125 Years of Molineux: From 1954 to now

Driven relentlessly on by iron manager Stan Cullis, Wolves won further league titles in 1958 and 1959 and the FA Cup for the fourth time in 1960 as Molineux throbbed with excitement, writes Adam Thompson.

The prestige of the ground was reflected in a World Cup qualifier held there in 1956, as England beat Denmark 5-2.

The cream of Europe continued to come to Wolverhampton and they defeated European champions Real Madrid 3-2 at home in 1957 in another famous floodlit friendly.

With Molineux bulging at the seams, the club unveiled ambitious plans to turn the ground into a futuristic arena, with a complete rebuild to boost the capacity of 75,000 at a cost of £500,000.

But given the residential housing around the ground at the time, they were refused permission to redevelop.

The FA Cup success in 1960 when they beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0 took their success into a new decade.

But while the 60s swung for Britain, it proved a difficult era for Wolves.

That summer, seats replaced terraces in the bottom half of Molineux's Street Stand to convert it to one single tier.

But Wolves struggled to stay at the top of the pile as football evolved and while the team became unrecognisable as Cullis chased previous glories, Molineux barely changed for almost 20 years.

A crowd of 30,000 saw the Queen visit in May 1962, presenting new colours to the Fifth Battalion South Staffs Regiment, and other military units including the Staffordshire Yeomanry and the North Staffs Regiments.

Brian Genner, from Quarry Bank, was a full lieutenant in the Regiment when he met Her Majesty.

Mr Genner, who was 28 at the time, knelt on one knee and kept a straight back as he held a flag ready for Her Majesty to slowly walk past him. He said: "My outstanding memory is of the Queen being two feet away from me and me seeing just how beautiful she was.

"I was watching her from a short distance away and I could see her tapping her feet, being very relaxed and keeping herself in time with the regimental bands."

With the 60s in full swing, times and culture were rapidly shifting and football felt the force of change too, with the advent of the first 'pop star' footballer, George Best.

The cultural changes also meant fans were having an ever bigger say in their clubs and souvenir shops and supporters clubs began springing up, while the music left its mark with most teams boasting a 'choir.'

Wolves, having been relegated in 1965, joined the big boys again when they were promoted back to the top flight two years later with new signing Derek Dougan earning instant hero status after a hat-trick on his home debut.

Molineux hosted a boxing show in June 1967, when Henry Cooper beat Jack Bodell to retain his British heavyweight title. Wolves opened their first club shop at the back of the North Bank in 1968.

They splashed out around £100,000 on building a two-storey social club, bar, assembly hall and large gym adjacent to Molineux at the end of the 60s that was to become a focal point of the town's social scene through the 70s.

Despite the shock and much-mourned retirement of Peter Knowles at just 23 in 1969 to become a Jehovah's Witness, the team enjoyed a revival.

Wolves, with new idols Kenny Hibbitt and John Richards joining Dougan and Dave Wagstaffe, made history as Molineux staged the inaugural UEFA Cup final in 1972.

But they were defeated by Tottenham 3-2 on aggregate to be denied their first European trophy. The League Cup triumph in 1974 with a 2-1 victory over Manchester City proved the swansong of a fondly-remembered team and Wolves were relegated two years later.

Richards was involved as Molineux was chosen to stage England's first game at under-21 level in autumn 1976, a 0-0 draw against Wales.

Two years later in May 1978, a fence the length of the South Bank appeared for the derby against Aston Villa, dividing it in two as hooliganism began to take an ugly grip on the game.

The long-awaited redevelopment started in 1979 when the Molineux Street Stand was replaced by the 9,200-all-seater Molineux Stand at a cost of £2m.

Seventy-one houses on Molineux Street went too after being purchased by the club to ease congestion on the cramped Waterloo Road side.

But despite a brief revival which brought a British record signing of Andy Gray whose winner clinched the League Cup in 1980, the most turbulent times in the club's history followed.

Deadline

Struggling to keep up with repayments on loans for the stand due to sky-high interest rates, the club went into receivership in 1982. With just three minutes to spare before the Football League's deadline, a consortium led by Dougan bought the club.

But it was a false dawn as the new owners, the Bhatti brothers, failed to back Wolves after an initial promotion. Three consecutive relegations followed and Molineux became the focal point of 'Bhatti Out' protests from supporters.

To add to the club's woes, in the wake of the Bradford fire, the Waterloo Road Stand and North Bank were closed due to safety reasons in 1985. Molineux had become but a shell of a stadium that had been so famous some 30 years before.

But in 1986 fresh hope came when Wolverhampton Council and developers Gallaghers stepped in to save the club and the dilapidated Molineux.

Wolverhampton's motto 'Out of Darkness Cometh Light' could hardly be more prophetic as the signing of a certain Steve Bull from rivals Albion later that year was to prove the catalyst for a change of fortunes.

A new team spirit was forged from the crumbling wreck of Molineux. Back-to-back promotions in 1988 and 1989 saw the club rise to the second tier of English football. Lifelong fan Sir Jack Hayward bought the club for £2.1m in 1990 with the pledge to transform Molineux.

Over the next three years, all but the John Ireland Stand was rebuilt, as Molineux was transformed at a cost of £20m. In 1993, the 28,500 all-seater stadium was complete and fittingly, Wolves' opening game at the new Molineux was against Hungarian side Honved.

Despite huge investment, top-flight football eluded Sir Jack until 2003 when Wolves were promoted again.

That summer the stadium staged its first and only rock concert when American super-group Bon Jovi performed in front of a crowd of 34,000.

A return to the Promised Land of the Premier League lasted just a season and Sir Jack sold to Steve Morgan in 2007. And after promotion in 2009, Morgan announced £40m plans to redevelop Molineux which would expand the stadium to 36,000 with the potential to increase it to 50,000. In 2011, the Stan Cullis Stand was demolished and a £20m, 7,700-capacity structure including a museum transformed the skyline. It was completed in 2012 and was to be the first phase of the project, taking the capacity to 31,700.

But the remaining three phases have been put on hold with Morgan switching investment to development of the Compton Park training ground.

Following successive relegations, Wolves haven't set a date for the re-build to continue. But with promotion sealed last April, a record attendance for 'new' Molineux was set when 30,110 – their biggest crowd for 33 years – watched a 10-goal thriller as Wolves overcome Rotherham United 6-4 on their way to the League One title. The good times were back.