The Knowledge | Why Wolves will forever hold a place in our history...
Sat 27 September 2025, 14:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
We take on Wolves in the Premier League at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday evening (8pm UK) - turn the clock back 117 years, and Wolves provided the opposition for a major milestone in our history...
Our first Football League game | 1908
Wolverhampton Wanderers were our first opponents after joining the Football League back in 1908. A crowd of 20,000 were at the Lane for a Thursday afternoon fixture in the old Second Division (now the Championship) on 1 September, 1908. We kicked-off a league journey now into a 117th season with a 3-0 win. It was a result to make everyone sit up and take notice - Wolves were the FA Cup holders and founder members of the Football League 20 years earlier. Legendary former striker Vivian Woodward - the Harry Kane of his day - registered our first Football League goal after six minutes and added a second soon after the interval. Tom Morris rounded off the scoring. A copy of the one penny match programme issued that day - Volume 1, Number 1 - would fetch a pretty penny today!
Highbury high
We enjoyed a few highs (and suffered a few lows!) at Arsenal's old Highbury home over the years - but few matched the feeling fans would have felt in the red half of north London on 15 April, 1981 - and we didn't even play Arsenal! It was our FA Cup semi-final replay against Wolves, on the way to that memorable 'Ossie's Dream' final replay win against City. The North Bank was packed with lilywhite and blue as a double strike from Garth Crooks - track down the second on YouTube, if you can - put us in the driving seat before a thunderbolt from Ricky Villa saw us home. Ricky, of course, would then write his name into Spurs folklore at Wembley...
Stand and deliver
Wolves were also the visitors the West Stand at the Lane was officially opened by Sir Stanley Rous on 6 February, 1982. Ricky Villa was there again, this time with a hat-trick, with further goals from Garth Crooks, Mark Falco and Glenn Hoddle seeing us home 6-1 in the First Division.
