2019–20 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season
The 2019–20 season was the 142nd season in the history of the English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. The club competed in the Premier League for the second consecutive season and also in European competition for this first time since 1980–81, having qualified for the UEFA Europa League through the previous season's 7th place league finish. This was their third campaign under head coach Nuno Espírito Santo. As a result of the suspension of competitive football in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the club were unable to play any games for several months  after their Europa League tie on 12 March. A restart of the Premier League was made on 17 June, with Wolves returning to action three days later. The team repeated their 7th-place finish of the previous Premier League season – with an improved points tally – but, as a result of Arsenal winning the FA Cup, this position was not sufficient to qualify for the Europa League again. A top 6 position would only have been guaranteed with victory on the final day, but Wolves lost 0–2 at Chelsea. Their European campaign lasted 383 days in total, ending at the quarter -final stage of a modified single-leg final tournament in Germany with defeat to the eventual winners Sevilla. This was their best performance in a UEFA competition since reaching the inaugural UEFA Cup Final in 1972. Competitions. Pre-season. Wolves were one of four teams invited to take part in the biennial Premier League Asia Trophy, which the team won. Owing to their participation in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League, these were the only other games the club undertook before the start of the league season. Premier League. A total of 20 teams competed in the Premier League  in the 2019–20 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. Results. The provisional fixture list was released on 13 June 2019, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns. The coronavirus pandemic caused the suspension of all fixtures scheduled between 11 March and the planned end of the season on 17 May. Revised fixture lists for the matchdays following the resumption of  the league were published on 5 June and 18 June 2020. FA Cup. As a Premier League team, Wolves entered the competition at the third round proper stage in January 2020. The third round draw was made live on BBC Two from Etihad Stadium on 3 December 2019, Micah Richards and Tony Adams conducted the draw. EFL Cup. As a Premier League team involved in European competition, Wolves enter the competition in the third round. The third round draw was confirmed on 28 August 2019, live on Sky Sports. The draw for the fourth round was made on 25 September  2019. UEFA Europa League. Qualifying stage. As a result of their seventh place league finish in the previous season, Wolves entered the competition in the second round qualifying round. The draw was confirmed on 19 June 2019. The draw for the third round qualifying round was made on 22 July 2019 prior to the second round qualifying round matches. On 5 August 2019, the play-off round draw was announced. Wolves were seeded in all three of these draws. Group stage. The draw for the group stage was held on 30 August 2019. The club were drawn from pot 3  into Group K to face Beşiktaş, Braga and Slovan Bratislava. Knockout phase. The draw for the round of 32 was held on 16 December 2019. The club was unseeded due to finishing as runners-up in the group stage. The round of 16 ties were determined by an open draw held on 28 February 2020. The return leg of the team's round of 16 tie was postponed from its original date of 19 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to conclude the competition as promptly as possible, UEFA decided to organise a single-leg mini tournament in  Germany for the final eight teams. An open draw was conducted to this end on 10 July 2020. 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 into Group G in the Northern section, from which they advanced in second place. Note: In group stage matches which were level at the end of 90 minutes a penalty shoot-out was held, with the winner earning a bonus point