Detail

Molineux Stadium has been the home of Wolverhampton Wanderers since 1889, and holds the distinction of being one the first “complete” stadiums in the history of the Football League. Named after a successful local merchant, Benjamin Molineux, who previously built a house where the ground sits today, the estate was purchased in 1860 by O.E McGregor who converted the land into a park for the general public. Acquired by Northampton Brewery in 1889, the brewers kept the football pitch in place and allowed Wolves to start renting it. After a summer of renovation work it hosted its first league match on 7th September 1889. A record 4,000 fans saw the home side defeat Notts County 2-0 in the inaugural fixture, which was a great scalp to claim at the time. The ground’s capacity peaked in the pre-war period with the record attendance set during a first division match against Liverpool on 11th February 1939. Attracting 61,315 supporters, the post-war average capacities slowly declined each decade after the introduction of increasingly stringent stadium legislation. Towards the end of the 20th century Molineux’s capacity had more than halved. Modern day Molineux with its current 31,700 capacity came about in the 1990s after the publication of the Taylor Report. Recently taken over by Sir Jack Hayward who helped restructure the club’s debts, The club invested in new all-seater stands and demolished the soon to be outlawed terraces. In 1992 the Stan Cullis Stand was built, followed by the Bill Wright Stand and the Jack Harris Stand (Now Sir Jack Hayward stand) a year later in 1993. Currently there are ongoing plans to develop Molineux ever further in the future. Announced in May 2010, and submitted for planning permission three months later in September, the multi-million pound development is set to span across four distinct phases. So far Phase 1 which saw the demolition and rebuilding of the Stan Cullis Stand is the only one to be enacted, having been completed in time for the start of the 2012-2013 season.

TRAIN Wolverhampton railway station is located approximately 0.7 miles east of Molineux Stadium, across the other side of the city’s A4150 ring road. Services in and out of the city to the rest of the UK are operated by four train companies: Virgin Trains, London Midland, CrossCountry and Arriva Trains Wales. The distance by foot will likely take you around 15 minutes. Walking Directions: Exit the station from the main entrance on Railway Drive. Follow this road as it passes under the busy A-road and turns into Lichfield Street. Turn right onto Princess Street and straight across the Hogshead roundabout Continue until you get to the ring road and cross the road a the traffic lights Wolves’ stadium is to the left of the University campus. BUS The nearest bus stops are located on Waterloo Road which is just behind the west Stand at the stadium. Although we can’t say what the matchday specific services are, we do know that the following “normal” buses serve the stadium during the week: 3, 4, 5, 5A, 62, 62A, 877, 878. DRIVING Molineux Stadium’s address for satnav is as follows: Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV1 4QR.