Dave Jones to end a 19-year absence from the top level. Their stay proved short-lived however as they were immediately relegated back to the newly retitled EFL Championship . After former England manager Glenn Hoddle failed to bring a swift return to the Premier League, the rebuilding of the squad by Mick McCarthy rejuvenated the club with an unexpected play-off finish . The club

11040-411: The prize money received by the clubs is divided into fixed payments based on participation and results, and variable amounts that depend of the value of their TV market. For the 2021–22 season , group stage participation in the Europa League awarded a base fee of €3,630,000. A victory in the group pays €630,000 and a draw €210,000. Each group winner earns €1,100,000 and each runner-up €550,000. Reaching

11155-500: The record of most goals (17) scored in a single season of the tournament. The UEFA Cup was preceded by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup , which was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition grew from 11 teams during the first edition ( 1955–58 ) to 64 teams by the last edition which was played in 1970–71 . It was replaced by the UEFA Cup, a new seasonal confederation competition with different regulations, format and disciplinary committee. The UEFA Cup

11270-432: The round of 16. The teams ranked 25th to 36th in the league phase and the losers of the play-offs are eliminated from the competition. The final is played at a neutral venue. The winner of the competition is entitled to participate in the UEFA Champions League league phase the following season. The competition's matches are usually played on Thursdays. UEFA coefficients were introduced in 1980 and, until 1999, they gave

11385-411: The rules of the national association, or vacated, if the described limit is reached. The top three ranked associations may qualify for a fourth berth if both the Champions League and Europa League champions are from that association and do not qualify for European competition through their domestic performance. In that case, the fourth-placed team in that association will join the Europa League instead of

11500-671: The same time, the UEFA Intertoto Cup , UEFA's third-tier competition, was discontinued and merged into the new Europa League. Atlético Madrid won twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final between them and Athletic Bilbao . In 2013, Chelsea became the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year. In 2014, Sevilla won their third cup in eight years after defeating Benfica on penalties. In 2015, Sevilla won their fourth UEFA Cup/Europa League and, in an unprecedented feat, they defended their title

11615-467: The stadium and surrounding land, while a local developer paid off the club's outstanding debts in return for planning permission to develop the land adjacent to the stadium. The 1986–87 season saw Wolves' first campaign in the Fourth Division, where, with the guidance of new manager Graham Turner and the goals of Steve Bull , who would ultimately score a club record 306 goals, the team reached

11730-534: The stadium as the club seeks to retain its unique character, and enable prioritisation of investment in the playing side of the club. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-23s are competing in Division 2 of

11845-522: The team back to the EFL Championship in his first season, setting a new club record points total of 103 which is also an all-time record for the most points accumulated by any team during a Tier 3 season. On 21 July 2016, Chinese investment group Fosun International bought the club's parent company, W.W. (1990) Ltd, from Steve Morgan and his own company Bridgemere Group for a reported £45 million, with Jez Moxey stepping down from his role as

11960-407: The team's original colours upon formation were red and white, adopted from the school colours of St Lukes, for much of their history their home colours have been their distinctive old gold shirts with black shorts. In the early decades of the club a variety of shirt designs using these colours were created, including stripes and diagonal halves, until the continual usage of a plain shirt design since

12075-521: The time the team dropped into the Fourth Division in 1986, only the John Ireland Stand and the South Bank terrace remained in use. New safety laws were implemented following the Bradford City stadium fire and these forced the closure of both the now-dilapidated North Bank and Waterloo Road Stand. The club did not have the funds necessary to rebuild them. Following the takeover of the club by Sir Jack Hayward in 1990, £8.5 million of funding

12190-416: 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

12305-582: The world. Wolves had become one of the first club sides in Britain to invest in floodlighting in 1953 at a cost of £10,000 (£281,308.64 at 2019 prices ). Perhaps the most famed of these friendlies saw Wolves defeat a Honvéd side including many members of the Hungarian national team that had recently humbled England twice, leading the national media to proclaim Wolves "Champions of the World". This became

12420-593: The years, most notably Billy Wright , who captained England a record 90 times and was the first player to win a century of international caps, as well as earning the Footballer of the Year Award (in 1952), an accolade also won by Wolves half-back Bill Slater in 1960. In total, 36 players have won full England caps during their time with Wolves, including the club's former captain Conor Coady as well as

12535-523: 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

12650-455: Was bought from Sir Jack Hayward by Steve Morgan in 2007 and two years later the team returned to the Premier League as 2008–09 Football League Championship title winners. Wolves successfully battled relegation for two seasons before McCarthy's dismissal in the 2011–12 season, which precipitated relegation under his former assistant Terry Connor , who was promoted to replace McCarthy. Following relegation, Norwegian Ståle Solbakken became

12765-406: Was changed in 2014 to broaden the competition's appeal, giving the Europa League champions a Champions League qualification berth, more teams automatically qualified for the group stage. If cup winners had already qualified for European competition through league performance, their place in the league is vacated and goes to the best-ranked teams not qualified for European competition; the cup runner-up

12880-438: Was dismissed after sixteen years in post in September 1964 after a disastrous start to the 1964–65 season . Cullis's dismissal did not prevent the season ending with relegation (the first time Wolves had known relegation since 1922–23 ) and the club's first spell outside the top division since 1932. Exile from the top flight lasted only two seasons however, as Wolves were promoted in 1967 as Second Division runners-up. During

12995-473: Was first played in the 1971–72 season, and ended with an all-English final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur , with Spurs taking the first honours. The competition has since gained greater prestige and interest from the mass media than the Fairs Cup. The title was retained by another English club, Liverpool , in 1973, who defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final. Gladbach won

13110-414: Was launched as part of the competition's rebranding at the start of the 2015–16 season . A new anthem created by MassiveMusic was composed for the start of the 2018–19 season . It is also used for UEFA Conference League matches. Qualification for the competition is based on UEFA coefficients , with better entrance rounds being offered to the more successful nations. In practice, each association has

13225-740: Was made available to redevelop Molineux comprehensively. Between August 1991 and December 1993 three sides of the stadium were completely rebuilt to form a 28,525 capacity all-seater stadium that complied with the Taylor Report : the Waterloo Road Stand was replaced by the Billy Wright Stand, the North Bank terrace by the Stan Cullis Stand, and the South Bank terrace by the Sir Jack Hayward Stand (named

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