The 2016–17 season was the 139th year in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. The club competed in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League Championship for a third consecutive year.

This was the first season for the club under the ownership of the Chinese investment group Fosun which acquired the club on 21 July 2016 for a reported £45 million. Although head coach Kenny Jackett's position was initially confirmed by the new owners, he was replaced by Walter Zenga before the season proper began. However, Zenga lasted just 14 league games before being dismissed with the team in 18th place.

Paul Lambert was appointed on 5 November, but despite leading the team to two victories away at Premier League opposition in the FA Cup, the club's league form showed only a marginal improvement in the form of a 15th-place finish, one place lower than the previous campaign (although with an identical points tally of 58).

Following an internal review of the season, it was announced on 30 May that the club had decided to relieve Lambert of his position.

Results

Pre-season

Football League Championship

A total of 24 teams competed in the Football League Championship in the 2016–17 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 22 June 2016, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.

Results summary

Results by round

League table

FA Cup

EFL Cup

EFL Trophy

Wolves were one of the sixteen teams from outside the bottom two divisions of the Football League to be invited to field their academy team in the competition due to it holding Category 1 academy status. They were drawn in Group B in the Northern section.

Players Statistics

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Awards AwardWinner Fans' Player of the Season Hélder Costa Players' Player of the Season Hélder Costa Young Player of the Season Connor Ronan Academy Player of the Season Morgan Gibbs-White Goal of the Season Hélder Costa(vs Cardiff, 1 April 2017)

Transfers

In DatePlayerFromFee 1 July 2016 Rory Brown Crusaders Free 1 July 2016 Andy Lonergan Fulham Free 1 July 2016 Elliott Watt Preston North End Free 30 July 2016 Sílvio Atlético Madrid Free 2 August 2016 Jón Daði Böðvarsson Kaiserslautern £2,700,000 15 August 2016 Prince Oniangué Reims £2,000,000 26 August 2016 Paul Gladon Heracles Almelo £1,000,000 29 August 2016 Jack Ruddy Bury Undisclosed 30 August 2016 Romain Saïss Angers £3,000,000 31 August 2016 Ivan Cavaleiro Monaco £7,000,000 13 January 2017 Duckens Nazon Kerala Blasters Free 28 January 2017 Dániel Csóka ZTE £135,000 30 January 2017 Hélder Costa Benfica £13,000,000 31 January 2017 Ben Marshall Blackburn Rovers £1,500,000 31 January 2017 Sherwin Seedorf Nike Academy Free

Out DatePlayerToFee 1 June 2016 Rajiv van La Parra Huddersfield Town £750,000 30 June 2016 Razak Boukari Châteauroux Free 30 June 2016 Zeli Ismail Bury Free 30 June 2016 Liam McAlinden Exeter City Free 30 June 2016 Aaron McCarey Ross County Free 30 June 2016 Tommy Rowe Doncaster Rovers Free 30 June 2016 Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson Molde Free 1 July 2016 Eusébio Bancessi Pogoń Siedlce Free 1 July 2016 Rhys Bills Released Free 1 July 2016 Jordan Clement Romulus Free 1 July 2016 Joe Delacoe Released Free 1 July 2016 Owen Eggington Nuneaton Borough Free 1 July 2016 Callum Harris Patro Eisden Free 1 July 2016 Bradley Lindsey Boldmere St. Michaels Free 1 July 2016 Tendai Matinyadze Released Free 1 July 2016 Declan Weeks Southport Free 1 July 2016 Ashley Carter Kidderminster Harriers Free 5 July 2016 James Kellermann Aldershot Town Free 11 July 2016 Răzvan Oaidă Brescia Undisclosed 22 July 2016 Kevin McDonald Fulham £1,250,000 31 August 2016 Nathan Byrne Wigan Athletic £500,000 13 January 2017 Connor Hunte Greenwich Borough Free

Loans in Date fromPlayerFromDate until 29 July 2016 Hélder Costa Benfica 30 January 2017 2 August 2016 João Teixeira Benfica End of season 22 August 2016 Cameron Borthwick-Jackson Manchester United End of season 22 August 2016 Ola John Benfica End of season 31 August 2016 Richard Stearman Fulham End of season 19 January 2017 Andreas Weimann Derby County End of season

Loans out Date fromPlayerToDate until 15 August 2016 Connor Hunte Stevenage 7 January 2017 25 August 2016 Bradley Reid Wrexham September 2016 31 August 2016 Ethan Ebanks-Landell Sheffield United End of season 31 August 2016 Aaron Collins Notts County 9 January 2017 31 August 2016 James Henry Bolton Wanderers End of season 2 September 2016 Ben O'Hanlon Nuneaton Town October 2016 13 January 2017 Ola John Deportivo de La Coruña End of season 16 January 2017 Prince Oniangué Bastia End of season 19 January 2017 Jed Wallace Millwall End of season 31 January 2017 Sylvain Deslandes Bury End of season 31 January 2017 Will Randall Walsall End of season 31 January 2017 Aaron Simpson Portsmouth End of season 31 January 2017 João Teixeira Nottingham Forest End of season 25 February 2017 Harry Burgoyne Barnet 4 March 2017 23 March 2017 Aaron Collins Tranmere Rovers End of season

References