About stadium

Stadium introduction

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.

How to get to the Stadium

Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV1 4QR