WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1948-60

Wolverhampton Wanderers' team of the 1950s was one of the most successful English club sides of the post-war era, and played a large part in the development of European football as it exists today. Wolves' success was based on a simple game plan of playing the ball forward to skilful wingers Jimmy Mullen and Johnny Hancocks, who surely in any other era would have won more international recognition. Despite being overshadowed by the likes of Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney, Mullen and Hancocks were one of the finest partnerships in football and they created many of the goals that achieved success for Wolves.

The club's period of post-war success began with the 1948-49 F.A. Cup, their first major honour in over 40 years after several agonising near misses in the league either side of the Second World War. New manager Stan Cullis had achieved this success in just his first season in charge, and would go on to lead the club through the greatest era in its history. After missing the league title again in 1950, finishing behind Portsmouth only on goal average, it seemed that Wolves would never land English football's biggest prize, but four years later it finally arrived in the best possible circumstances for the club. After a tight struggle that lasted right until the final game of the season, Wolves finally overhauled fierce local rivals West Bromwich Albion to claim the championship by two points, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the final match.

With no European football in those days, Wolves arranged a series of floodlit friendly matches against some of the top club sides from the continent. Spartak Moscow, Honved and Real Madrid were all beaten at Wolves' Molineux Stadium, and it was the 3-2 win over a Honved side that included most of the great Hungarian team of the 1950s that led some newspapers to proclaim Wolves as "World Champions". It was these claims that led to the idea for the formation of the European Champions' Cup.

Having narrowly failed to defend their title in 1955, Wolves had to wait until 1957-58 to win it again, but this time they were able to hold on to the championship. Winning the league again in 1958-59, Wolves had the chance to become only the third English club to claim a hat-trick of league titles. In 1959-60, Wolves challenged for the title again but once more fell just short, finishing just one point behind champions Burnley. One extra point would have secured not only the championship hat-trick but also the first English League and Cup double of the 20th Century, as Wolves put the disappontment of losing the title behind them by beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0 to win the F.A. Cup.

In the 1960s, Wolves gradually fell from a dominant position in English football and have never returned to the heights of the 1950s, almost going out of business several times in the early 1980s. The achievements of the club between 1948 and 1960 stand out to this day as their finest era, and the team is remembered as one of England's best club sides and one of the world's first great football teams.