Molineux Stadium – stadium description

Although not among the biggest in England today, Molineux Stadium has a rich history reaching… the 18^th century. It was then, in 1744, that the Molineux family bought the plot of land on which they’ve built Molineux House, later changed into Molineux Hotel. In 1860 another owner came in and made the place a leisure centre, retaining traditional Molineux name, but making it Molineux Grounds. Finally in 1889 local brewery bought the land and leased it to Wolverhampton Wanderers for their permanent stadium. Yet again, Molineux family name prevailed, this time joined by ‘Stadium’.

First game was played already in September 1889 in front of some 4,000 people. In 1923 “Wolves” bought the ground and soon afterwards began to build a new main stand. In1932 another one came, marking a historical moment – for the very first time Molineux had four stands. These were in use for the next 50 years. In 1953 floodlight masts came, replaced by new ones in 1957. Being among the first venues in England with artificial lighting Molineux became host to many prestigious international games.

New eastern stand was built in 1979 for a massive sum of Ł10 mln, beyond what others were spending at that time. It could accommodate 9,500 fans and had 42 skyboxes. Ironically, this lead to a decline as “Wolves” were heavily in debt because of their investment, getting close to bankruptcy twice. Understandably all renovations were brought to a stop for several years, resulting in two stands being closed in the 80’s. The club was relegated down to 4^th tier by that time so crowds were much smaller anyway.

The municipality came with a helping hand, buying Molineux in 1986. “Wolves” were bought by a new owner in 1990 and soon afterwards came the largest revamp so far. Starting in October 1991, one stand after another all four were replaced by December 1993. They remained nearly unchanged for two decades. In 2011 the Stan Cullis Stand was torn down to be replaced by a new structure, this time with 2 tiers of seating.

The reconstructed stand was put into use in August 2012. Two other stands were to undergo similar modernisation, but the work was never completed. Meanwhile, in 2019, a new, more ambitious plan for further redevelopment has emerged, involving an increase in capacity of the stadium up to 50,000 spectators. However, there are no concrete details as of now.

How Molineux Stadium compares to other Premier League venues?