# 2001–02 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

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
### Pre season

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
Source: Statto.com
Results summary
| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Statto.com
Results by round
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Result | D | W | W | D | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | L | L | D | W | W | L | D | W | W | L | D | L | W | D | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | D | L | D | W | L | L | W | D |
| Position | 10 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |

### League Cup
## Players
### Statistics

Key: ‡ On loan from another club * First appearance(s) for the club
* # = Squad number
* Pos = Playing position
* P = Number of games played 10
* G = Number of goals scored
* GK = Goalkeeper
* DF = Defender
* MF = Midfielder
* FW = Forward
* = Yellow cards
* = Red cards
* † Permanent player left club during the season
* ¤ Loaned to another club for part or all of season
Correct as of the season's end. Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances in parentheses where applicable.
| No. | Pos | Name | P | G | P | G | P | G | P | G | | |
| No. | Pos | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Michael Oakes | 48 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Kevin Muscat | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | Lee Naylor | 26(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26(1) | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | Carl Robinson | 15(8) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16(8) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Joleon Lescott | 46 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 6 | DF | Paul Butler | 45 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | Michael Branch ¤ | 5(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5(2) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Keith Andrews | 4(7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(7) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Adam Proudlock ¤ | 12(8) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13(8) | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Temuri Ketsbaia † | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Kevin Cooper | 6(1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(1) | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Mark Kennedy | 35(1) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37(1) | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | Stephen Bywater ‡ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | Marlon Beresford ‡ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | Danny Milosevic ‡ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | George Ndah | 1(14) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(14) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | Cédric Roussel | 6(11) | 2 | 0(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 6(13) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Andy Sinton | 3(4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 3(5) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | Robert Taylor ¤ † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | Sean Connelly | 5(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | Shaun Newton | 47 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | Colin Cameron | 40(3) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41(3) | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | Colin Larkin ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | Ludovic Pollet | 5(3) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | Tony Dinning ¤ † | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | Alex Rae | 33(5) | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34(5) | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | Mo Camara | 25(4) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27(4) | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | Kenny Miller ‡ | 5(17) | 2 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5(18) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | Nathan Blake | 40(1) | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41(1) | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | Shane Tudor ¤ † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | Jacob Laursen ‡ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | Ryan Green † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | Dean Sturridge ‡ | 29 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 21 | 5 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | Matt Murray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | Gunnar Halle ‡ | 6(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | John Melligan ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | GK | Lewis Solly | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Awards

| Award | Winner |
| Fans' Player of the Season | Alex Rae |
| Young Player of the Season | Joleon Lescott |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| 4 July 2001 | Mark Kennedy | Manchester City | £2 million |
| 7 August 2001 | Shaun Newton | Charlton Athletic | £850,000 |
| 24 August 2001 | Colin Cameron | Hearts | £1.75 million |
| 13 September 2001 | Nathan Blake | Blackburn Rovers | £1.5 million |
| 19 September 2001 | Alex Rae | Sunderland | £1.2 million |
| 13 December 2001 | Kenny Miller | Rangers | £3 million |
| 24 December 2001 | Dean Sturridge | Leicester City | £350,000 |
| 27 March 2002 | Kevin Cooper | Wimbledon | £1 million |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Fee |
| June 2001 | Seamus Crowe | Released | Free |
| June 2001 | Håvard Flo | Released | Free |
| June 2001 | Aaron Kerr | Released | Free |
| 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 | Millwall | Free |
| 21 November 2001 | Shane Tudor | Cambridge United | Free |
| 28 March 2002 | Robert Taylor | Released | Free |

### Loans in

| Start date | Player | From | End 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 2001 |
| 23 November 2001 | Dean Sturridge | Leicester City | 23 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 date | Player | To | End date |
| 29 August 2001 | Robert Taylor | Queens Park Rangers | 26 September 2001 |
| 7 September 2001 | Tony Dinning | Wigan Athletic | 10 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 United | 24 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

| Position | Name |
| Manager | Dave Jones |
| Assistant manager | John Ward |
| Reserve team coach | Terry Connor |
| Academy director | Chris Evans |
| Under-19s coach | John Perkins |
| Under-17s coach | Keith Downing |
| Chief scout | George Foster |
| Club doctor | Dr Peter Ackroyd |
| Club physio | Barry 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).