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| Contents |
What's Molineux Like?
Billy
Wright Stand (photo)
Future Ground
Developments
Steve Bull
And Jack Harris Stands (photo)
What Is It Like For
Visiting Supporters?
Jack Harris
Stand (photo)
Where To Drink?
Billy
Wright Statue (photo)
How To
Get There And Where To Park
By
Train
Local Rivals
Admission Prices
Programme
Ground Layout
Fixtures 2011-2012
Disabled
Facilities
Record
& Average Attendance
Fans Ground Reviews
Hotel Accommodation
Molineux Location Map
Old Molineux
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| What's Molineux Like? |
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Although
Molineux has been completely rebuilt since the
late 1970's the Club are embarking on further
re-development. The Stan Cullis Stand at one end
of the ground was demolished at the end of
the 2010/11 season and a new structure is being
built (see Future Developments below).
Both sides
of the stadium are two tiered covered stands,
that have a row of executive boxes
situated along the middle. They are
unusual in being
oval in shape, meaning that those sitting on the
half way line are furthest away from the playing
action. The oldest of
these is the Steve Bull Stand, which was
opened in 1979, whilst opposite is
the Billy Wright Stand which was opened in
1993. This stand is the Main Stand at
Molineux, which contains the Directors
area, team dugouts in front and a television
gantry below its roof. At one end is the Jack
Harris Stand, which was also opened in
1993, four months after the Billy Wright
Stand. This is a large single tiered
stand, part of which is given to away
supporters. Situated
in the corner between the Jack Harris and
Billy Wright stands, is a temporary stand
that has a capacity of 900 seats. The
seats are green coloured which makes it
look a little out of place to the rest of the
stadium. This is affectionately known as
the 'Gene
Kelly' stand (or officially known as
the Wolves Community Trust). That is
because this area
is open to the elements so you could end up
'singing in the rain'. There
are a couple of video screens in two
of the corners, but unfortunately the are no
longer in operation.
What particularly impresses me about Molineux,
is that quality shows, getting the feeling
that little expense has been spared in its
construction. This is perhaps best summed up
by the two statues that sit outside the
ground. The impressive statue of Billy
Wright is probably the
finest football statue located at any ground
in Britain. It sits outside the
main entrance to the club offices. In 2003 the same designer, James
Butler produced another statue, this time of
former player and manager Stan
Cullis. This was located by the
entrance to the ticket office, but has been
put into storage whilst the current
re-developments at that end of the stadium are
taking place.
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| Billy
Wright Stand |
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Future Ground Developments
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The Club have commenced with the
building of a new two tiered stand at the North
(Stan Cullis) end of the ground. The development
at this end will also include hospitality areas,
a video screen, new club store, museum and cafe.
This stand will also extend around the North
East corner to the Steve Bull Stand, filling
that area of the stadium. This is
where in future, away fans will be located. The
cost of the re-development is estimated to
be around £16m.
Whilst the stand is being built overall capacity
will be reduced to 27,500 and will rise to
31,700 once completed, which is scheduled to
open for the start of the 2012/13 season. A
webcam showing the building of the new stand can
be viewed on the Molineux
Pride website.
The Club have also received planning
permission to re-develop the Steve
Bull (East) stand, which will further
increase capacity to around 36,000. The
demolition and re-building of this stand was
planned to commence at the end of the 2011/2012,
but the Club have now put this on hold. Artists
impressions of the Molineux re-development can
be viewed on the official Wolverhampton
Wanderers FC website.
The Club have further announced that if demand
requires it and the necessary finances are in
place, then as a phase three part of the
project an additional tier can be added to the
Jack Harris (South) Stand, raising the capacity
to 38,000. Any further expansion would
involve the re-building of the Billy Wright
Stand and could possibly see the final capacity
being in the region of 50,000.
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| Steve
Bull And Jack Harris Stands |
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| What Is It Like For
Visiting Supporters? |
Away fans are
normally housed on one side of the Jack Harris
Stand at one end of the stadium where around
2,000 fans can be accommodated. This stand is
shared with home supporters which helps to boost
the atmosphere. For games where there is a
larger away following, then the away fans are
not given an 'end' as such, but are instead
housed in the lower tier of the Steve Bull Stand
along the side of the pitch. Up to 3,200 away
supporters can be housed in this area. Fans in
this stand are sat quite far back from the
playing area, which gives the illusion that the
pitch is larger than at most other grounds. The
facilities are fine, including the catering,
serving a range of
pies, (£3-£3.50), Hot
Dogs (£3.50), plus a 1/4
pound Burger Or Cheeseburger also at
£3.50.
Musical
delights at the ground include just before kick
off, 'Hi, Ho, Silver Lining' with the crowd
singing 'Hi, Ho, Wolverhampton!' On one visit I
got talking to a couple of Wolves fans on the
train up to Wolverhampton and they suggested going
for a drink in the city centre before the game
which I did. I had quite an enjoyable time and
they even took me right up to the away supporters
entrance, shook my hand and wished me luck! very
hospitable. I personally did not experience any
problems on my visits,
but I have received a number
of reports of others that have not been so
lucky. It is strongly advised that
colours are kept covered around the ground and
city centre (and that goes for
your cars too).
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A Closer
Look At The Jack Harris Stand
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| Where To Drink? |
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Well
it may be a great stadium, with good
atmosphere, but the main drawback with a
visit to Molineux is the lack of away
friendly pubs for visiting supporters to
drink in. Now there are a number of pubs
situated around the ground, but they do not
admit away fans, which to a certain extent I
can understand. But what is a real shame is
that unlike many new stadiums that are
located out of town with not much in the way
of drinking holes located around, Molineux
is only a 10 minute walk away from the city
centre where there are plenty of pubs to be
found. However by far the greater majority
of these are for home supporters only on
matchdays (even the Wetherspoons has
bouncers on the door demanding to see your
match ticket for one of the home sections
before being allowed entry).
Tom Rice a visiting Aston Villa supporter
informs me; 'The Walkabout bar in
the city centre (on Queen Street) seems
to be now the designated pub for away fans
to drink in. The bouncers on the door,
checked to make sure that we were Villa fans
before entering.'
I have
also been advised that there is a small bar
called the Bluebrick inside the Premier
Inn hotel, located near to the railway
station, which is being frequented by away
fans. If arriving by train then as you leave
the station entrance, turn right and you will
see a walkway going down under the station. At
the bottom of the walkway turn left and after
a short walk you will see the Bluebrick over
on your right. Also some away supporters have
also been frequenting the Litten Tree in
Victoria Street and the Lady
Wulfrun in Lichfield Street.
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Billy
Wright Statue
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| How To
Get There And Where To Park |
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From The
South:
Leave the M6 at Junction 10 and
take the A454 towards Wolverhampton. Continue to
follow the A454 right into Wolverhampton (be wary
of speed cameras on the A454). On reaching the
traffic island that intersects with the ring road,
turn right. As you approach the 2nd set of lights
look for the signs for football parking. The
ground is over the 2nd set of lights on the right.
Alternatively if you turn left into the city
centre you may find a space in one of the many
council run 'pay & display' car parks. The
Civic Hall car park, normally remains open for
night matches. Terry a visiting Chelsea fan
adds; 'Although the city centre car parks are
handy, the area is busy with shoppers so you may
like we did get stuck in long queues to get into
one. I'd recommend parking in the car parks that
you see further away from Molineux and
taking the 10/15 minute walk; it also means
you are back on the motorway quicker after the
game'.
From The North:
Leave the M6 at Junction 12 and take the A5
towards Telford and then turn onto the A449
towards Wolverhampton. On reaching the traffic
island that intersects with the ring road, turn
right. Then as South.
Map showing the location
of the Molineux football ground (at the
bottom of this page).
Thanks to Paul Judd, an exiled Wolves fan, in
Milton Keynes, for providing the directions.
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| By
Train |
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The ground is walkable from the
train station in the centre of city (15
minutes). Leave the station and proceed straight on towards the
town centre and as you reach the inner ring
road turn right. Just follow the ring
road as it continues in a
circular pattern around to the left.
Eventually you will see the Molineux on the
right.
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| Local
Rivals |
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West Bromwich Albion,
Birmingham City & Aston Villa.
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| Admission
Prices |
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Like a number of clubs,
Wolves operate a category system (A & B)
whereby the more popular games cost more to watch.
Category B prices are shown below in brackets:
Home Fans:
Billy Wright Stand (Upper Tier): Adults £40 (£30), Over 65's/Students £28
(£18), Under 17's £20
(£15), Under 12's* £17 (£12)
Billy Wright (Family Enclosure): Adults
£35 (£25), Over 65's/Students £25
(£15), Under 17's £13
(£8), Under 12's* £10 (£5)
Steve Bull Stand (Upper
& Lower Tiers): Adults £38
(£28), Over 65's/Students £25
(£15), Under 17's £17
(£12), Under 12's* £15 (£10)
Stan Cullis Stand: Adults £34
(£24), Over 65's/Students £24
(£14), Under 17's £16
(£11), Under 12's* £13 (£8)
Jack Harris Stand: Adults £34
(£24), Over 65's/Students £24
(£14), Under 17's £16 (£11),
Under 12's* £13 (£8)
Away Fans:
Jack Harris Stand: Adults
£34 (£24), Over 65's/Students £24
(£14), Under 17's £16 (£11),
Under 12's* £13 (£8)
Steve Bull Stand (Lower Tier): Adults
£38 (£28), Over 65's/Students £25
(£15), Under 17's £17
(£12), Under 12's* £15 (£10)
* When accompanied by a paying
adult. Please also note that students must
produce a valid NUS Extra card.
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| Programme |
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Official
Programme £3
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Ground
Layout
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| Fixtures
2011-2012 |
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Wolverhampton
Wanderers fixture list (takes you to the
BBC Sports Website).
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| Disabled Facilities |
For
details of disabled facilities and club contact at the
ground please visit the relevant page on the
Level
Playing Field website.
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| Record
& Average Attendance |
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Record Attendance:
61,305 v Liverpool
FA Cup 5th Round, February 11th, 1939.
Modern All Seated Attendance
Record:
29,396 v Manchester United
Premier League, January 16th, 2004.
Average Attendance:
2010-2011: 27,925 (Premier League)
2009-2010: 28,366
(Premier League)
2008-2009: 24,153 (Championship League)
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| Fans Reviews
Of Molineux |
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Tom
Croft (Blackburn Rovers) 10/3/12
Harry Williamson
(Chelsea) 2/1/12
Alan McKeown
(Chelsea) 2/1/12
John Smith (Fulham)
21/8/11
Kurt Jacob (West Bromwich Albion) 8/5/11
Dean Williamson (Blackpool)
26/2/11
Carl Seward (Liverpool)
22/1/11
Luke Burton (Chelsea)
5/1/11
Chris Parkinson (Manchester
City) 30/10/10
Jamie Straw (Notts
County) 21/9/10
James Myers (Doncaster
Rovers) 3/5/09
Jim Howlett
(Nottingham Forest) 30/8/08
Josh
Freedman (Watford) 11/8/08
Tim Sansom
(Ipswich Town) 19/4/08
Richard
Doidge (Plymouth Argyle) 3/2/07
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| Hotel Accommodation |
If you require hotel
accommodation in the area then first try a hotel
booking service provided by Late Rooms. They offer all
types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets
from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed & Breakfast
establishments to Five Star Hotels and Serviced
Apartments. Plus their booking system is
straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site will
earn a small commission if you book through them, but
it will go to help with the running costs of keeping
the Guide going. The Hotels listing also includes
details of how far away the accommodation is located
from the Molineux football ground.
Access
their Wolverhampton
Hotels and Guest Houses page.
Remember that you can use the above link or panel
below to book any other hotels that you may need
for business or leisure, either in the UK or
abroad.
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Map showing the location of Molineux, Railway
Station And Listed Pubs
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Instructions for using the map:
- Use the bar
on the left of the map to zoom in / out using the
+ / - keys.
- Click and
drag an area of the map to move around or use the
up/down, left/right arrows
- Click the
Satellite button to see aerial view photograph.
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Old Molineux
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| To see a photo of the South Bank
Terrace (now the Jack Harris Stand) shortly
prior to its redevelopment in 1993 then
visit the Old
Grounds & Stands Section of the Guide.
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| Feedback |
If
anything is incorrect or you have something to add,
please e-mail me duncan@footballgrounds.net
and I'll update the guide.
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