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50 free Wolverhampton Wanderers trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Wolverhampton Wanderers were founded by two schoolboys given a ball by their headmaster, became founder members of the Football League, and in the 1950s were proclaimed 'Champions of the World' after a floodlit friendly that helped bring the European Cup into being. This quiz covers the whole story: St Luke's, the Molineux pleasure grounds, the first FA Cup of 1893, Major Buckley and his monkey-gland injections, the two title near-misses of 1938 and 1947, Stan Cullis and Billy Wright's three championships, Honvéd and Real Madrid under the lights, the 1972 UEFA Cup final, Andy Gray's 1980 League Cup winner, the John Ireland Stand that nearly killed the club, four relegations in five seasons, Steve Bull's 306 goals, Sir Jack Hayward, the 2003 play-off win, Mick McCarthy, the 103-point League One season, Fosun, Nuno's seventh place and the 2026 relegation. Early questions suit anyone who has heard 'Hi Ho Wolverhampton'; later ones are for supporters who know their South Bank from their North Bank: what colours the club first played in, why the club is gold and black, who the Bhatti brothers were, and which club Wolves beat 14-0 in 1886. Good for a supporters' club night or a Black Country pub quiz. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the club and Molineux, and each question shows its source.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Wolves' founders, two St Luke's Church School pupils, were given a football in 1877 by whom?
Their headmaster
John Baynton and John Brodie's side merged with Blakenhall Wanderers cricket club's football section in 1879 to form Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Q 02What were Wolves' original colours, taken from St Luke's school?
Red and white
Gold and black came later, echoing the council motto 'out of darkness cometh light'.
Q 03Wolves' gold and black colours allude to the city council's motto. What is it?
Out of darkness cometh light
Gold stands for light and black for darkness; the darker 'old gold' shade was used before the 1960s.
Q 04Which club did Wolves face in their first Football League match, on 8 September 1888?
Aston Villa
They finished third that season and lost the FA Cup final 3-0 to double winners Preston.
Q 05Wolves' record win, 14-0 in an 1886 FA Cup tie, came against a team representing what?
A brewery
Crosswell's Brewery were the victims; the record defeat is 1-10 at Newton Heath in 1892.
Q 06When Wolves moved to Molineux in 1889, the site was what?
A pleasure park
The grounds of Molineux House had been developed into public leisure facilities, and a brewery rented them to the club.
Q 07Who bought the Molineux Grounds in 1889 and rented them to the football club?
A Northampton brewery
The first official game there was played on 7 September 1889 before 4,000 people; the club bought the freehold in 1923.
Q 08Wolves' first FA Cup win, in 1893, was a 1-0 victory over which club?
Everton
They won it again as a Second Division side in 1908, beating Newcastle 3-1.
Q 09Major Frank Buckley's 1930s Wolves players were injected with what at his insistence?
Monkey gland extract
The Football League disapproved but did not ban it; Wolves finished runners-up twice and lost the 1939 Cup final to Portsmouth.
Q 10Wolves lost 1-0 on the final day of 1937-38 at which club, finishing a point behind Arsenal?
Sunderland
History repeated in 1947, when a last-day defeat to Liverpool handed Liverpool the title instead.
Q 11Which club did Wolves beat in the 1949 FA Cup final, their first major honour in 41 years?
Leicester City
Cullis had played his last game for the club in the 1947 title decider defeat to Liverpool.
Q 12Wolves' first league title in 1953-54 was won by overhauling which local rivals late in the season?
West Bromwich Albion
Billy Wright captained the side; further titles followed in 1957-58 and 1958-59.
Q 13How many times did Billy Wright captain England, a record when he retired in 1959?
90
He was the first player to reach 100 international caps and won 105 in all while at Wolves.
Q 21Which record signing scored the only goal as Wolves beat Nottingham Forest in the 1980 League Cup final?
Andy Gray
John Barnwell's side finished sixth that season, the club's best placing until 2019.
Q 22Rebuilding which stand in 1979 was the catalyst for Wolves' near-ruin in the 1980s?
Molineux Street
Its replacement, the John Ireland Stand, cost over £2 million and pushed the club into receivership in 1982.
Q 23Which former player fronted the 1982 rescue of Wolves from liquidation, financed by the Bhatti brothers?
Derek Dougan
The Bhattis' failure to invest led to three straight relegations and the club's only spell in the Fourth Division.
Q 14Wolves installed floodlights at Molineux in 1953 at a cost of about how much?
£10,000
The first floodlit game was a 3-1 win over South Africa in September 1953.
Q 15Wolves' famous 1954 floodlit friendly win, dubbed by the press 'Champions of the World', came against which club?
Honvéd
Honvéd contained many of the Hungarians who had twice humbled England; the hype spurred L'Équipe's Gabriel Hanot to propose the European Cup.
Q 16Which L'Équipe editor was spurred by the Wolves-Honvéd hype to propose the European Cup?
Gabriel Hanot
In 1957-58 Wolves beat Real Madrid 5-4 over home-and-away friendlies.
Q 17Which club pipped FA Cup winners Wolves to the 1959-60 title by a point, denying the first 20th-century double?
Burnley
Cullis was sacked in September 1964 and Wolves were relegated that season after 26 years in the top flight.
Q 18In the summer of 1967 Wolves won the United Soccer Association championship playing under what name?
Los Angeles
They beat the Washington Whips, who were really Aberdeen, in the final decider.
Q 19Wolves lost the first ever UEFA Cup final in 1972, 3-2 on aggregate, to which club?
Tottenham Hotspur
They had beaten Juventus and Ferencváros on the way; a 2-1 home defeat in the first leg proved decisive.
Q 20Wolves' first League Cup, in 1974, was won 2-1 in the final against which club?
Manchester City
Bill McGarry was the manager; a fourth-place finish in 1971 had taken the club into the new UEFA Cup.
Q 24How many times were Wolves relegated in the five seasons between 1981-82 and 1985-86?
Four
There was one promotion in between, in 1982-83; the slide ended in the Fourth Division for the only time in the club's history.
Q 25What did a developer get permission to build next to Molineux in 1986 in return for paying off Wolves' debts?
An Asda superstore
Gallagher Estates and Asda struck the deal with the club in receivership for the second time.
Q 26Wolves lost the very first Football League play-off final, in 1987, to which club?
Aldershot
They then won the Fourth and Third Division titles in successive seasons plus the 1988 Football League Trophy.
Q 27How many goals did Steve Bull score for Wolves, a club record?
306
He also holds the single-season record with 52, and the fanzine 'A Load of Bull' was named after him.
Q 28Which player holds Wolves' appearance record with 609 first-team games?
Derek Parkin
501 of them were league appearances.
Q 29Lifelong fan Sir Jack Hayward bought Wolves in 1990 and immediately funded what?
Rebuilding Molineux as an all-seater stadium
£8.5 million produced the Billy Wright, Stan Cullis and Jack Harris stands by December 1993.
Q 30Which club played the friendly that opened the redeveloped Molineux in December 1993?
Honvéd
The Hungarian side had been beaten in the most famous of the original floodlit friendlies.