The 2001–02 season was the 103rd 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.
The season proved a notable disappointment for the club after being denied promotion in the play-offs. The team had sat in the automatic promotion spots for the majority of the campaign, but a late slump in form saw local rivals West Bromwich Albion pip them to second place. Defeat to Norwich City in the semi-finals then ended their hopes of returning to the top flight for the first time since 1984.
The club had spent in excess of £11 million before and during the season to try to achieve promotion, in this, manager Dave Jones' first full season in charge.
Results
Preseason Wolves' pre season saw them spend a week in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal (13–22 July), training and playing three Portuguese sides. This schedule was a change from their initial plans to compete in the Toronto Soccer Festival against both Canadian sides and other overseas entrants. However this event was cancelled two months beforehand.
Football League First Division
A total of 24 teams competed in the Football League First Division in the 2001–02 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 21 June 2001, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.
Final table Team 1 Manchester City 46 31 6 9 108 52 +56 99 2 West Bromwich Albion 46 27 8 11 61 29 +32 89 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 25 11 10 76 43 +33 86 4 Millwall 46 22 11 13 69 48 +21 77 5 Birmingham City 46 21 13 12 70 49 +21 76 6 Norwich City 46 22 9 15 60 51 +21 75 Source: Statto.com
Results summary
Results by round
Play-offs
FA Cup
League Cup
Players
Statistics
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Awards AwardWinner Fans' Player of the Season Alex Rae Young Player of the Season Joleon Lescott
Transfers
In DatePlayerFromFee4 July 2001 Mark KennedyManchester City£2 million7 August 2001 Shaun NewtonCharlton Athletic£850,00024 August 2001 Colin Cameron Hearts£1.75 million13 September 2001 Nathan Blake Blackburn Rovers£1.5 million19 September 2001 Alex Rae Sunderland£1.2 million13 December 2001 Kenny Miller Rangers£3 million24 December 2001 Dean Sturridge Leicester City£350,00027 March 2002 Kevin Cooper Wimbledon£1 million
Out DatePlayerToFee June 2001 Seamus Crowe ReleasedFree June 2001 Håvard Flo Released Free June 2001 Aaron Kerr ReleasedFree June 2001 Robert Niestroj Released Free June 2001 Mike Stowell Released Free June 2001 Scott Taylor Released Free 11 July 2001 Neil Emblen Norwich City£500,000 10 September 2001 Tony Dinning Wigan Athletic£750,000 18 October 2001 Temuri Ketsbaia Dundee£500,000 19 October 2001 Ryan Green MillwallFree 21 November 2001 Shane Tudor Cambridge UnitedFree 28 March 2002 Robert Taylor Released Free
Loans in Start datePlayerFromEnd date 14 July 2001 Stephen Bywater West Ham United 16 August 2001 18 August 2001 Marlon Beresford Middlesbrough 18 September 2001 7 September 2001 Kenny Miller Rangers 6 December 200123 November 2001 Dean Sturridge Leicester City23 December 2001 21 December 2001 Danny Milosevic Leeds United 28 December 2001 27 March 2002 Jacob Laursen Leicester City End of season 28 March 2002 Gunnar Halle Bradford City End of season
Loans out Start datePlayerToEnd date 29 August 2001 Robert Taylor Queens Park Rangers 26 September 2001 7 September 2001 Tony Dinning Wigan Athletic10 September 2001 13 September 2001 Colin Larkin Kidderminster Harriers End of season 9 October 2001 Robert Taylor Gillingham 3 January 2002 24 October 2001 Shane Tudor Cambridge United24 November 2001 29 November 2001 John Melligan Bournemouth 9 February 2002 17 January 2002 Robert Taylor Grimsby Town 17 February 2002 19 March 2002 Adam Proudlock Nottingham Forest 16 April 2002 21 March 2002 Michael Branch Reading End of season
Management and coaching staff PositionNameManagerDave JonesAssistant managerJohn WardReserve team coachTerry ConnorAcademy directorChris EvansUnder-19s coachJohn PerkinsUnder-17s coachKeith DowningChief scoutGeorge FosterClub doctorDr Peter AckroydClub physioBarry Holmes
Kit The season retained the home kit from the previous year; a darker "old gold" style shirt with black shorts. A new away kit, however, was launched: an all-silver design with blue trims; their previous light blue away kit became a third choice strip. All were manufactured by WWFC, the club's own label, and sponsored by Goodyear (for a twelfth and final year).
References