2008–09 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

Season review

The close season saw the club continue their policy of signing young players with potential from the lower leagues, rather than pursuing their heavy investment strategy of early times. The close season saw the likes of Richard Stearman, David Jones and Sam Vokes arrive, along with the experience of Chris Iwelumo, while making a transfer profit with the sale of players such as Seyi Olofinjana, Jay Bothroyd and Freddy Eastwood. The squad was also boosted by retaining their most valuable assets in Wayne Hennessey, Michael Kightly and the division's top goalscorer of last season, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.

The season saw the club's strongest start since 1949–50, as a draw away to Plymouth preceded two runs of seven consecutive wins — scoring 23 goals and conceding only seven goals in the first eight games. Transfer deadline day saw the club add further defensive strength as three new defenders joined the ranks — George Friend, Matt Hill and Jason Shackell. Although their winning streak was ended by a 3–0 home defeat to promotion rivals Reading, as well as a 5–2 defeat at Norwich, which saw Wolves surrender top spot to Birmingham City, Wolves rediscovered their winning form for the second run of seven consecutive wins to lead the table at Christmas.

After drawing their final two fixtures of 2008, Wolves endured a dismal start to 2009, winning just once in eleven league fixtures. Trying to arrest this slump, the January transfer window saw the arrival of three new faces: Kyel Reid and Nigel Quashie on loan for the remainder of the season from West Ham United; defender Christophe Berra also joined from Scottish club Hearts for £2.3million. The FA Cup had brought some cheer with a fringe squad winning 2–0 at local rivals Birmingham in the 3rd round, before the club exited the competition with a 2–1 home defeat to Premier League side Middlesbrough.

Weathering their bad run of league form, Wolves managed to regain an air of consistency, reinventing their game from the free-flowing, free-scoring football of the first third of the season to hold down a string of clean sheets and one goal margin victories against Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday. With promotion rivals Birmingham City and Reading unable to take advantage of their poor run, March saw an upturn in Wolves' league form as the club took 13 points from a possible 15, strengthening their position at the top of the table that they had led since October.

With just seven games left on the Championship calendar, Aston Villa striker Marlon Harewood was loaned for the run-in, though the team were also hit by the news that key midfielder Michael Kightly would miss the remainder of the season after suffering a broken metatarsal in his foot. Further injury woe struck when Chris Iwelumo suffered medial ligament damage in a loss to local rivals Birmingham in April that ended a five-game unbeaten run.

However, Easter weekend brought 3–0 home win against struggling Southampton, followed by a 3–2 away victory at Derby County that gave Wolves a seven-point lead over third-placed Sheffield United. Promotion to the Premier League was confirmed on 18 April 2009 when a goal from Ebanks-Blake gave Wolves a 1–0 win over Queens Park Rangers. Seven days later, Wolves clinched their first league title since the 1988–89 season — and their first title at second-tier level since 1976–77 — after a 1–1 draw at Barnsley brought the point they required for the title.

Wolves completed their season with a 1–0 home win over Doncaster Rovers, after which they were presented with the Championship trophy to crown their most successful season in decades as they returned to the top flight after a five-year absence.

Results

Pre season

Wolves conducted a short three-match tour of Scotland, their first visit in three years. As had become common in recent years, only their final game was held at their Molineux home. A second "Wolves XI" team largely comprising academy prospects and out of favour senior players also played a series of matches during this period. Ward Vokes Keogh Iwelumo Jarvis Santa Cruz "Wolves XI" pre season results (all away): 4–1 v Chasetown (18 July), 1–2 v Rhyl (26 July), 2–0 v Stafford Rangers (5 August)

Football League Championship

A total of 24 teams competed in the Championship in the 2008–09 season. Each team would play every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. The provisional fixture list was released on 16 June 2008, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage. Seip Vokes Ebanks-Blake Edwards Edwards Morgan Kightly Iwelumo Vokes Keogh Ebanks-Blake Bikey Cissé Scotland Ebanks-Blake Lita Croft Ebanks-Blake O'Toole Smith 61' Jones Gray Ebanks-Blake Jones Ebanks-Blake Edwards Foley Edwards Jarvis St Ledger Maynard Jarvis Keogh Vokes Cort Doherty McKenzie Ebanks-Blake 90+6' Konstantopoulos Johnson Ebanks-Blake 70' O'Connor Craddock Jones Sterjovski Jarvis

Final table

Results summary

Results by round |color_-2=green1|color_22-=red1

FA Cup

Vokes Emnes

League Cup

Davies Craney Harrison Hudson Burchill Reid Foley Iwelumo Elliott Henry

Players

Statistics

|- |||0||2||0||1||0||||0||0||1|| |- |||||2||0||2||0||||||||1|| |- |||0||0||0||1||0||||0||0||0|| |- |||||2||0||2||0||****||||||0|| |- |||||1||0||2||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||||||1|| |- |17||||0||0||0||0||17||||||0|| |- |||||||0||1||0||||||||0|| |- |||0||2||0||2||0||||0||12||0|| |- |41||25||||0||||0||||25||||0|| |- |||||||1||||0||||||||0|| |- |||0||1||0||1||0||||0||||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |||||2||0||||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||||||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||||1||||||0||0||Davies was transferred during the season to Bolton Wanderers. |- |15||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|15||0||4||0|| |- |||||1||0||0||0||||||0||0|| |- |||||2||2||1||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||||0||0|| |- |||14||||0||||2||style="background:#98FB98"|||16||||1|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||1||0||||0||0||0|| |- |||0||1||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||0||0||0|| |- |||0||0||0||1||0||||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||Edwards was transferred before the season began to Blackpool. |- |||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||0||0||0|| |- |||||1||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||||0||||0||0||0||Elliott was transferred during the season to Preston North End. |- |13||0||1||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|14||0||||0|| |- |||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||0||||0|| |- |||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||0||0||0|| |- |||0||1||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |12||0||0||0||1||0||13||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||Salmon was released during the season. |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |45||||0||0||2||0||47||||||0|| |- |||||0||0||2||0||||||0||0||Gray was initially loaned to Sheffield Wednesday, and later transferred there permanently. |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||Collins was initially loaned to Port Vale, and later transferred there permanently. |- |||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||Hughes was released during the season. |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |- |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0|| |}

Awards

Transfers

In

Out

Loans in

Loans out

Management and coaching staff

Kit

The season saw a new home and away kit, both manufactured by Le Coq Sportif. The away kit was all black with minor neon green piping. Chaucer Consulting sponsored the club for a fifth and final season.

References

References

1. (25 June 2008). "Stearman swaps Foxes for Wolves". BBC Sport.
2. (27 June 2008). "Wolves complete deal for Jones". BBC Sport.
3. (23 May 2008). "Vokes joins Wolves from Cherries". BBC Sport.
4. (14 July 2008). "Iwelumo completes Wolves switch". BBC Sport.
5. (26 July 2008). "Stoke sign midfielder Olofinjana". BBC Sport.
6. (4 August 2008). "Bothroyd completes Cardiff move". BBC Sport.
7. (12 July 2008). "Eastwood seals switch to Coventry". BBC Sport.
8. (2 September 2008). "Wolves capture Friend from Exeter". BBC Sport.
9. (2 September 2008). "Hill surprised to leave Preston". BBC Sport.
10. (1 September 2008). "Wolves capture defender Shackell". BBC Sport.
11. (15 January 2009). "West Ham's Reid loaned to Wolves". BBC Sport.
12. (22 January 2009). "Quashie makes loan move to Wolves". BBC Sport.
13. (2 February 2009). "Berra completes Wolves transfer". BBC Sport.
14. (23 March 2009). "Harewood signs for Wolves on loan". BBC Sport.
15. (1 April 2009). "Kightly's season ended by injury". BBC Sport.
16. (6 April 2009). "Birmingham 2–0 Wolves". BBC Sport.
17. (16 June 2009). "Relegated Reading start at Forest". BBC Sport.
18. (30 April 2009). "Live From The Awards Dinner!". wolves.co.uk.
19. (9 May 2009). "Wolves have end-of-term clear-out". BBC Sport.
20. (15 July 2008). "Aberdeen take Mulgrew from Wolves". BBC Sport.
21. (7 August 2008). "Blackpool sign defender Edwards". BBC Sport.
22. (1 September 2008). "Preston sign Elliott from Wolves". BBC Sport.
23. (13 January 2009). "Denes Departs". wolves.co.uk.
24. (16 January 2009). "Collins and Brammer sign for Vale". BBC Sport.
25. (26 January 2009). "Davies Joins Bolton from Wolves". BBC Sport.
26. (2 February 2009). "Gray makes permanent Owls switch". BBC Sport.
27. (27 October 2008). "Chelsea loan Mancienne to Wolves". BBC Sport.
28. (28 November 2008). "Higgs in, Davies out for Wolves". BBC Sport.
29. (26 March 2009). "Stacky's Back!". wolves.co.uk.
30. (23 July 2008). "Burton bring in Wolves midfielder". BBC Sport.
31. (18 December 2008). "Bury keep Bennett for the season". BBC Sport.
32. (31 July 2008). "Collins makes Valiants loan move". BBC Sport.
33. (8 August 2008). "Hatters bring in Gleeson on loan". BBC Sport.
34. (22 August 2008). "Little leaves Wolves for Cobblers". BBC Sport.
35. (29 October 2008). "Loan pair to extend Watford stay". BBC Sport.
36. (3 October 2008). "Oldham sign Wolves' Jones on loan". BBC Sport.
37. (12 November 2008). "Murray heads for Hereford on loan". BBC Sport.
38. (27 November 2008). "Davies Deadline Day Deal Done". LCFC.co.uk.
39. (9 January 2009). "Owls sign Gray on short-term loan". BBC Sport.
40. (15 January 2009). "Owls sign Wolves' Potter on loan". BBC Sport.
41. (15 January 2009). "Winger Gobern moves to Colchester". BBC Sport.
42. (30 January 2009). "Charlton capture Kandol and Ward". BBC Sport.
43. (2 February 2009). "Wolves' Jones returns to Oldham". BBC Sport.
44. (10 February 2009). "Shackell Returns To Norwich On Loan". wolves.co.uk.
45. (25 March 2009). "MK Dons snap up Wolves midfielder". BBC Sport.
46. (2 May 2008). "New home kit unveiled". wolves.co.uk.
47. (24 June 2008). "Away kit". wolves.co.uk.