The 1950’s were easily the most successful period in Wolves history. With captain Billy Wright leading the charge, the overhauled their rivals West Bromwich late in the season to claim their first league title in 1954. In the years that followed, Wolves became known as the number one team in English football and became globally renowned. This was due not only to their success but also because of their high profile floodlit friendly games played at night against top European clubs, in addition to the implementation of Stan Cullis’ “kick and rush” style of playing. Put in charge of the team at 31 years of age, Cullis became one of the youngest managers in history. His style was built upon an ethic of hard work in training, exceptional physical fitness and the pioneering use of sports science, coupled with tough discipline and all-out attack on the field which consisted of speed of execution, long passing, defensive resilience, quick movement of the ball and attacking support for the player in possession.

 

The club also pioneered the use of floodlights, installing them at Molineux in 1953, leading to Wolves becoming a pioneer of European competition. From this came a series of famous “floodlit friendlies” against high profile teams from the continent, who all came only to suffer defeat at the hands of the Wolves. This was the pre-European Cup era, when continental teams were strange and unfamiliar to British audiences, and the English club were determined to resurrect the reputation of their football after the national team had suffered at the hands of European competition. The first of the friendlies was a match against a South African XI, which had a massive impact on raising the clubs profile. These friendlies became some of the first games to be televised, being shown on the BBC. Borussia Dortmund, Valencia and Real Madrid all came to Molineux and were beaten. The high-profile matches continued with victories over Argentina’s Racing Club and the USSR’s Spartak Moscow and Dynamo Moscow.

 

The most famous of these games however, was the match against Hungary’s Budapest Honved which was the first football match to be televised live. There was not much faith in the English national side at the time, following their lacklustre performance in the 1950 World Cup, and here were Wolves taking on a team that included such players as Ferenc Puskas and many other members of the Magical Magyars, who had recently thrashed England twice. With the entire nation watching, Wolves found themselves 2-0 down at half time. After the break, they mounted a miraculous comeback, and ended up winning the match 3-2. This, coupled with all their other victories, led the media to proclaim Wolves “Champions of the World”.

 

In March of 1955, the UEFA congress viewed a proposal from the editor of L’Equipe for a prestigious tournament to be competed by Europe’s top clubs. Gabriel Hanot had been inspired to come up with the idea previously and used the Wanderers exploits to sell his proposal. The congress gave approval to kick off the first European Cup, today known as the UEFA Champions League, the following year. They had mixed success in the cup against teams such as Red Star Belgrade, Schalke 04 and Barcelona.

 

Following the Munich air disaster, Wolves became the team to beat in the league as Manchester United rebuilt their stricken squad, and they won the title in 1958 and qualified for the European Cup competition after winning the first division again in 1959, becoming only the second English club to enter. Wolves achieved another milestone in 1960 when they became the first team to pass the 100 goal mark for three seasons in succession. They also won the FA Cup that year, and came agonisingly close to a hat-trick of league titles and the first double of the 20th century, finishing  just one point behind Burnley in the league. By the 1960’s Wolves began to decline and Cullis was sacked. The entire club was imported to America in 1967 to play in a new league called the United Soccer League, and under the name Los Angeles Wolves they won the Western Division and then the league title. To this day, the famous “floodlit friendlies” remain ingrained in English football lore.

Achievements: English First Division – Champions x3 Runners up x2
                               FA Cup – Winners x1
                               FA Charity Shield – Winners x3 Runners up x1

Star player: Billy Wright – 6 September 1924, Ironbridge, England

Billy Wright spent his entire career woth Wolverhampton, and was the first player in the world to earn 100 international caps. He also holds the record for the longest unbroken run in international football and captained England a record 95 times, playing in three World Cups (1950, 54 and 58). Wright was only 14 when he made his debut for the Wolves B team, but was told he was too small to succeed in professional football. Undeterred, he persevered, and convinced Wolves to give him another chance. At 15, he made his first team debut in 1939. World War II forced Wolves to suspend play, and Wright signed up for the army as a PT instructor, but still played for Wolves whenever possible, making 100 wartime appearances for the club. After the conflict, he became club captain lead the team to the title three times and the FA Cup once. For the entire 1950’s, he only missed 31 games. His debut for England was in a post-war Victory International against Belgium, and became captain in 1948, which he held until his retirement. All in all, he made 541 appearances for Wolves and 105 for England. Wright was never cautioned or sent off in his entire career. He went on to become a manager, then a TV pundit, and passed away of pancreatic cancer in 1994. He recieved a CBE in 1959 and was named the Midlands Greatest Footballer in 2007.