As we eagerly await the first league game of the season, here is the essential information about Wolverhampton Wanderers and the city they come from.
Wolves most successful period was the 1950s, where they won three Football League Championships (then the highest division) and two FA Cups, and were involved in the earliest European friendlies. They were hailed by the press as "The Unofficial World Champions" after one of their most famous victories, against Honvéd of Hungary. They were also the first English team to play in the Soviet Union.
In the following decade they thought that they ought to visit the other superpower as well, so they entered the original United Soccer Association (forerunner of the NASL) in 1967. The team was based in Los Angeles and played as the Los Angeles Wolves, going on to win the league's championship that year.
The Molineux Hotel is a Grade II listed former mansion house which stands in the city centre. It was constructed in about 1720, with extensions throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1860 the grounds were opened to the public as Wolverhampton's first public park, whilst several years later the park was leased out to the club to be used as the Molineux Stadium.
As the nation has been gripped by Olympic fever in recent weeks, I ought to mention that 1984 javelin gold medallist Tessa Sanderson came from Wolverhampton.
The United Kingdom government announced on December 18, 2000 that Wolverhampton would be granted city status, making it one of three "Millennium Cities"
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre was opened in 1894, and according to Wikipedia “it holds the European record for the largest mass fainting episode, which was caused when the little one off the Krankies walked on stage in a Buckfast induced stupor with no trousers on”. This was possibly made up by a prankster, who was hoping that some idiot would include it in a list of facts about Wolverhampton.
In the 14th and 15th centuries Wolverhampton was one of the "staple towns" of the woollen trade, which is represented today by the woolpack on the city's coat of arms.
Wolverhampton had a prolific bicycle industry from 1868 to 1975, during which time a total of more than 200 bicycle manufacturing companies existed there, but today there are none remaining. We can but hope that Bradley Wiggins and co will inspire the nation to go cycling once again, so the industry can make a comeback.
The city has been the venue for some historic speeches over the years, including Prime Minister Lloyd George’s "Homes fit for heroes" speech in 1918. And in April 1968 Enoch Powell delivered his controversial Rivers of Blood speech, in which he warned of massive civil unrest if mass immigration of black and Asian commonwealth inhabitants continued.
Wolverhampton’s one great contribution to humanity was of course Slade, but then they spolit it all by producing Liam Payne, member of forgettable boy band ‘One Direction’
The city used to have two main railway stations, but the ‘Low Level’ station closed in 1981. It’s now being redeveloped to include some nice restaurants and shops and stuff, so it’s going to be the nearest thing to a tourist attraction that Wolverhampton can manage.