Johnny Phillips: Wolves memories of ‘93 sparked by fervour of Prem opener

Last Tuesday’s ‘On This Day’ post harked back a quarter of a century to the opening fixture of another season, when Wolves met Bristol City at home on August 14, 1993, in the First Division.

It struck a chord because it was an occasion that bore so many similarities to this season’s Molineux opener, despite the circumstances being very different.

After the famous rise through the divisions under Graham Turner’s stewardship in the late Eighties, the club had stagnated for a couple of seasons.

The previous season, 1992/93, is not just remembered for the worst kit in the club’s modern history – a mish mash of tyre marks splodged over the shirt in an unnecessary link to sponsors Goodyear – but it also summed up the final few years of Turner’s reign.

Wolves had become the ultimate second tier mid-table team. They finished that First Division season in 11th place for a second successive occasion with a record of won 16, drew 13, lost 17.

When supporters stood on the South Bank for one final time during the penultimate game of the campaign against Millwall on May 1, 1993, they were not just saying goodbye to the famous old terrace but they were waving off another season of obscurity with promotion no closer than it had been during their first season back at that level three years previously.

The squad was littered with hard-working players who could easily hold their own at that level, but lacked the calibre to mount a serious promotion challenge.

It was Steve Bull and Andy Mutch’s last season together as a strike partnership. Robbie Dennison and Keith Downing had also survived from the Fourth Division days.

But newer arrivals like Paul Blades, Paul Edwards, Mark Burke, Mark Rankine and an ageing Derek Mountfield did not quite cut the mustard despite their work ethic.

Wolves had been bargain basement shoppers for years. In addition to Blades and Edwards, the only other two signings made ahead of the 92/93 season were Lee Mills, for £20,000 from Stocksbridge Park Steels, and Darren Simkin, for £10,000 from Blakenhall Town.

That all changed during the summer of 1993. Owner Sir Jack Hayward released significant transfer funds for a squad overhaul.

The headline-grabbing arrival was Geoff Thomas.

An England international at the top of his game – who had been the subject of a bid from Arsenal the previous season and was being chased by Manchester City – was secured for £800,000.

It was a game-changer.

In came Ireland international David Kelly from Newcastle for £750,000 to partner Bull followed by winger Kevin Keen from West Ham for £600,000.

These were Premier League players coming down to Wolves. Even the free transfer of Cyrille Regis from Aston Villa had an air of star quality.

Four days into the season, defender Peter Shirtliff would come in from Sheffield Wednesday to complete a fantastic set of summer acquisitions.

Just as they did with last Saturday’s curtain-raiser against Everton, supporters bounced into Molineux with so much hope and anticipation on that sunny August afternoon in 1993.

The club had managed to get the kit right too. Out went the tyre-marked eyesore and in came a plain gold and black strip with the town’s crest replacing the wolf head.

It was not just a new-look team that excited supporters. Molineux’s structural transformation really took shape during that summer too.

The new North Bank Stand had been completed earlier and, with the South Bank now demolished, the majestic Billy Wright Stand rose from the ashes of the old Waterloo Road Stand.

For the first time in almost a decade, Wolves were playing in a stadium that could accommodate supporters on more than two sides.

Bristol City were swatted aside with ease. Two goals from Bull, including a vintage strike from outside the penalty area set up by Keen, and one from Mountfield sent fans home purring. This was their year.

But then an early-season injury to Bull severely weakened the attack before a September afternoon at Roker Park delivered the biggest setback of all.

Thomas was proving a real talisman and had just scored a remarkable solo goal, collecting the ball 10 yards outside his own box to run through the entire Sunderland defence and put Wolves 2-0 up, when the Wearsiders’ defender Lee Howey exacted a brutal revenge. His over the top challenge put the England man out for the season.

Turner’s men did not win any of their next five games and by November fans were calling for his head.

A famous Bull hat-trick at Derby helped keep his boss in a job but by March, with the season seemingly meandering to another mid-table finish, a 3-0 defeat at Portsmouth spelt the end for the long-serving manager.

The on-loan Guy Whittingham inspired a late-season charge with eight goals in 13 games as fans took to the new man with chants of ‘Super Guy The Soldier’ in reference to his military past.

In the end, Wolves would finish in eighth place, just three points outside the play-offs. Of the many what-ifs of the 1990s, that season produced its share.

Today’s Wolves have also been assembled at great cost, even though they are different beasts with different aspirations to the players of 25 years ago.

There is a tangible fervour around the club these days, just as August 1993 was a time of great excitement in these parts too.