The 2012–13 season was the 114th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. The club competed in the second tier of the English football system, the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

. They had returned to the second level having been relegated from the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

after three seasons during the previous season. Norwegian manager

Ståle Solbakken Ståle Solbakken (born 27 February 1968) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the Norway national team. During his playing career, Solbakken was named 1995 Norwegian midfielder of the year, an ...

was appointed to begin the season as the club's manager, but he was sacked on 5 January with the team in 18th place and having been eliminated from the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

by at that time non-league club Luton Town. He was swiftly replaced by former

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

manager

Dean Saunders Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and ...

who oversaw the remaining twenty games. After Saunders failed to bring any upturn, the club suffered relegation for a second successive season to drop into the third level for the first time since 1988–89. This made them the only club to ''twice'' experience back-to-back relegations from the top flight, having already suffered this previously in the mid 1980s. Three days after their relegation was confirmed, Saunders was fired having held the post for only four months.

Season review

Having been relegated from the Premier League after three seasons, the club sought to put a new playing style in place under new manager

who officially became the permanent replacement for

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional Manager (association football), football manager, pundit and former Association football, footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool. McCarthy b ...

on 1 July. In contrast to McCarthy's preference for British and Irish players, the Norwegian used the foreign market for all of his summer signings, with Bakary Sako,

Razak Boukari Abdoul-Razak "Razak" Boukari (born 25 April 1987) is a Togolese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger. He progressed from Châteauroux to play top-level football in France for both R ...

, Björn Sigurðarson and

Georg Margreitter Georg Margreitter (born 7 November 1988) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a central defender. Career Margreitter began his professional career with Austrian Bundesliga club LASK Linz in 2007, making his first team debut on 28 ...

signing permanent deals as well as the loan captures of

Tongo Doumbia Tongo Hamed Doumbia (born 6 August 1989) is a Malian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Saudi Arabian club Tuwaiq. He has previously played for the Mali national team. Club career French football Doumbia played youth foo ...

and

Sławomir Peszko Sławomir Konrad Peszko (; born 19 February 1985) is a Polish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who was most recently in charge of II liga club Wieczysta Kraków. Peszko has won cham ...

. Despite these incomings, the transfer window saw the sale of several key players with leading goalscorer Steven Fletcher exiting for a club record £14 million fee, and both

Matt Jarvis Matthew Thomas Jarvis (born 22 May 1986) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. Jarvis began his professional career with Gillingham F.C., Gillingham, making his English F ...

and

Michael Kightly Michael John Kightly (born 24 January 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. Kightly was rejected as a schoolboy by Tottenham Hotspur but worked his way back to League football with Southend United. He aga ...

also remaining in the Premier League with new clubs. The players began pre-season training on 9 July, which featured a week at a training camp in Ireland. After four pre-season matches, their first competitive game of the campaign saw the team narrowly win a League Cup tie against

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

after a penalty shootout. League football began on 18 August with a 0–1 defeat at Leeds, before the team registered their first victory at Molineux in nine months by beating

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. After an inconsistent start September brought a run of four consecutive victories to lift the team up the table. Victory at fellow newly relegated club

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

in early October placed Wolves in third place, which was to be their highest position of the season. These results came at a price as their injury list grew with

, Stephen Hunt and

all sidelined with long-term problems. Winger

Jermaine Pennant Jermaine Lloyd Pennant (born 15 January 1983) is an English retired professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder#Winger, winger. Pennant made over 350 league appearances for 15 clubs, and scored 25 league goals. Born ...

was therefore loaned to help but the team hit a poor run of form and failed to win any of their next ten fixtures. December began with a halting of this poor sequence as three wins were recorded from four games, but their three games over the festive period were all lost, leading Solbakken to declare that they were "in a crisis". When the following game - a loss at

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

- brought their first exit from the FA Cup to a non-league side since 1986, he was fired as manager after six months in the role. He later expressed disappointment at owner Steve Morgan offering him such a limited period of time to oversee a reshaping of the club's playing culture and identity. In contrast to the club's "drawn-out" recruitment process after the dismissal of Mick McCarthy, Solbakken's replacement was swiftly announced within two days as former

' manager

was unveiled on 7 January as Wolves' fourth different manager within twelve months. Steve Morgan defended the changes and stated that he hoped Saunders would be with the club "for a long period of time". At the time of Saunders' first game at the helm, the team sat in 18th position six points clear of the relegation zone and nine points from the play-off places. He said that, while he believed promotion still remained possible, "the more likely scenario is we’re going to creep up the league." He soon used the January transfer window to make two loan signings as defenders

Kaspars Gorkšs Kaspars Gorkšs (born 6 November 1981) is a Latvian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Gorkšs was also the captain of the Latvia national football team, Latvia nationa ...

and

Jack Robinson Jack Robinson may refer to: Sports people *Jack Robinson (catcher) (1880–1921), American baseball player *Jack Robinson (footballer, born 1870) (1870–1931), England, Derby County and Southampton football goalkeeper *Jack Robinson (footballer, ...

were brought in from the top flight. The manager's first game brought a 1–1 draw against

, which was to be the first of nine winless games under his command. Saunders' first win arrived at the start of March, by which time the team had slumped into the Championship relegation zone for the first time since October 1999. An upturn in form brought four wins from five games but the form of the other relegation-battling sides meant that Wolves were never any more than a single point above the relegation zone. Injuries to both of their leading goalscorers,

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Sylvan Augustus Ebanks-Blake (born 29 March 1986) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He played youth team football for Cambridge United F.C., Cambridge Uni ...

and Bakary Sako, further endangered their risk of losing their Championship status. Shorn of attacking options, their final six games brought five defeats which meant relegation for a second consecutive season. A home loss to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

in their penultimate match effectively consigned the club to their fate, and led to some supporters storming the pitch at full-time to show their anger at the situation. Only victory on the final day, coupled with defeats for both

and

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

and a five-goal swing in goal difference would have prevented relegation, but in the event, Wolves lost their game at

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

to become the first club to twice be relegated from the top division to the third level within two years. Although Saunders initially spoke of his hopes to be allowed to rebuild the team in League One, three days later it was announced that he had become the fourth Wolves manager in fifteen months to leave his post. The club announced it would be taking an indefinite time to seek a "head coach" rather than a manager as it sought to restructure in preparation for their first season outside the top two divisions since 1988–89.

Results

Pre season

The final pre-season friendly was scheduled to be held on 11 August against Aston Villa, but was cancelled to allow Wolves to instead take up the option of playing their League Cup tie on this date. "Wolves Development XI" pre season results
0–2
vs

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

(25 July)
0–1
vs

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

(27 July)
4–2
vs

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

(1 August)
2–0
vs Telford United (3 August)
3–1
vs

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

(8 August)

Football League Championship

A total of 24 teams competed in the

in the 2012–13 season. Each team played every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. The provisional fixture list was released on 18 June 2012, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns. ;Final table ;Results summary ;Results by round

FA Cup

League Cup

Players

Statistics

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Awards

Transfers

In

Out

Loans in

Loans out

Management and coaching staff

Kit

The season brought both new home and away kits manufactured, for the final year of their contract, by BURRDA. The new home kit featured the club's traditional gold and black colours, with the shirt having a gold collar. The away kit was a teal kit, reviving the colours used in their 1996–97 change strip. Both shirts featured the internet gambling company Sportingbet.com as sponsor for the final time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Season 2012-13 2012–13 Football League Championship by team 2012-13