Wolverhampton Wanderers football club (Wolves)

Founded:	1877
Manager:	Gary O'Neil
Address:	Molineux Ground Waterloo Road Wolverhampton West Midlands WV1 4QR
Website:	www.wolves.co.uk

Wolverhampton Wanderers, one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, originally consisted of schoolboys from St Luke's in Blackenhall and wore the school colours of red and white.

Wolves played in their now famous old gold and black for the first time in 1891-92. Gold is a prominent colour in the borough?s arms and black being an apt choice for a club from a principal town in the Black Country.

In the 1950s, they became one of the leading teams in the land. During former captain Stan Cullis' term as manager from 1948 to 1964, Wolves won the league title on three occasions.

He placed great emphasis on fitness and power. His approach was not always appreciated by others, who saw his style as a sophisticated version of kick and rush.

The stars of this golden era included Bert Williams in goal, half backs Bill Slater and Billy Wright, forwards Dennis Wilshaw and Roy Swinbourne and wingers Johnny Hancocks and Jimmy Mullen.

During this time, Wolves also played a series of high-profile friendly games against top European sides which became a precursor to the European Cup.

In the mid-1950s, they were dubbed Champions of the World as, in the early days of floodlit football, there was something new and exciting about their encounters with mysterious teams from behind the iron curtain.

In these games, Wolves played in luminous shirts under 60 lamps at Molineux.

Such innovation seemed light years away by the 1980s as Molineux fell in to a sad state of disrepair and Wolves fell into the Fourth Division of the Football League. The club went in to receivership in 1986 and were only saved by a last minute reprieve from the local council.

Life-long supporter Sir Jack Hayward paid 2.1 million pounds to take over the club and ground in 1990 to begin an astonishing revival.

A return to the top division for the first time since 1984 was eventually attained in 2003 as the four-times FA Cup winners reached the Premier League for the first time.

Sir Jack's tenure came to an end in 2007. It is estimated that he spent well in excess of 70 million pounds of his personal wealth on redeveloping Molineux, writing off annual debts and purchasing players.

100% of the club?s shares and assets were bought by Chinese conglomerate Fosun International for a reported 45 million pounds in 2016. Wolves' third spell in the Premier League began the following year.

Home ground history

Windmill Field: 1877

John Harper?s Field: 1879

Dudley Road: 1881

Molineux: 1889