Express & Star comment: Protect the proud past of Wolves

But news this week that Wolves could be leaving Molineux has seriously stoked up emotions among the club’s loyal fan base.

The supporters are not ones to hide their feelings, and evidence of that comes in the fact that nearly 20,000 people have now voted in an Express & Star poll on the controversial issue.

It is one of the biggest polls we have ever run.

Going by comments, supporters back Fosun’s vision for Wolves to become one of the best teams in Europe, if not the world.

But for generations of fans who consider Molineux their spiritual home, the prospect of moving is a bitter pill to swallow.

No-one can deny this is not an exciting time for the club and its gold and black supporters from across the Black Country and Staffordshire.

The club has spent £67 million on top-class players coming in from across the world. Expectation is rocketing and all eyes will be on the promising young squad led by the charismatic Nuno Espirito Santo.

Who’d have thought it?

It was five years ago when Wolves were relegated to the third tier on a miserable day in Brighton. The bad-tempered game saw relations between supporters, players and club owner plunge to new lows.

What a recovery – from the doldrums of despair to the highs of a return to the best league in the world, fans are on a high going into tomorrow’s curtain-raiser against Everton.

Perhaps a clear sign of the newly held close alliance between club owners and supporters is the makeover of a subway linking the city and Molineux, done by Fosun along with the city council and university.

It will be a great welcome as home and away supporters arrive to see the beautiful game once more in the heart of the city.

Whether it stays there will undoubtedly be a hotly-disputed debate, which will run the whole season.

We support the Chinese owners’ ambitions. Who wouldn’t? But they should take care on decisions involving the club’s proud heritage.

We hope they find the right balance moving forward.