# 2007–08 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

The 2007–08 season was the 109th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played the season in the 2nd tier of the English Football system, the Football League Championship. The season saw them finish seventh, narrowly missing out on a play-off place only by virtue of goal difference.
This season was the first under the ownership of Steve Morgan, ending the seventeen-year reign of Sir Jack Hayward. Morgan had bought the club for the nominal sum of £10, with the proviso that he invested £30 million into the club.

## Season review

The close season saw businessman Steve Morgan take control of the club for a nominal £10 fee in return for a £30 million investment into the club, resulting in the departure of Sir Jack Hayward after 17 years as chairman. The protracted takeover, originally announced in May, was finally completed on 9 August 2007. The announcement of the deal saw the club set out their future ethos:
   It is intended that the new capital, over a period of time, will be used to help re-establish Wolves as a Premiership club. Although this is a significant amount of money there will not be an 'open cheque book' approach to signing players; instead the club will build on the current strategy of steadily and progressively developing a team of young, hungry and talented players. — Club Statement
After last season's unexpected play-off finish, hopes were high for the club to go one step further this time, with manager stating automatic promotion was his aim. The side was strengthened by signing Freddy Eastwood, Stephen Elliott and Michael Gray, but last season's Player of the Year, goalkeeper Matt Murray - who had only just recovered from a broken shoulder - missed the whole campaign after suffering a knee injury in pre-season training.
On the field, the team started the season inconsistently, but a strong October and November saw them push as high as third, just three points from the summit. However, an injury suffered by key player Michael Kightly seemed to severely weaken the team's creativity and preceded a dismal Christmas period that saw them pick up just 4 points from a possible 21, leaving them mid-table and without hopes of an automatic finish.
More players were brought in during the January transfer window, most crucially striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake from Plymouth Argyle, who scored 12 goals in the remainder of the season, finishing the division's top scorer on 23 goals. However, his goals alone could not bring about a second successive play-off finish as the side finished outside the final spot on goal difference, two goals short of Watford. Despite suffering just two defeats in their final 15 games, several crucial late goals that were conceded in the second half of the season ultimately proved costly. Indeed, just two more goals on the final day of the season would have booked them a playoff place.

## Results
### Pre season

"Wolves XI" pre season results: 0–0 v Brighton & Hove Albion (26 July; home), 7–0 v Holyhead Hotspur (28 July; away)

### Football League Championship

A total of 24 teams competed in the Championship in the 2007–08 season. Each team would play 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 14 June 2007, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage.
Final table
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 | L | W | W | D | L | L | W | D | D | W | W | W | L | D | D | W | D | W | W | L | L | D | D | L | D | D | L | W | W | L | L | D | W | W | D | L | W | W | D | W | D | L | D | W | D | W |
| Position | 18 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 |

### 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 end of season. 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 | Matt Murray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Darren Ward | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Neill Collins | 34(4) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37(4) | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | Seyi Olofinjana | 34(1) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35(1) | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Gary Breen (c) | 18(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19(1) | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Jody Craddock ¤ | 22(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 24(1) | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Michael Kightly | 20(1) | 4 | 0(2) | 1 | 1(1) | 0 | 21(4) | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Karl Henry | 38(2) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 42(2) | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Andy Keogh | 33(10) | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 38(10) | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Jay Bothroyd ¤ | 13(9) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16(9) | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | Stephen Ward | 23(6) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 24(7) | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | Rob Edwards | 4(4) | 1 | 1(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7(5) | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Darren Potter | 11(7) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 15(8) | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Mark Little ¤ | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Mark Davies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | Matt Jarvis | 17(9) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19(9) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | Stephen Gleeson ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | Stephen Elliott | 18(11) | 4 | 1(1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19(12) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | Charlie Mulgrew ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | Daniel Jones ¤ | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | Lewis Gobern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | Freddy Eastwood | 10(21) | 3 | 0(2) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12(23) | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | Darron Gibson | 15(6) | 1 | 1(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16(8) | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 25 | GK | Graham Stack | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | David Edwards | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake | 20 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | Jamie Clapham ¤ † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | Kevin O'Connor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | Carl Ikeme | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | Wayne Hennessey | 46 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | Kevin Foley | 42(2) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 47(2) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | Michael Gray | 29(4) | 3 | 2(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32(5) | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | Martin Riley † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | FW | Kevin Kyle | 3(9) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(9) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | MF | Elliott Bennett ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | DF | Lee Collins ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | Liam Hughes ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | MF | Mark Salmon ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | MF | Dénes Rósa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | DF | George Elokobi | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 41 | DF | Matt Bailey ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Awards

| Award | Winner |
| Fans' Player of the Season | Wayne Hennessey |
| Players' Player of the Season | Wayne Hennessey |
| Young Player of the Season | Elliott Bennett |
| Academy Player of the Season | Ashley Hemmings |
| Goal of the Season | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Second goal vs Charlton Athletic, 29 March 2008) |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| 20 June 2007 | Matt Jarvis | Gillingham | Undisclosed |
| 3 July 2007 | Darren Ward | Crystal Palace | Undisclosed |
| 6 July 2007 | Freddy Eastwood | Southend United | £1.5 million |
| 17 July 2007 | Stephen Elliott | Sunderland | £750,000 |
| 25 July 2007 | Michael Gray | Unattached | Free |
| 14 August 2007 | Kevin Foley | Luton Town | Undisclosed |
| 11 January 2008 | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake | Plymouth Argyle | £1.5 million |
| 14 January 2008 | David Edwards | Luton Town | £675,000 |
| 31 January 2008 | George Elokobi | Colchester United | Undisclosed |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Fee |
| 18 May 2007 | Jackie McNamara | Aberdeen | Free |
| 8 June 2007 | Carl Cort | Leicester City | Free |
| June 2007 | Michael Oakes | Released | Free |
| June 2007 | Rohan Ricketts | Released | Free |
| 12 July 2007 | Michael McIndoe | Bristol City | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2007 | Jemal Johnson | Milton Keynes Dons | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2007 | Tomasz Frankowski | Released | Free |
| 3 December 2007 | Martin Riley | Released | Free |
| 31 January 2008 | Jamie Clapham | Leicester City | Free |

### Loans in

| Start date | Player | From | End date |
| 9 August 2007 | Graham Stack | Reading | End of season |
| 19 October 2007 | Darron Gibson | Manchester United | End of season |
| 30 January 2008 | Kevin Kyle | Coventry City | End of season |

### Loans out

| Start date | Player | To | End date |
| 8 June 2007 | Keith Lowe | Port Vale | End of season |
| 3 August 2007 | Daniel Jones | Northampton Town | 26 January 2008 |
| 17 August 2007 | Jody Craddock | Stoke City | 19 September 2007 |
| 20 August 2007 | Jamie Clapham | Leeds United | 21 November 2007 |
| 25 October 2007 | Elliott Bennett | Crewe Alexandra | 3 January 2008 |
| 14 November 2007 | Lee Collins | Hereford United | End of season |
| 22 November 2007 | Mark Salmon | Port Vale | 6 January 2008 |
| 22 November 2007 | Liam Hughes | Bury | 2 January 2008 |
| 10 January 2008 | Mark Little | Northampton Town | 12 March 2008 |
| 31 January 2008 | Elliott Bennett | Bury | End of season |
| 31 January 2008 | Charlie Mulgrew | Southend United | End of season |
| 31 January 2008 | Matt Bailey | Kidderminster Harriers | 27 February 2008 |
| 21 February 2008 | Stephen Gleeson | Hereford United | 23 March 2008 |
| 29 February 2008 | Liam Hughes | Stafford Rangers | 16 March 2008 |
| 6 March 2008 | Daniel Jones | Northampton Town | End of season |
| 14 March 2008 | Jay Bothroyd | Stoke City | End of season |
| 27 March 2008 | Stephen Gleeson | Stockport County | End of season |

## Kit

The season saw a new away kit, navy blue with an old gold and white trim. The home kit remained the same as the previous campaign and that season's white away kit was retained as a third kit for this term. The kits were manufactured by Le Coq Sportif, Chaucer Consulting sponsored the club for a fourth season.