The 1984–85 season was the 86th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League Second Division.
This season would start with the club under the ownership of the Bhatti Brothers "Allied Properties" and with 1970s club legend Derek Dougan in role of chairman. A change of manager during the off-season saw Tommy Docherty hired to lead the team, succeeding Graham Hawkins who had been dismissed at the end of the previous season following relegation the top tier.
The team would suffer a further relegation after finishing the 1984–85 season in 22nd place, during a difficult period for the club which was suffering financial difficulties.
Background
Appointment of new manager
Scotsman Tommy Docherty, often affectionately referred to as "The Doc", had been appointed as Manager in June 1984 following the club's relegation from Division 1.
Docherty was a well-travelled player and manager, having taken charge of six different teams during the previous seven years before his appointment at Molineux. He had already spent time in the Midlands at Wolves' local rivals Aston Villa, where he had been sacked in 1970 with the club bottom of Division Two.
During his first managerial role in 1967–68, Docherty had famously vowed to take Rotherham United up out of Division 2, but instead performed the opposite, taking them down to Division 3. His next management role was at Aston Villa before moving overseas to manage Porto. He also spent time as an international manager with his native Scotland (guiding them towards the 1974 World Cup) but he quit this role before qualification was secured to take over as manager at Manchester United.
At Manchester United, Docherty experienced relegation from and promotion to Division 1, as well as defeating rivals Liverpool to win the 1977 FA Cup, only to be sacked days later due to having an affair with the club physiotherapist's wife.
Doherty's nomadic path saw him manage several British-based clubs following this for short periods, as well as working in Australia at Sydney Olympic on two occasions. The latter would be his last role prior to his appointment at Wolves.
Financial constraints
Docherty's task at Wolves was not to be an easy one. Wolves had been spending heavily during the late 1970s, notably when Andy Gray was signed in 1979 from Aston Villa for just under £1.5 million, setting a new British transfer fee record. Gray would later score the winning goal for Wolves in the 1980 League Cup final.
By the late 1970s, Wolves' Molineux Stadium had become dated: the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 had introduced legal requirements to ensure a safe environment for staff and spectators. The Molineux Street Stand was deemed unfit under this legislation. If Wolves intended to use the stand, it needed to be rebuilt, but the club's Chairman Harry Marshall had bigger plans than this. Instead, Marshall began planning for a whole new stadium, at an estimated cost of £10 million. It would be the first brand new permanent football stadium in the UK to be constructed since the Second World War, and the forward thinking design was rumoured to include the possibility of installing an enclosed roof by 1984. In 1978, Marshall stated that "It is a bold move on our part and the design is revolutionary but we want to start something future generations will be proud of as we move into our second 100 years".
The construction began with the demolition of 71 terraced houses the club had purchased to create space for the new "John Ireland Stand"; despite its completion, work on the other stands had not begun. The project so far cost more than £2,000,000; and by 2 July 1982, the writing was on the wall with the local newspaper leading with the front-page headline "Wolves have gone bust". With the building of the new infrastructure, Wolves had accumulated debts of £2,600,000 by 1982 and new investors were needed to save the club. Three suitors put their names forward to acquire of the club. Local businessman Sir Jack Hayward was interested in putting forwards a proposal, as was Doug Ellis, chairman of local rivals Aston Villa; however, at the last minute a consortium led by Saudi Arabian brothers Mahmud and Mohammad Bhatti was selected.
Fronting the bid on behalf of the Bhatti Brothers' "Allied Properties" banner was 1970s Wolves legend Derek Dougan, who had played for the club in the 1972 UEFA Cup final. Dougan would be placed in charge of the football side of operations in the role of chairman with the aim of adding credibility to the brothers' proposal. The Bhatti Brothers' project had pinned its hopes on the redevelopment of the Molineux site and immediate surrounding area, but with more interest in the land than on the pitch, their tenure would show a genuine lack of interest and involvement in the football from the brothers and sentiment towards the club soured when they failed to secure a deal and planning permissions with the local council for an area immediately behind the Molineux stadium which they had planned to develop. With little funds and a lack of enthusiasm for the club's operations, the rest of the stadium fell further into disrepair and attendances dwindled.
Build-up to the season
By the time Docherty arrived to take over for the 1984–85 season, players such as record signing Andy Gray had long left the club, and during the summer of 1984, following relegation from the top flight, more players were to also leave. This included prominent attackers Mel Eves and Wayne Clarke. 27-year-old Eves had made 214 Wolves starts and scored 53 goals for the club, but left Wolves to train with Mancherster City following a ruptured achilles tendon injury he picked up in his final Wolves match in 1984, eventually joining Sheffield United for an undisclosed fee. Clarke, who had started 148 games and scored 30 goals for Wolves, also left the club for an initial £80,000, transferring to local rivals Birmingham City. Eves later stated that his decision to leave was based upon the treatment he received after his injury and being offered a contract with reduced salary by Docherty, while Clarke cited the nature of his monthly rolling contract and lack of investment in the squad.
Winger Tony Towner also departed that summer having been signed from Rotherham United only 12 months earlier for £10,000 and had become a first team regular at Molineux. Towner famously had been on then-manager Graham Hawkins' pre-season shopping list that was presented to Dougan, but Hawkins was furious to find that Dougan had spent so much of the budget on him whilst he and head coach Jim Barron were out of the country. Towner would move on to Charlton Athletic for just £15,000. Perhaps most significant was the loss of Wolves legend Kenny Hibbitt. The midfielder, the club's second highest appearances holder (574) and tenth top scorer (114), opted for a move to Coventry City for an undisclosed fee. Asked for his thoughts on leaving the club, Hibbitt said "Tommy Docherty came in as manager and he knew I didn't want to be around to see the club in such dire straits".
As the start of the season approached, there was yet more selection issues for Docherty. John Burridge, who been first choice goalkeeper for the last two seasons, was out of contract and making demands of the club. With the season beginning with a home game against Sheffield United, Docherty was to make a bold decision. Rather than meet Burridge's demands, the club would bring in 17-year-old academy keeper Tim Flowers for his league debut.
The season Wolves' season would start at Molineux with the club hosting newly-promoted Sheffield United, who had finished 3rd in Division 3 the year before. Academy players Tim Flowers and Derek Ryan would make their league debuts for the club alongside new signings Alan Ainscow, Tony Evans and Tommy Langley. They were joined in the starting eleven by an experienced defence of John Humphrey, Geoff Palmer and John Pender alongside experienced wingers/utility players Paul Butler, Ian Cartwright and Alan Dodd. The game finished 2-2, with Langley and Dodd scoring in front of almost 15,000 fans.
After five matches Wolves were placed 10th in the table, with home victories against Manchester City and Charlton Athletic, a further draw at Middlesbrough and a defeat at Leeds United. The players who started in opening day fixture had continued to feature across this early period of the season and would be joined by goalscorers Mark Buckland and Paul Dougherty (who had both been signed late in the previous season). Wolves also signed Jim Melrose on loan from Celtic. However, after the next four games Wolves had dropped to 15th place after a series of back-to-back league defeats, including a 5-1 defeat at Barnsley broadcast live on ITV, with Palmer and Flowers both giving away penalties in the match.
With the early progress looking respectable, Wolves approved the sale of goalkeeper John Burridge (who had been out on loan to Derby County since the start of the season) to Sheffield United, but signed defender David Barnes from Ipswich Town for £44,000 and New Zealand midfielder Ricki Herbert from Docherty's old club Sydney Olympic for free. Melrose had impressed on his loan from Celtic and Docherty wanted to make the signing permanent, but was unable to secure the £40,000 being asked and Melrose subsequently returned to Scotland.
Three wins in succession would see Wolves climb to 13th in the table before Wolves travelled to Grimsby Town for their second 5-1 defeat of the season, once again broadcast live on ITV. Hoping that the heavy defeats were behind them, by the end of November Wolves had picked up a further four points with a 3–3 draw at home to Wimbledon and a 2–1 victory over Fulham. As December approached, Wolves sat 14th in the table, with top scorers Tony Evans (5), Tommy Langley (4) and Mark Buckland (4) having a modest total of 13 goals between them.
Experienced defender Geoff Palmer, who had played 394 games for the club, moved to Burnley at the end of November. Palmer left believing he had fallen out of favour with Docherty, stating that "the club just wasn't a nice place to be at the time, it wasn't being run properly, and was on its knees". From December onwards, Wolves hit an awful period of form, failing to win any of the next 19 league games. This included a 4–1 defeat to Notts County who were relegated along with Wolves in 1983-84 and would go on to finish 21st in the league.
During January Wolves continued to lose experienced players, with Alan Dodd (who had played 99 times for the club, including 24 under Docherty, and scoring three goals) moving on to Stoke City, and Paul Butler (who had also been a prominent feature for Docherty with 22 appearances and 2 goals) was loaned to Hereford United who later made the move permanent. With pressure mounting, chairman Derek Dougan resigned from his position on the board.
Before the season ended, top scorers and first team wingers Tony Evans (5), Tommy Langley (4), Paul Dougherty (2) and Danny Crainie would also be sent out on temporary loan spells, to be replaced by two new signings (Ray Hankin and Andy King) and two incoming loanees (Peter Eastoe and Steve Biggins). The incoming quartet would score just one goal between them that season. More positive was the signing of defender Peter Zelem from Chester City and the promotion of young academy player Campbell Chapman, son of head coach Sammy Chapman.
On 4 May 1985, Wolves travelled to Brighton & Hove Albion and suffered their third 5-1 defeat of the season. During the game, goalkeeper Tim Flowers received a head injury whilst stopping a 27th-minute penalty at 2–0 down. Flowers was not allowed treatment for the injury and the referee had the spot kick retaken. The defeat confirmed that Wolves would be relegated to Division 3.