1995–96 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

The 1995–96 season was the 97th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played the season in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League First Division.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

1995–96 season
Chairman	Jonathan Hayward
Manager	Graham Taylor (until 13 November) Mark McGhee (from 13 December)
First Division	20th
FA Cup	4th round
League Cup	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Don Goodman (16) All: Don Goodman (20)
Highest home attendance	28,088 (vs Birmingham, 17 January 1996)
Lowest home attendance	20,381 (vs Fulham, 20 September 1995)
Average home league attendance	22,658 (league only)

Although the season began with Graham Taylor as manager, he resigned sixteen games into their league campaign under fan pressure due to the team's poor results.[1] Despite being tipped by many to be one of the promotion favourites[2] - following on from having reached the play-offs in the previous season - the side sat in 18th place at the time of Taylor's exit.[3]

After a period under caretaker manager Bobby Downes, Mark McGhee resigned from Leicester City to become Wolves' new manager in December.[4] Despite a slow upturn in results under McGhee that put the team within three points of a play-off place at the start of April, their form again collapsed and they took just four points from the final 24 available.[5]

The club eventually finished the season in 20th place, only confirming their safety from relegation in their final home game. This represented their lowest finish in the football pyramid since returning to the second level in 1989–90.[6]

Results

Football League First Division

A total of 24 teams competed in the Football League First Division in the 1995–96 season. Each team played 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. Teams finishing level on points were firstly divided by the number of goals scored rather than goal difference.

The provisional fixture list was released on 20 June 1995, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.

12 August 1995 1	Tranmere Rovers	2–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Birkenhead
15:00 BST	O'Brien  51' Aldridge  81'		Bull  40' Goodman  53'	Stadium: Prenton Park Attendance: 11,880

20 August 1995 2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	West Bromwich Albion	Wolverhampton
14:55 BST	Mardon  66' (o.g.)		Taylor  46'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 26,329

26 August 1995 3	Sunderland	2–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Sunderland
15:00 BST	Melville  8' Gray  28'			Stadium: Roker Park Attendance: 16,816

30 August 1995 4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3–0	Derby County	Wolverhampton
19:45 BST	Daley  12' Goodman  16' de Wolf  32'			Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 26,053

2 September 1995 5	Leicester City	1–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Leicester
15:00 BST	Whitlow  27'			Stadium: Filbert Street Attendance: 18,441

9 September 1995 6	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4–1	Grimsby Town	Wolverhampton
15:00 BST	Bull  42', 69' Goodman  51', 76'		Groves  39'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 23,656

13 September 1995 7	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–2	Norwich City	Wolverhampton
19:45 BST			Johnson  60' Ward  70'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 27,064

16 September 1995 8	Southend United	2–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Southend-on-Sea
15:00 BST	Gridelet  45' Jones  73'		Goodman  29'	Stadium: Roots Hall Attendance: 6,322

23 September 1995 9	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–0	Luton Town	Wolverhampton
15:00 BST				Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 23,659

30 September 1995 10	Port Vale	2–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Burslem
15:00 BST	Richards  37' (o.g.) Porter  61' (pen.)		Goodman  16' Daley  31'	Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 11,550

7 October 1995 11	Ipswich Town	1–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Ipswich
15:00 BST	Sedgley  28' (pen.)		Goodman  38' Atkins  42'	Stadium: Portman Road Attendance: 15,335

14 October 1995 12	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–4	Stoke City	Wolverhampton
15:00 BST	Thompson  71' (pen.)		Gleghorn  39' Potter  41' Wallace  85' Carruthers  89'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 26,483

21 October 1995 13	Watford	1–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Watford
15:00 BST	Holdsworth  57'		Daley  45'	Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 11,319

28 October 1995 14	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–0	Sheffield United	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Bull  37'			Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 23,881

4 November 1995 15	Barnsley	1–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Barnsley
15:00 GMT	Redfearn  77'			Stadium: Oakwell Attendance: 9,668

12 November 1995 16	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–0	Charlton Athletic	Wolverhampton
14:55 GMT				Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 20,450

18 November 1995 17	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–3	Oldham Athletic	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Emblen  27'		Makin  62' McCarthy  64' Beresford  78'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 23,128

22 November 1995 18	Crystal Palace	3–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	London
19:45 GMT	Freedman  10', 29', 49'		Thompson  64' (pen.) Young  83'	Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 12,571

25 November 1995 19	Huddersfield Town	2–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Huddersfield
15:00 GMT	Booth  20' Dalton  38'		Bull  79'	Stadium: McAlpine Stadium Attendance: 16,423

3 December 1995 20	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–2	Ipswich Town	Wolverhampton
14:55 GMT	Goodman  60', 70'		Marshall  30' Mowbray  90'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 20,867

10 December 1995 21	Luton Town	2–3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Luton
14:55 GMT	Oakes  31' Marshall  50'		Richards  7' Goodman  18' Bull  41'	Stadium: Kenilworth Road Attendance: 6,997

16 December 1995 22	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–1	Port Vale	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT			Porter  6'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 23,329

26 December 1995 23	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	Millwall	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Bull  10'		Malkin  77'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 25,591

30 December 1995 24	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–2	Portsmouth	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Bull  5' Goodman  35'		Carter  58' Burton  65'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 25,294

13 January 1996 25	West Bromwich Albion	0–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	West Bromwich
15:00 GMT				Stadium: The Hawthorns Attendance: 21,624

20 January 1996 26	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Tranmere Rovers	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Bull  35' Goodman  67'		Aldridge  55'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 24,173

3 February 1996 27	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3–0	Sunderland	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Thompson  15' (pen.) Goodman  18' Atkins  61'			Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 26,537

10 February 1996 28	Derby County	0–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Derby
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 17,460

17 February 1996 29	Norwich City	2–3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Norwich
15:00 GMT	Crook  24' Eadie  25'		Bull  12', 37' Goodman  74'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 14,691

21 February 1996 30	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–3	Leicester City	Wolverhampton
19:45 GMT	Bull  26' Law  42'		Roberts  38' Heskey  60', 80'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 27,381

24 February 1996 31	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–0	Southend United	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Young  28' Thompson  50'			Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 24,677

2 March 1996 32	Millwall	0–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	London
15:00 GMT			Bull  69'	Stadium: The New Den Attendance: 9,131

5 March 1996 33	Birmingham City	2–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Birmingham
19:45 GMT	Devlin  28' (pen.), 39'			Stadium: St Andrew's Attendance: 22,051

9 March 1996 34	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	Reading	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Atkins  42'		Gooding  17'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 25,954

12 March 1996 35	Grimsby Town	3–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Cleethorpes
19:45 GMT	Shakespeare  51' Livingstone  66' Forrester  78'			Stadium: Blundell Park Attendance: 5,013

16 March 1996 36	Portsmouth	0–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Portsmouth
15:00 GMT			Emblen  39' Goodman  41'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 11,732

23 March 1996 37	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3–2	Birmingham City	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Goodman  37' Thompson  88' (pen.) Bull  89'		Devlin  6', 84' (pen.)	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 26,256

30 March 1996 38	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3–0	Watford	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Froggatt  33' Osborn  41', 54'			Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 25,885

3 April 1996 39	Stoke City	2–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Stoke-on-Trent
19:45 BST	Sheron  3' Sturridge  59'			Stadium: Victoria Ground Attendance: 26,483

6 April 1996 40	Sheffield United	2–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Sheffield
19:45 BST	Taylor  21' White  31'		Thompson  45' (pen.)	Stadium: Bramall Lane Attendance: 16,658

8 April 1996 41	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–2	Barnsley	Wolverhampton
15:00 BST	Bull  16' Ferguson  51' (pen.)		Moses  13' Payton  85'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 23,789

13 April 1996 42	Oldham Athletic	0–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Oldham
15:00 BST				Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 7,592

20 April 1996 43	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–2	Crystal Palace	Wolverhampton
15:00 BST			Hopkin  31' Dyer  55'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 24,350

27 April 1996 44	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–0	Huddersfield Town	Wolverhampton
15:00 BST				Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 25,290

30 April 1996 45	Reading	3–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Reading
19:45 BST	Williams  22' Quinn  40', 86'			Stadium: Elm Park Attendance: 12,828

5 May 1996 46	Charlton Athletic	1–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	London
15:00 BST	Leaburn  38'		Crowe  52'	Stadium: The Valley Attendance: 10,909

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
17	Grimsby Town	46	14	14	18	55	69	–14	56
18	Oldham Athletic	46	14	14	18	54	50	+4	56
19	Reading	46	13	17	16	54	63	–11	56
20	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	13	16	17	56	62	–6	55
21	Portsmouth	46	13	13	20	61	69	–8	52
22	Millwall	46	13	13	20	43	63	–20	52

Source: Statto.com

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
46	13	16	17	56	62	−6	55	8	9	6	34	28	+6	5	7	11	22	34	−12

Source: Statto.com

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Result	D	D	L	W	L	W	L	L	D	D	W	L	D	W	L	D	L	L	L	D	W	L	D	D	D	W	W	D	W	L	W	W	L	D	L	W	W	W	L	L	D	D	L	D	L	D
Position	9	19	21	12	15	12	16	18	18	19	15	18	16	16	18	18	18	19	20	21	20	22	22	20	20	20	18	18	17	18	16	14	15	15	15	14	12	11	12	13	15	15	18	18	18	20

Source: Statto.com
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

FA Cup

6 January 1996 R3	Birmingham City	1–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Birmingham
15:00 GMT	Poole  72'		Bull  25'	Stadium: St Andrew's Attendance: 21,349 Referee: Robbie Hart

17 January 1996 R3 rep.	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Birmingham City	Wolverhampton
19:45 GMT	Ferguson  17' Bull  62'		Hunt  51'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 28,088 Referee: Robbie Hart

27 January 1996 R4	Tottenham Hotspur	1–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	London
15:00 GMT	Wilson  13'		Goodman  28'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 32,812 Referee: David Allison

7 February 1996 R4 rep.	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Wolverhampton
19:45 GMT			Rosenthal  7' Sheringham  9'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 27,846 Referee: David Allison

League Cup

20 September 1995 R2.1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–0	Fulham	Wolverhampton
19:45 BST	Goodman  4' Wright  50'			Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 20,381

3 October 1995 R2.2	Fulham	1–5 (1–7 agg.)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	London
19:45 BST	Cusack  82'		Daley  28' Williams  69' Atkins  77' Goodman  86', 88'	Stadium: Craven Cottage Attendance: 6,625

25 October 1995 R3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–0	Charlton Athletic	Wolverhampton
19:45 GMT				Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 22,481

8 November 1995 R3 rep.	Charlton Athletic	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	London
19:45 GMT	Robinson  54'		Emblen  23' Atkins  98'	Stadium: The Valley Attendance: 10,909

29 November 1995 R4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Coventry City	Wolverhampton
19:45 GMT	Venus  33' Ferguson  34'		Williams  67'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 24,628

10 January 1996 QF	Aston Villa	1–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Birmingham
19:45 GMT	Johnson  66'			Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 39,277

Players

Key:
  ‡ On loan from another club   * First appearance(s) for the club

• # = Squad number
• Pos = Playing position
• P = Number of games played
• G = Number of goals scored
• GK = Goalkeeper
• DF = Defender
• MF = Midfielder
• FW = Forward
• = Yellow cards
• = Red cards
• † Permanent player left club during the season
• ¤ Loaned to another club for part or all of season

Correct as of end of season. Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances in parentheses where applicable.

Pos	Name	P	G	P	G	P	G	P	G			Notes
		League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
GK	Andy De Bont	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
GK	Paul Jones	8	0	0	0	2	0	10	0	0	0
GK	Mike Stowell	38	0	4	0	4	0	46	0	0	0
DF	John de Wolf	14(1)	1	0	0	1	0	15(1)	1	0	0
DF	Brian Law	5(2)	1	1	0	1(1)	0	7(3)	1	0	1
DF	Neil Masters	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
DF	Dennis Pearce	3(2)	0	1	0	1	0	5(2)	0	0	0
DF	Dean Richards	36(1)	1	2	0	5	0	43(1)	1	0	0
DF	Peter Shirtliff †	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
DF	Jamie Smith	10(3)	0	0	0	1	0	11(3)	0	0	0
DF	Andy Thompson	45	6	4	0	6	0	55	6	0	0
DF	Mark Venus	19(3)	0	2	0	3	1	24(3)	1	0	0
DF	Eric Young	30	2	4	0	5	0	39	2	0	0
MF	Mark Atkins	26(6)	3	4	0	5	2	35(6)	5	0	0
MF	Paul Birch ¤	5(2)	0	0	0	2(1)	0	7(3)	0	0	0
MF	Steve Corica	17	0	0	0	0	0	17	0	0	0
MF	Gordon Cowans †	10(6)	0	0	0	2	0	12(6)	0	0	0
MF	Tony Daley	16(2)	3	0(1)	0	4	1	20(3)	4	0	0
MF	Robbie Dennison ¤	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0(1)	0	0	0
MF	Neil Emblen	30(3)	2	3	0	1(1)	1	34(4)	3	0	0
MF	Darren Ferguson	26(7)	1	3(1)	1	4	1	33(8)	3	0	0
MF	Richard Flash	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
MF	Steve Froggatt	13(5)	1	0	0	0	0	13(5)	1	0	0
MF	Simon Osborn	21	2	4	0	0	0	25	2	0	0
MF	Mark Rankine	27(5)	0	3(1)	0	6	0	36(6)	0	0	1
MF	Carl Robinson ¤	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
MF	Vinny Samways ‡	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
MF	Geoff Thomas	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0	0	1
MF	Jermaine Wright	4(3)	0	0	0	1(1)	1	5(4)	1	0	0
FW	Steve Bull	42(2)	15	4	2	4(1)	0	50(3)	17	0	1
FW	Glen Crowe	1(1)	1	0	0	0	0	1(1)	1	0	0
FW	Dominic Foley	1(4)	0	0(1)	0	0(1)	0	1(6)	0	0	0
FW	Don Goodman	43(1)	16	4	1	6	3	53(1)	20	0	0
FW	David Kelly †	3(2)	0	0	0	0	0	3(2)	0	0	0
FW	Mark Williams	5(7)	0	1	0	2(1)	1	8(8)	1	0	0

Source: Wolverhampton Wanderers: The Complete Record[7]

Transfers

In

Date	Player	From	Fee
30 May 1995	Dean Richards	Bradford City	£1.85 million
13 September 1995	Eric Young	Crystal Palace	Free
20 September 1995	Mark Williams	RWD Molenbeek	£300,000
21 September 1995	Mark Atkins	Blackburn Rovers	£1 million
22 September 1995	Richard Flash	Manchester United	Free
22 December 1995	Simon Osborn	Queens Park Rangers	£1 million
16 February 1996	Steve Corica	Leicester City	£1.1 million
16 February 1996	Željko Kalac	Leicester City	£650,000

Out

Date	Player	To	Fee
23 June 1995	Tom Bennett	Stockport County	£75,000
18 July 1995	Paul Blades	Rotherham United	£110,000
25 August 1995	Peter Shirtliff	Barnsley	£125,000
18 September 1995	David Kelly	Sunderland	£1 million
29 December 1995	Gordon Cowans	Sheffield United	Free

Loans in

Start date	Player	From	End date
21 December 1995	Vinny Samways	Everton	21 January 1996

Loans out

Start date	Player	To	End date
5 October 1995	Robbie Dennison	Swansea City	End of season
7 March 1996	Paul Birch	Preston North End	End of season
28 March 1996	Carl Robinson	Shrewsbury Town	End of season

Management and coaching staff

Position	Name
Manager	Graham Taylor (until 13 November), then Mark McGhee (from 13 December onward)
Assistant Manager	Bobby Downes, then Colin Lee (from 13 December onward)
First Team Coach	Mike Hickman
Youth Development Officer	Chris Evans
Youth Team Coach	Chris Turner
Club Doctors	Dr Peter Ackroyd and Dr Peter Bekenn
Club Physio	Barry Holmes

Kit

The season saw a new home shirt introduced featuring an embroidered crest and new collar design. The all-white away kit of the previous season was retained. Both were manufactured by Nutmeg Clothing and featured sponsor name of Goodyear.

References

1. "Wolves seek successor as Taylor resigns". The Independent. 14 November 1995.
2. "Midland move to join the moneyed classes". The Independent. 12 August 1995.
3. "Taylor falls through credibility gap". The Independent. 14 November 1995.
4. "McGhee the new man at Molineux". The Independent. 14 December 1995.
5. "Wolverhampton Wanderers 1995-1996: Results". Statto. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
6. "Wolverhampton Wanderers: History 1975 to date". Statto. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
7. Matthews, Tony (2008). Wolverhampton Wanderers: The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-632-3.