Wolverhampton Wanderers

For a team that was reckoned to be favourites for a quick return to Division One Wolves had a pretty
good go at proving the sceptics wrong. The fact that they eventually proved not good enough for the 
Premiership was due to factors well beyond the control of manager Dave Jones, although there are 
those who thought that dispensing with the services of coach John Ward before Wanderers had even 
kicked a Premier League ball in anger was a retrograde step.

Dave Jones assembled a group of footballers who had been good enough to win the First Division 
play-off final to get into the Premier League but the simple truth of the matter is that his hands were 
tied, financially, by a board that wouldn’t let him recruit more players, experienced at playing in the top 
flight, to consolidate that achievement. Paul Ince and Denis Irwin, plus Mark Kennedy, were players 
who had plied their trade at the highest level but those three internationals alone could not carry the 
weight of expectation that Wolves were burdened with.

One player linked with Wolves was Teddy Sheringham, a free agent after leaving Spurs but it seems the 
board a Molineux would not sanction what they considered to be high wages for a 37-year-old. ‘Teddy’ 
chose instead to go to Portsmouth and was a big factor in them staying up as Wolves slid back into 
Division One after just one taste of the high-life.

Dave Jones was quoted, more than once, at saying if the club didn’t pay for better players it would 
prove costly and his prophetic words were very accurate as the team spent most of the campaign 
marooned at the bottom, though if Mohamed Camara had actually converted a higher number of the 
chances that came his way, and Carl Cort had arrived at the club sooner rather than later, there might 
have been a better attempt at closing the points gap that eventually sent Wolves back from whence 
they came.

The team got off to the worst of starts and were crushed at Blackburn on the opening day, 16 August 
2003, and it never got much better. Ten goals were conceded, in three defeats, before the first point 
came, against Portsmouth. It was October before the first win bonus was paid out but it did little to 
alter the team’s plight at the foot of the table, but it did signal a mini-run of seven points from nine 
before they were brought back to earth by Middlesbrough.

It’s likely that Wolves fans realised the inevitable when they were crushed 5–2 by fellow strugglers 
Spurs and went into the New Year in the relegation zone after securing just their third win of the 
campaign, against another relegation-threatened club, Leeds United.

In January 2004 Wolves pulled off one of the all-time great Premiership result when they beat 
Manchester United, with a Kenny Miller goal, in front of a record attendance. Draws against Liverpool 
and Portsmouth followed before Arsenal brought them back to reality.

Spring wasn’t kind and the team shipped 14 goals in losing four in a row before six-goals were shared 
with Manchester City, themselves faced with a relegation fight. Wolves then beat ’Boro 2–0 and went 
into the final month believing a miracle was possible but despite beating Everton and drawing at 
Newcastle the club are relegated.

Most observers seeing that Wolves did not spend to survive were left wondering if following the 
example of Black Country rivals West Brom would pay of for the ‘Old Gold’ as it did for The Baggies.

Managers

Dave Jones                January 2001–