KARL WHITEHOUSE LOOKS AT THE HISTORY OF WOLVES V MANCHESTER CITY
FIRST MEETINGS
- The first meeting of the two clubs was in Division 1 was on the 30th September 1899, played at Hyde Road and the game finished 1-1.
- FA Cup – The first meeting in the FA Cup was in the 2nd Round of the competition, this was played on the 4th February 1911 and the game ended in a 1-0 win for Wolves.
- League Cup – The teams first met in the League cup in the 2nd Round of the competition, played at Maine Road on the 8th September 1971, the game ended in a 4-3 win for Man City.
- Premier League – The first meeting in the Premier league was on the 4th October 2003 played at Molineux in front of 29,386 fans and the game ended in a 1-0 win for Wolves.
MATCH OF THE DAY
There was a game near to the date of the upcoming meeting in the premier league which played on 22nd January 2023 the game finished 3-0 to Manchester City.
OTHER MEETINGS
There was another meeting between the two sides in the Premier League Asia Cup final played at the Hongkou Stadium in Shanghai. The game ended 0-0 after 90 minutes and then went straight to a penalty shootout and Wolves won the shootout 3-2 to win the Premier League Asia cup for the first time.
pre season friendlies
24th February 1900 Wolves won game 2-1 played at Hyde Road.
23rd May 1977 Manchester City won game 2-1 played at Molineux.
2nd August 1995 Wolves won game 2-1 played at Molineux.
30th July 2004 Manchester City won game 3-1 played at Molineux.
most recent MEETINGS
Premier League – The most recent game was on the 16th August 2025 the game finished 4-0 to Manchester City at Molineux in front of 31,118 fans the scorers in the game were Haaland 2 goals, Reijnders and Cherki.
- League Cup – The most recent game was on the 24th October 2017 which was at the Etihad Stadium in front of 50,755 fans and this game was a 4th Round Tie which ended in 0-0 draw after extra time and went to a penalty shootout where the game finished in a 4-1 shootout win for Man City.
LAST 6 MEETINGS
22nd January 2023 Manchester City 3 Wolves 0 at Etihad Stadium.
30th September 2023 Wolves 2 Manchester City 1 at Molineux.
4th May 2024 Manchester City 5 Wolves 1 at Etihad Stadium.
20th October 2024 Wolves 1 Manchester City 2 at Molineux.
2nd May 2025 Manchester City 1 Wolves 0 at Etihad Stadium
16th August 2025 Wolves 0 Manchester City 4 at Molineux
BIGGEST WIN
- Division 1 – The biggest Wolves win was on the 23rd December 1933 played at Molineux in front of 20,640 fans with a 8-0 win for Wolves.
- Premier League – The biggest win was on the 6th October 2019 played at the Etihad Stadium in front of 54,435 fans with a 2-0 win for Wolves with Adama Traore getting both goals and this was the first win at Man City since 8th August 1999 when Robbie Keane scored the only goal of the game in Division 1 at Maine Road.
- FA Cup – The biggest win was on the 16th January 1952 played at Molineux which was a 3rd round replay after the original game played on the 12th January 1952 ended in a 2-2 draw and the replay ended in a 4-1 win for Wolves.
Do you remember first premier league win at Etihad Stadium?
Manchester City 0 Wolves 2 6th October 2019
First Half
Despite having to soak up a bit of early Man City pressure, the first real chance of the game fell to Wolves at the feet of Cutrone he got in behind the defence of Man City after powering forward, he could not trouble Ederson with his effort from the edge of the area.
Raul Jimenez then burst forward and after turning the Man City defence inside and out, his shot blocked by Fernandinho, and the Man City defender then cleared Cutrone’s follow-up with a strong header.
Wolves and Jimenez continued to catch the hosts on the counter, but the Man City defence were quick to retreat and halt Wolves advances towards the goal.
Ilkay Gundogan had the Blues’ first honest effort of the first half, but he could only fire a free-kick well wide of Rui Patricio’s upright from 25 yards out.
Rui Patricio then called into action for the first time in the game with just over half-an-hour gone, having to dive full stretch to his left to palm a Raheem Sterling curling effort clear of the danger.
Half Time: Man City 0 Wolves 0
Second Half
The second half started slowly for both Wolves and Man City, with referee Craig Pawson becoming the villain of the piece with the city fans for contributing to a stop-start opening 15 minutes.
Then out of nowhere Wolves had a golden chance to open the scoring in the second half which came just past the hour mark.
Raul Jimenez got up highest from a Moutinho corner, but he struggled to keep his header from flying over Ederson’s crossbar.
Then Man City started to peg Wolves back inside their own half, and that pressure almost told when David Silva crashed a free-kick off the bar after beating the visitors’ wall.
Manchester City kept the pressure on the Wolves defence, who stationed deep inside their own penalty box and managed to hold strong against a barrage of attacks from Sergio Aguero, Sterling, and Silva.
The second period continued to be Man City’s attack versus the Wolves defence, but Wolves were holding their own as they tried to catch their opponents on the break and then the tactic worked with 10 minutes of the game remaining.
Jimenez does brilliantly to control the ball on the turn before charging towards the Man City defence.
He drags two defenders into space which allowed Adama Traore to run forward in acres of space. Raul Jimenez then found Adama Traore with a pass who was unmarked and then slid the ball beyond Ederson to give Wolves the lead they deserved.
Despite surviving another Man City onslaught at the Wolves goal then Wolves put the result beyond any doubt in the five minutes of added on time when Traore was once again played in behind the home defence by Raul Jimenez to replicate his first effort and send the Wolves fans into raptures and give them first win against Man City since 8th August 1999 at Maine Road.
Conclusion
Wolves have beaten Manchester City away from home in a topflight game for the first time since December 1979 having drawn 1 loss six before the game.
Full Time: Man City 0 Wolves 2
Man City: Ederson, Walker (Zinchenko 46), Otamendi, Fernandinho, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gundogan, D. Silva (Jesus 75), Sterling, Mahrez (B. Silva 60), Aguero.
Unused subs: Bravo, Angelino, Foden, Garcia.
Wolves: Patricio, Traore, Boly, Coady, Saiss (Bennett 13), Vinagre (Jonny 74), Neves, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Jimenez, Cutrone (Doherty 68).
Unused subs: Ruddy, Vallejo, Kilman, Gibbs-White.
Goals: Traore (80, 90+4).
Attendance: 54,435
BIGGEST defeat
- Division 2 – The biggest defeat was on the 18th December 1909 played at Hyde Road and the game finished in a 6-0 win for Man City.
- Division 1 – The biggest defeat was on the 21st March 1904 played at Molineux and the game finished 6-1 to Man City.
- Premier League – The biggest defeat between the two clubs has already been mentioned in the most recent meeting meetings section.
head to head stats
Do you remember this classic game?
Manchester City 2 Wolves 3 1st December 1979
Setting the scene
This was the battle between Wolves who were 10th and Manchester City 12th in the league.
First Half
Wolves started the brighter of the two sides causing issues to the Manchester City defence and eventually got a goal in the game when Palmer produced a great cross towards Gray who left his marker on a run towards the goal to score past Corrigan in the Manchester City goal to make it 1-0 for his 6th goal since joining Wolves after 17 minutes played.
Manchester City got an equaliser when a pass from Daley who passed it to Palmer who went on a run towards the goal with the onrushing Goalkeeper Bradshaw who left an open goal to score to make it 1-1.
Wolves then 2 minutes later went back ahead in the game when Carr passed it to Thomas then passed it across the goalmouth towards Hibbitt who first shot saved and then the rebound he headed into the back of the net to make it 2-1 to Wolves.
Second Half
Wolves 10 minutes into the second half of the game got there third goal of the game when a play from Thomas crossed the ball into the box which was only half cleared by the defence to Daniel who hit his fierce shot into the back of the net to make it 3-1 to Wolves.
Manchester City got a goal near the end to make 2-3 to Wolves when a low cross into the box with Deyna there to pounce to get his goal which will give Wolves a nervy ending to the game.
Conclusion
Nothing much happened at the end of the game and the game petered out with Wolves hanging on for the victory to win the game 3-2 great win to have as it was only their 2nd win in 16 games at Maine Road.
Teams
Manchester City Team: Corrigan, Ranson, Donachie, Booth, Caton, Stepanovic, Bennett, Daley, Palmer, Henry, Deyna.
Substitute: Lee
Goals: Palmer (40), Deyna (89).
Manager: Malcolm Allison
Wolves Team: Bradshaw, Palmer, Parkin, Daniel, Hughes, Berry, Hibbitt, Carr, Gray, Richards, Thomas.
Substitute: Brazier
Goals: Gray (17), Hibbitt (42), Daniel (55).
Manager: John Barnwell
Attendance: 33,894
PLAYING FOR BOTH TEAMS
Dave Wagstaffe Played for Man City 1960-1964 made 144 appearances and scored 8 goals and played for Wolves 1964-1974 made 324 appearances and scored 26 goals.
Steve Daley Played for Wolves 1971-1979 made 212 appearances and scored 38 goals and played for Man City 1979-1981 made 48 appearances and scored 4 goals.
Mark Kennedy Played for Man City 1999-2001 made 66 appearances and scored 8 goals and played for Wolves 2001-2006 made 167 appearances and scored 12 goals.
Robert Taylor Played for Man City 1999-2000 made 12 appearances and scored 5 goals and played for Wolves 2000-2002 made 9 appearances and scored 0 goals.
Joleon Lescott Played for Wolves 2000-2006 made 212 appearances and scored 13 goals and played for Man City 2009-2014 made 107 appearances and scored 7 goals.
Mikkel Bischoff Played for Man City 2002-2006 made 1 appearance and scored 0 goals and played for Wolves 2004-2005 made 11 appearances and scored 0 goals.
Stephen Elliott Played for Man City 2003-2004 made 2 appearances and scored 0 goals and played for Wolves 2007-2008 made 29 appearances and scored 4 goals.
Carlo Nash Played for Wolves 2000-2001 on a loan spell made 0 appearances and played for Man City 2001-2003 and made 38 appearances.
Keith Curle Played for Man City 1991-1996 made 174 appearances and scored 11 goals and played for Wolves 1996-2000 made 150 appearances and scored 10 goals.
John Burridge Played for Wolves 1982-1984 made 74 appearances and played for Man City 1994-1995 made 4 appearances.
Wayne Clarke Played for Wolves in 2 spells 1978-1984 and 1991 made 149 appearances and scored 30 goals and played for Man City 1990-1992 made 21 appearances and scored 2 goals.
Mike Stowell Played for Man City 1988 loan spell from Everton made 14 appearances and played for Wolves 1989 loan spell and 1990-2001 made 385 appearances.
Paul Stewart Played for Man City 1987-1988 made 51 appearances and scored 26 goals and played for Wolves in a loan spell made 8 appearances and scored 2 goals.
Matheus Nunes Played for Wolves 2022-2023 made 41 appearances and scored 1 goal and is currently playing for Man City after he moved there in the summer transfer window of 2023 for a club record fee of £53m made 35 appearances scored 1 goal.
Tommy Doyle Played for Man City 2009-2018 Youth Career, First Team 2019-2024 made 7 appearances and playing for Wolves 2023 to current day made 32 appearances scored 1 goal.
Rayan Ait Nouri Played for Wolves 2020-2025 made 157 appearances scored 12 goals and signed for Manchester City in June 2025 made 12 appearances.
Other players who played for both clubs.
Bobby McDonald, Paul Simpson, Michael Branch, Fred Chadwick, Craig Davies, Dennis Westcott, Ken Whitfield, David Robson, George Swan, Sadou Diallo, Tim Flowers, Edward Francis, Wayne Hennessey, Joe Hodge, Eric Nixon, Carlos Forbs, Lee Mills, Jim Melrose, Geoff Lomax, Terry Park, Louie Moulden, Jimmy Murray, Jackie Oakes.
Played, Coached, Managed Both Teams.
Mick McCarthy Played for Man City 1983-1987 made 140 appearances and scored 2 goals and managed Wolves 2006-2012.
George Poyser Played for Wolves 1928-1929 unfortunately he made no appearances for the team and managed Man City 1963-1965.
Major Frank Buckley Played for Man City 1907-1908 made 11 appearances and managed Wolves 1927-1944.
Bobby Mimms Played for Man City 1987 in a loan spell from Everton and was goalkeeping coach 2001-2008 for Wolves.
Jack Wilson Man City Match Analyst 2022-2024 & Wolves Set Piece Coach 2024 for 4 months.
Kenny Jackett Manchester City reserves manger March 2007 & Wolves manager June 2013 to August 2016.
ARTICLE BY KARL WHITEHOUSE
I have been a Wolves fan for over 30 years.
I have supported them both home and away games in the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s and now like looking into wolves games the stats behind the games they play in the premier league and also look other stats if asked by someone else in the podcast. I have also done the 92 football league grounds and shortly be doing a ebook about peoples favourite match they went to along with a match report and if possible stats from game