2008–09 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season
Encyclopedia
The 2008–09 season was the 111th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers
. They played the season in the 2nd tier of the English football system
, the Football League Championship
. The season turned out to be a major success as the club finished top of the division and were therefore promoted back to the Premier League after a five year absence.
The team enjoyed their best start to the season for almost 50 years, winning seven of their opening eight games and scoring 23 goals in the process. They led the table continuously from October until the season's end, when they were crowned champions, winning their first silverware in 20 years. Leading goalscorer Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
also finished as the division's top scorer for a second consecutive season.
, 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 , as well as a 5–2 defeat at Norwich
, which saw Wolves surrender top spot to , 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 ; 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 .
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 and . 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 lead since October.
With just seven games left on the Championship calendar, 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 , followed by a 3–2 away victory at that gave Wolves a seven-point lead over third-placed . Promotion to the Premier League was confirmed on 18 April 2009 when a goal from Ebanks-Blake gave Wolves a 1–0 win over . Seven days later, Wolves clinched their first league title since the 1988–89 season — and their first championship at Championship/Second Division level since 1976–77 — after a 1–1 draw at brought the point they required for the title.
Wolves completed their season with a 1–0 home win over , 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.
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
. They played the season in the 2nd tier of the English football system
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...
, the Football League Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
. The season turned out to be a major success as the club finished top of the division and were therefore promoted back to the Premier League after a five year absence.
The team enjoyed their best start to the season for almost 50 years, winning seven of their opening eight games and scoring 23 goals in the process. They led the table continuously from October until the season's end, when they were crowned champions, winning their first silverware in 20 years. Leading goalscorer Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Sylvan Agustus Ebanks-Blake is an English footballer of Jamaican descent who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
also finished as the division's top scorer for a second consecutive 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 StearmanRichard Stearman
Richard James Michael Stearman is an English footballer of Irish descent who plays as a defender for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers...
, David Jones and Sam Vokes
Sam Vokes
Samuel Michael "Sam" Vokes is an English-born Welsh International footballer who plays as a striker. He is currently on loan at Championship side Burnley from Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
arrive, along with the experience of Chris Iwelumo
Chris Iwelumo
Christopher Robert "Chris" Iwelumo is a Scottish footballer who plays for Watford as a striker.Iwelumo started his career with St Mirren before moving to Danish club Aarhus Fremad for two years. A move to Stoke City in 2000 saw him sent out on loan to several teams before a short-lived spell with...
, while making a transfer profit with the sale of players such as Seyi Olofinjana, Jay Bothroyd
Jay Bothroyd
Jay Bothroyd is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers as a striker. He has also played for the England national team. He was a product of the Arsenal Academy and came to prominence during the 1999–2000 FA Youth Cup Final win against Coventry City...
and Freddy Eastwood
Freddy Eastwood
Freddy Eastwood is an English-born footballer, currently playing for Coventry City. He is a Welsh International, eligible to play for the Wales national football team as his maternal grandfather was born in Llanelli, Wales...
. The squad was also boosted by retaining their most valuable assets in Wayne Hennessey
Wayne Hennessey
Wayne Robert Hennessey is a Welsh international footballer who plays for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers as a goalkeeper.-Early career:...
, Michael Kightly
Michael Kightly
Michael John Kightly is an English footballer who plays as a winger. He is on loan at Championship side Watford from Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
and the division's top goalscorer of last season, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Sylvan Agustus Ebanks-Blake is an English footballer of Jamaican descent who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
.
The season saw the club's strongest start since 1949–50, as a draw away to Plymouth
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
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
Jason Shackell
Jason Philip Shackell is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Championship club Derby County.-Norwich City:...
. Although their winning streak was ended by a 3–0 home defeat to promotion rivals , as well as a 5–2 defeat at Norwich
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
, which saw Wolves surrender top spot to , 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
Kyel Reid
Kyel Romaine Reid is an English footballer who plays for Bradford City in League Two.-West Ham:Born in South London, Reid joined West Ham United in July 2004 and is a product of the West Ham United academy system...
and Nigel Quashie
Nigel Quashie
Nigel Francis Quashie is a British footballer who has played more than 300 games in the Football League. He plays as a midfielder, and has represented Scotland, the country of his grandfather, at full international level. He was released by Queens Park Rangers in 2010.-Personal life:Quashie was...
on loan for the remainder of the season from ; defender Christophe Berra
Christophe Berra
Christophe Berra is a Scottish international footballer who currently plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers.-Hearts:Berra joined Hearts on 26 April 2002 from their youth development system...
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 .
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 and . 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 lead since October.
With just seven games left on the Championship calendar, striker Marlon Harewood
Marlon Harewood
Marlon Anderson Harewood is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Guangzhou R&F in China.Harewood started his career at Nottingham Forest. During his career there, he had loan spells at Haka and Ipswich Town before joining West Ham United in 2003 and then Aston Villa in 2007...
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 , followed by a 3–2 away victory at that gave Wolves a seven-point lead over third-placed . Promotion to the Premier League was confirmed on 18 April 2009 when a goal from Ebanks-Blake gave Wolves a 1–0 win over . Seven days later, Wolves clinched their first league title since the 1988–89 season — and their first championship at Championship/Second Division level since 1976–77 — after a 1–1 draw at brought the point they required for the title.
Wolves completed their season with a 1–0 home win over , 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.
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."Wolves XI" pre season results (all away): 4–1 v Chasetown
Chasetown F.C.
Chasetown Football Club is an English football club based in the Chasetown area of Burntwood, Staffordshire. The club currently plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division and is nicknamed The Scholars, having been formed by affiliates of nearby Chase Terrace High School in the Chase...
(18 July), 1–2 v Rhyl
Rhyl F.C.
Rhyl Football Club is a Welsh football club, playing in the Cymru Alliance.The club was founded in 1882 and the team plays its home matches at Belle Vue, Rhyl, which can accommodate 3,000 spectators.- History :Few clubs in the Welsh Premier League have as distinguished a past as Rhyl's...
(26 July), 2–0 v Stafford Rangers
Stafford Rangers F.C.
Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts...
(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
Marcel Seip
Marcel Seip is a Dutch footballer who plays for Football League Two club Bradford City as a defender, having previously played for Veendam, Heerenveen, Plymouth Argyle, Blackpool, Sheffield United and Charlton Athletic.-Veendam:...
|goals2=Kightly
Michael Kightly
Michael John Kightly is an English footballer who plays as a winger. He is on loan at Championship side Watford from Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
Vokes
Sam Vokes
Samuel Michael "Sam" Vokes is an English-born Welsh International footballer who plays as a striker. He is currently on loan at Championship side Burnley from Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
|stadium=Home Park
Home Park
Home Park is an all-seater football stadium in the Central Park area of Plymouth, England, and is the home of Football League Two club Plymouth Argyle. The ground, given the nickname the Theatre of Greens by the club's supporters, has been Argyle's permanent residence since 1901...
|location=Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
|attendance=14,789
|referee=Kevin Friend
Kevin Friend
Kevin Friend is an English professional football referee, based in Leicestershire, who officiates primarily in the Premier League.-Career:Friend started refereeing at the age of 13 in his home county of Leicestershire...
|result=D
}}
Ebanks-Blake
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Sylvan Agustus Ebanks-Blake is an English footballer of Jamaican descent who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
Edwards
David Edwards (footballer)
David Alexander Edwards is an English-born Welsh international footballer who plays as a midfielder for Wolverhampton Wanderers. He is known for his energetic runs and work rate.-Early life:...
|goals2=Esajas
Etiënne Esajas
Etiënne Esajas is a Dutch footballer who currently plays for Swindon Town in the English Third Division , He formerly played for Sheffield Wednesday and Vitesse...
|stadium=Molineux
Molineux stadium
Molineux Stadium is a Premier League football stadium situated in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, England. It has been the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club since 1889, and has a long and illustrious history as the first 'new build' stadium in Football League history, one of the...
|location=Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
|attendance=22,491
|referee=Mike Jones
Mike Jones (referee)
Michael J. Jones is an English professional football referee, based in Chester, Cheshire, who officiates primarily in the Premier League.-Refereeing career:...
|result=W
}}
Edwards
David Edwards (footballer)
David Alexander Edwards is an English-born Welsh international footballer who plays as a midfielder for Wolverhampton Wanderers. He is known for his energetic runs and work rate.-Early life:...
|stadium=Portman Road
Portman Road
Portman Road is an association football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted a number of England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly international match, against Croatia in 2003...
|location=Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
|attendance=21,483
|referee=Steve Tanner
Steve Tanner (referee)
Stephen J. Tanner is an English association football referee who operates in The Football League. He was a FIFA listed referee between 2008-2009.-Career:...
|result=W
}}
Morgan
Wes Morgan
Westley Nathan "Wes" Morgan is an English footballer who plays for Nottingham Forest as a defender. He has been a regular at centre-back for the club for several years, and is currently the club's longest-serving player.-Career:...
Kightly
Michael Kightly
Michael John Kightly is an English footballer who plays as a winger. He is on loan at Championship side Watford from Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
Iwelumo
Chris Iwelumo
Christopher Robert "Chris" Iwelumo is a Scottish footballer who plays for Watford as a striker.Iwelumo started his career with St Mirren before moving to Danish club Aarhus Fremad for two years. A move to Stoke City in 2000 saw him sent out on loan to several teams before a short-lived spell with...
|goals2=Stearman
Richard Stearman
Richard James Michael Stearman is an English footballer of Irish descent who plays as a defender for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers...
|stadium=Molineux
Molineux stadium
Molineux Stadium is a Premier League football stadium situated in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, England. It has been the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club since 1889, and has a long and illustrious history as the first 'new build' stadium in Football League history, one of the...
|location=Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
|attendance=25,301
|referee=Grant Hegley
|result=W
}}
