The 1995–96 season was the 97th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played the season in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League First Division.
Although the season began with Graham Taylor as manager, he resigned sixteen games into their league campaign under fan pressure due to the team's poor results. Despite being tipped by many to be one of the promotion favourites - following on from having reached the play-offs in the previous season - the side sat in 18th place at the time of Taylor's exit.
After a period under caretaker manager Bobby Downes, Mark McGhee resigned from Leicester City to become Wolves' new manager in December. Despite a slow upturn in results under McGhee that put the team within three points of a play-off place at the start of April, their form again collapsed and they took just four points from the final 24 available.
The club eventually finished the season in 20th place, only confirming their safety from relegation in their final home game. This represented their lowest finish in the football pyramid since returning to the second level in 1989–90.
Results
Football League First Division
A total of 24 teams competed in the Football League First Division in the 1995–96 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. Teams finishing level on points were firstly divided by the number of goals scored rather than goal difference.
The provisional fixture list was released on 20 June 1995, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.
Final table Team17Grimsby Town461414185569–145618Oldham Athletic461414185450 +45619Reading461317165463–1156 20 Wolverhampton Wanderers461316175662–65521Portsmouth461313206169–85222Millwall461313204363–2052 Source: Statto.com
Results summary
Results by round
FA Cup
League Cup
Players
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Transfers
In DatePlayerFromFee30 May 1995 Dean RichardsBradford City£1.85 million13 September 1995 Eric YoungCrystal PalaceFree20 September 1995 Mark Williams RWD Molenbeek£300,00021 September 1995 Mark AtkinsBlackburn Rovers£1 million22 September 1995 Richard FlashManchester UnitedFree22 December 1995 Simon OsbornQueens Park Rangers£1 million16 February 1996 Steve CoricaLeicester City£1.1 million16 February 1996 Željko KalacLeicester City£650,000
Out DatePlayerToFee23 June 1995 Tom BennettStockport County£75,00018 July 1995 Paul BladesRotherham United£110,00025 August 1995 Peter ShirtliffBarnsley£125,00018 September 1995 David KellySunderland£1 million29 December 1995 Gordon CowansSheffield UnitedFree
Loans in Start datePlayerFromEnd date21 December 1995 Vinny SamwaysEverton21 January 1996
Loans out Start datePlayerToEnd date5 October 1995 Robbie Dennison Swansea CityEnd of season7 March 1996 Paul BirchPreston North EndEnd of season28 March 1996 Carl RobinsonShrewsbury TownEnd of season
Management and coaching staff PositionNameManagerGraham Taylor (until 13 November), then Mark McGhee (from 13 December onward)Assistant managerBobby Downes, then Colin Lee (from 13 December onward)First Team coachMike HickmanYouth Development OfficerChris EvansYouth Team coachChris TurnerClub doctorsDr Peter Ackroyd and Dr Peter BekennClub PhysioBarry Holmes
Kit The season saw a new home shirt introduced featuring an embroidered crest and new collar design. The all-white away kit of the previous season was retained. Both were manufactured by Nutmeg Clothing and featured sponsor name of Goodyear.
References