Wolves are roaring forwards (and they’re taking Wolverhampton’s economy with them)
Wolverhampton Wanderers are the ninth most successful side in domestic English Football history. Among their many honours are three First Division titles won in the six seasons that brought the 1950s to a close. At the time, Wolves were invited to compete in the first ever edition of the European Cup (now known as the UEFA Champions League) and were one of the most feared teams in the world. Since the 60s, the Club has been looking to recapture this success and join England’s elite clubs once again.
This journey has not been without the odd bump in the road. There have been a few relegations, interspersed with some survival drama, in which the Club had to wait until the final minutes of the season’s final day to secure their Premier League status. One of the most memorable of these occasions was in May 2011, when Mick McCarthy’s Wolves team stayed up on goal difference after scoring an 87th minute goal in an intensely competitive match against Blackburn Rovers.
Unfortunately, they were not always so lucky. After a double relegation, Wolves found themselves in English football’s third tier in 2013. Their response to this demonstrated the resilience which is one of the city’s most famous hallmarks. The 2013-14 season saw them return to the Championship immediately as champions with 103 points. That success marked the beginning of a new era for one of the Midlands’ most popular teams.
After being acquired by the Chinese investment group Fosun in 2016, Wolves continued playing some wonderful football under the direction of new manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, swiftly returning to the Premier League in 2018. They celebrated their return to top-flight football in the 2018-19 season by finishing 7th. This was the best performance from a newly promoted team since 2001.
The current Wolves side has been praised by many leading commentators and other managers, such as Jose Mourinho, and seems poised to challenge some of Europe’s top sides for major honours. Prior to the cancellation of elite European sport due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Wolves had reached the last-16 of this season’s Europa League. If the competition is resumed following the easing of lockdowns across Europe, Wolves are contenders to win the whole thing.
Like its most famous football team, Wolverhampton’s economy has been through many ups and downs in recent decades. In the 1950s and 60s, Wolverhampton was a leader in manufacturing some of the UK’s favourite products including, notably, bicycles. World-renowned brand Viking relied on a Wolverhampton-based team of 70 to build 20,000 bikes every year at peak production in 1963, just after Wolves’ most recent top tier title-run.
Movement of manufacturing across many industries away from the area presented Wolverhampton’s economy with a number of strategic challenges at it approach the 1980s and then prepared for a new millennium. The city’s entrepreneurs have shown the same tenacity as its footballers in rising to these challenges. Now, Wolverhampton is home to multiple multi-million-pound property developments which are bringing an enormous range of amenities, new jobs and investment opportunities to the Black Country as a whole.
One of the most notable of these developments is the Molineux Quarter, around Wolves’ famous stadium. The quarter will comprise a huge number of mixed use and academic buildings, as well as leisure facilities and scenic public spaces for the local community to enjoy.
One of the many things that Wolverhampton Wanderers share with their city is the motto on which their famous black and gold colours are based: “Out of Darkness Cometh Light.” Wolverhampton is emerging from a period of economic uncertainty as a major regional hub for commerce and investment.