Described by Bill Nicholson as his best-ever signing, Dave Mackay was the heartbeat of the team that won the double in 1960/61, retained the FA Cup in 1962 and then made history by winning the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1963. He then recovered from breaking his leg twice to captain the team to the FA Cup in 1967. Signed from Hearts in March, 1959, Dave is considered by many to be the most complete player ever to wear the Spurs shirt. He made his debut against Manchester City on 21 March, 1959 and final appearance against Wolves at Molineux on 11 May, 1968 - 318 appearances in total. Dave was a winner - Scottish title, Scottish Cup and two League Cups before joining us, then, after leaving us for Derby County in 1968, captaining the Rams to the Second Division title in 1968/69. He returned to Derby as manager in 1973 - and led them to the First Division title in 1974/75. An all-time footballing great, Dave passed away in 2015.
Ralph Coates was there when Bill Nicholson and Danny Blanchflower visited Burnley's hotel reception after the 1962 FA Cup Final. He was then a member of Burnley's groundstaff - nine years later, he was making his debut for us at Molineux. A cult hero with his famous comb-over hairstyle, Ralph progressed through the ranks to make his debut for Burnley in December, 1964. After joining us in May, 1971, he stepped out in Lilywhite against Wolves on 14 August, 1971, a 2-2 draw. That was the first of 248 appearances for us, scoring 24 goals, including his moment - the winner in the 1973 League Cup Final against Norwich City at Wembley. Ralph passed away in 2010. As for that moment back in 1962, Ralph recalled: "I remember we were back at the team’s hotel and Bill Nicholson and Danny Blanchflower coming in when we were having our reception and brought the FA Cup in. It was such a nice gesture and everyone in the room stood up and clapped. The respect between the clubs was tremendous."
A first at Molineux is remembered for one man - Martin Chivers. Fourth in our all-time list of goalscorers with 174 in 367 appearances, 1968-76, 'Big Chiv' delivered on the biggest stage on 3 May, 1972 - the first leg of the final of the inaugural UEFA Cup, now the UEFA Europa League. Rated as one of the best strikers in Europe at the time, Martin headed us in front on 57 minutes, Jim McCalliog levelled for Wolves on 72 before Martin's winner on 87, a thunderbolt from 25 yards that almost took the net off - a goal still seen as one of the best in our history. We took a 2-1 lead to the second leg at the Lane and a 1-1 draw - Alan Mullery on target in his final Spurs game - saw us become the first British team to lift two different European trophies. Martin sadly passed away earlier this year.
Two players bowed out in Lilywhite at Molineux in May, 2004 - while an Academy graduate pulled on the shirt for the first time in the Premier League. It was the last appearances for Gus Poyet and Christian Ziege in a 2-0 win against Wolves on 15 May, 2004. Explosive midfielder Gus scored 23 goals in 98 appearances for us between 2001-04 and helped us reach the League Cup Final in 2002, later returning as assistant manager as we lifted the trophy in 2008. Christian, described as having a 'wand of a left foot' by Tim Sherwood, scored 10 goals in 52 matches, also between 2001-04, during which time he was the first Spur to appear in the World Cup Final during his time at the club, as a late substitute for Germany against Brazil in 2002. Meanwhile, Mark Yeates made the most of his debut. Starting the game alongside fellow Academy graduates Ledley King and Stephen Kelly, he set up Robbie Keane for the opening goal in the first half. Yeatesy left for Colchester United in 2007. He then had spells at 11 clubs - including the likes of Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Watford - and racked up over 600 career appearances until finally calling it a day after playing non-league for Eastleigh, AFC Fylde and Bamber Bridge, his final season in 2021/22. He's now Assistant Head Coach at Fleetwood.
Two debutants combined to set us on our way to a 2-0 victory at Molineux on 10 September, 2011. Scott Parker, snapped up from West Ham, played in Emmanuel Adebayor, initially signed on loan from Real Madrid, who skipped past Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey and slotted home the opener on 67 minutes. Jermain Defoe fired home for 2-0 on 80 minutes. Scott went on to play 63 times for us and was voted Supporters' Player of the Season in 2011/12. He captained England during his time at the club and returned as coach of our Under-18s before moving into senior management, currently at Burnley. 'Ade', recently back in N17 as a TV pundit, scored 18 goal in 37 games as we finished fourth in 2011/12. He went on to score 42 in 113 in all competitions before departing for Palace in 2015.
Wolves have featured in two milestone days in our history - our first match in the Football League, and the official opening of our new West Stand at the Lane in 1982. It was 1 September, 1908 - a Thursday afternoon - when we made our first appearance in the the Second Division. Vivian Woodward registered our first goal after six minutes and added a second soon after the interval. Tom Morris rounded off the scoring in a 3-0 win on front of 20,000 fans. Fast forward to February, 1982 and Sir Stanley Rous officially opened our new West Stand before beating Wolves 6-1. Ricky Villa scored a hat-trick and was joined on the scoresheet by Mark Falco, Garth Crooks and Glenn Hoddle.