1983/84: Wolves

You fear for Wolves. A shocking start to the 2025/26 campaign has seen the club fail to win a league match in 11 attempts, manager Vitor Pereira shown the door, and the prospects of survival looking slim even at this relatively early stage of the season. It turns out that selling your best players and failing to replace them adequately is not a recipe for success.

A season to be fearful undoubtedly. But surely whatever happens to Wolves during this campaign cannot plumb the depths that supporters had to endure during the 1983/84 season and beyond. A decade that started so positively descended into despair as the club dropped like a stone.

1983: A Christmas football feast

It is a Christmas tradition up there with eating too much turkey, watching James Bond films, and numerous family rows. Football on Boxing Day may not have always been popular with players in the past, yet for supporters it has often provided the ideal palate cleanser.

So when news broke recently of a distinct lack of top-flight matches on Boxing Day, a gnashing of teeth could be heard up and down the country. Another brick removed from the wall of football tradition, the influence of television and a swelling calendar impacting the beautiful game. Never mind that there is a full Football League and National League fixtures that day, apparently it is the top table people want to feast at.

It hasn't always been this way. In fact there was a time when just like mince pies and chocolates, we overindulged in football at Christmas. The 1983/84 season was a prime example of this. The vast majority of clubs would play on both Boxing Day and December 27, players expected to be disciplined enough to forgo that extra glass of sherry and then perform twice in the space of 24 hours.

1983/84: Wolves v Arsenal

This is an edited version of my original article that appeared in issue 286 of The Gooner. 

The 1980s may not have been kind to Arsenal fans, but there was a reason to be cheerful as the summer of 1983 progressed. Optimism and anticipation; hopes and expectations; and all because a certain 21-year-old Scottish centre forward had chosen Highbury as his new home.

It was clear to comprehend why Charlie Nicholas was seen as the hottest property in British football. Scoring 48 goals for Celtic in the previous campaign, it was inevitable that the English vultures would circle. Yet his final destination was far less predictable.

1983/84: Liverpool v Wolves

The 1983/84 season was one to forget for Wolves. But they did manage to pull off a shock win at Anfield to provide their supporters with a rare moment of joy.

There are seasons so bad that any supporters who lived through the experience will shudder at the memories. Stoke fans who had to endure the 1984/85 horror show or Derby followers during the 2007/08 campaign deserve a badge of honour for their support during these hard times. Wolves' 1983/84 season falls into the same category.

Just six wins in a 42-match league campaign gives a clear indication of the struggles Wolves faced that season. It took 15 games for them to gain their first league win - albeit a delicious derby win at the Hawthorns - and their first home league win came just before the new year. Conceding 80 goals, losing 25 matches, and scoring 27 goals, Wolves were a mess.

1987: Trouble in Scarborough

It should have been a day of celebration, an atmosphere befitting an historic occasion for anyone associated with the Football League debutants Scarborough. After winning the GM Vauxhall Conference in the 1986/87 season, the club managed by Neil Warnock was about to step into unchartered territory. 

"Very proud, obviously," Scarborough Chairman Terry Brown declared as the crowd filtered into the Athletic Ground on Seamer Road for Scarborough's opening Division Four match against Wolves. "At present, everyone's behaving themselves. The Wolves fans seem very happy. I just hope it finishes like this."

1986/87 FA Cup: Chorley humble Wolves

The 1980s had started in exciting fashion for supporters of Wolves. Winning the League Cup at Wembley, with £1.49 million record signing Andy Gray scoring the winner against Nottingham Forest, the club finished sixth in Division One, and the future looked bright under manager John Barnwell. Yet the foundations for a decade of decay had already been established.

Football songs of the 1980s: Part 1

We all remember the classic football songs of the 1980s, those that made the top ten in the UK charts and are constantly mentioned when discussing the best and worst in this genre. But what about the lesser known tunes that may be lurking under the surface?

1980s League Cup finals

This week I am taking a look back on the League Cup finals of the 1980s. A decade which saw the final shown live for the first time, the competition sponsored by two different companies, Liverpool end their league Cup drought (and some), as heroes and villains aplenty were made during a time when the competition thrived.