Rovers v Wolves

Saturday the 6th October 2012 – Venue: Ewood Park – Kick-Off 3pm

As a child in the 1970’s I followed Wolves from afar when Rovers were marooned in lower divisions, primarily as I liked their kit! Both my parents attended the 1960 FA Cup Final.

It was the 26th September when I first started researching for this game. I originally thought I had agreed to preview a game that would be dominated by off-field events and potentially a mass boycott by the home supporters! I am pleased common sense has prevailed and a new start can be had by one and all.

Two founder members of the football league, meeting in a competitive game at Ewood Park, with the largest crowd of the season attending and a great deal at stake after relegation for both teams, is a mouth watering fixture rich in history. I am genuinely pleased the focus has returned to the football as this game is fully deserving of the headlines generated.

May I take this opportunity to welcome back all our fans who will be returning to Ewood Park for the first time this season. It will be pleasing to see many seats occupied again.

(My lasting memory from writing this preview is the amazing history of these two great clubs, the success Wolves have enjoyed over the years and lately the shocking results Wolves have had this last year or two!)

Our Visitors - Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club - Molineux Stadium, Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, WV1 4QR – Year Formed: 1877 – Ground Capacity: 28,525 – Current Manager: Stale Solbakken – Chairman – Steve Morgan

Club Colours - The first badge to be worn on Wolves shirts was the coat of arms of Wolverhampton City Council, usually worn on special occasions such as cup finals. In the late 1960s, Wolves introduced their own club badge consisting of a single leaping wolf, which later became three leaping wolves in the 1970s. In 1979, Wolves changed to the now modern wolf-head badge.

The club's traditional colours allude to the city council's motto "Out of Darkness Cometh Light" with the gold and black representing light and darkness respectively.

It could be argued that this motto applies more to the Rovers than Wolves this week!

An Exclusive Club - Wolves are one of 12 founder members of the football league, which includes ourselves of course. The club was formed in 1877 as St. Lukes Football Club, but merged with a local cricket and football club, The Wanderers two years later and then became known as Wolverhampton Wanderers. The club's first manager was George Worrall from 1877-1885.

The club finished the inaugural season in a respectable third place as well as reaching their first FA Cup Final, losing 3-0 to ‘Double’ winners Preston North End. Jack Addenbrooke then took over from Worrall and amazingly stayed in the job for 36 years making him the longest serving manager in their history. Other managers over the years have included Stan Cullis, Bill McGarry, John Barnwell, Graham Taylor, Mark McGhee, Glen Hoddle and more recently Mick Mcarthy and Terry Connor.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have played at Molineux, since 1889. Their previous home was in the Blakenhall area and although no signs of the ground remain, a nearby road is called Wanderers Avenue. The Molineux name originates from Benjamin Molineux, a local merchant who built his home on the grounds of the old brewery that became Wolves home ground.

The ground is also steeped in history and in 1953, the stadium became one of the first to install floodlights at an estimated cost of £10,000. The first ever floodlit game was held on 30 September 1953, as Wolves beat South Africa 3-1. The ground’s old South Bank amazingly often held over 30,000 standing fans in that end alone!

The leading goalscorer for Wolves is Steve Bull, with 306 goals from 1986 to 1999. Bull also holds the Wolves record for the most hat-tricks scored - 18 in total! Bull also played 13 times for England scoring 4 goals, although Wolves were never in the top flight during his time there. In the 1987-1988 season he scored a record 52 goals in all competitions. An excellent achievement even in the old Division Four.

Derek Parkin holds the record for the most appearances with 609 between 1968 / 1982 and the clubs biggest league victory is 10-1 against Leicester in the 1937-1938 season. Jimmy Mullen was the club's youngest player, when he made his debut against Leeds United in Division 1 on 18 February 1939. He was 16 years 43 days .

1980’s

An interesting fact regarding Wolves is that they were relegated from the old Division One into Division Four in consecutive seasons. In season 1983-84, Wolves were relegated from Division One, but by the time season 1986-87 came around, they were playing Division Four football.