KARL WHITEHOUSE LOOKS AT THE HISTORY OF WOLVES V CHELSEA
FIRST MEETINGS
- The first meeting of the two clubs was in Division 2 on the 8th June 1906 played at Molineux, the game finished 2-1 to Chelsea.
- Division 1 – The first meeting of the two clubs in Division 1 on the 17th September 1932 played at Molineux and the game finished 2-1 to Chelsea.
- FA Cup – The first meeting of the two clubs in the FA Cup was in the 3rd Round on the 25th February 1911 played at Molineux and the game finished 2-0 to Chelsea.
- Premier League – The first meeting of the two clubs in the Premier league was on the 20th September 2003 played at Molineux in front of 29,208 fans and the game finished 5-0 to Chelsea.
- League Cup – The most recent game was in the 3rd Round on the 25th February 2012 played at Stamford Bridge with a crowd of 32,569 fans, the game finished 6-0 to Chelsea.
MOST RECENT MEETINGS
Premier League – The most recent game was on the 4th February 2024 played at Stamford Bridge the game finished 4-2 to Wolves in front of 39,628 fans the Chelsea scorers were Cole Palmer and Thiago Silva, and the Wolves scorers were Matheus Cunha hat trick and Axel Disasi own goal.
- FA Cup – The most recent game was in the 5th Round on the 18th February 2017 played at Molineux with a crowd of 30,193 fans and the game finished 2-0 to Chelsea with Pedro and Diego Costa getting the goals.
League Cup – The most recent game was in the 3rd Round on the 25th February 2012 played at Stamford Bridge with a crowd of 32,569 fans and the game finished 6-0 to Chelsea.
BIGGEST WINS
- Division 2 – The biggest win between the two clubs was on the 20th January 1912 in front of 9,000 fans at Molineux and the game finished in a 3-1 win for Wolves.
- Division 1 – The biggest win between the two clubs was on the 26th September 1953 in front of 36,134 fans at Molineux and the game finished in a 8-1 win for Wolves.
- Premier League – The biggest win between the two clubs was on the 5th December 2018 & 15 December 2020 both games were played at Molineux and the games finished 2-1 to Wolves.
- FA Cup – The biggest win between the two clubs was on the 14th January 1928 and the game finished 2-1 win for Wolves.
BIGGEST DEFEATS
- Division 2 – The biggest defeats between the two clubs was on the 13th April 1907 & 16th September 1911 and the result was 4-0 win to Chelsea, both games were played at Stamford Bridge
- Division 1 – The biggest defeat was on the 30th August 1958 in front of 62,118 fans at Stamford Bridge, the game finished 6-2 win for Chelsea. This game was famous for Jimmy Greaves getting 5 goals in the game.
- Premier League – The biggest defeat between the two clubs was on the 27th March 2004 played at Stamford Bridge and 14th September 2019 played at Molineux and the games finished in a 5-2 win for Chelsea.
Andy Thompson testimonial
Andy Thompson testimonial match played at Molineux on the 31st July 1996 the game finished 1-0 to Chelsea.
Wolves Team: Mike Stowell, Jamie Smith, Steve Froggatt, Tony Popovic, Mark Venus, Dean Richards, Andy Thompson (captain), Iwan Roberts, Steve Bull, Steve Corica, Simon Osborn, Mark Atkins, Darren Ferguson, Mark Rankine, Serge Romano, Jermaine Wright, Glen Crowe.
Manager: Mark McGhee
Chelsea Team: Dimitri Kharine, Craig Burley, Terry Phelan, Erland Johnsen, Frank LeBoeuf, Steve Clarke, John Spencer, Roberto Di Matteo, Mark Hughes, Gavin Peacock, Dennis Wise, David Lee, Kevin Hitchcock, Andy Myers, Scott Minto, Mark Nicholls.
Manager: Ruud Gullit
MATCH OF THE DAY
There was a game near the date of the upcoming meeting, played on 27th August 1960. The game finished 3-3 at Stamford Bridge, where Jimmy Greaves scored a hat-trick in front of 41,681 fans.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Chelsea 3 Wolves 3 11th December 1976 in League Division 2 at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea started the game brightly when a cross from Graham Wilkins going towards Ray Lewington caught Wolves out who cleared it straight to Frank Munro with a heavy touch towards Steve Finnieston who struck the post and then cleared by the Wolves defence for a Chelsea corner.
Then Wolves started a counterattack towards the Chelsea goal when a pass through the middle-found John Richards unmarked near the Chelsea penalty area scored past Bonetti in the Chelsea goal in the 17th Minute to give Wolves a 1-0 Lead.
Then out of the blue Chelsea were back in the game when a poor back pass by Munro into Wilkins the Chelsea player was on hand to head a goal into the net from a Wolves mix up in the defence to make it 1-1 after 19 minutes.
Then after that goal Wolves went on the attack again when Sunderland fed Patching a ball whose shot hit the side netting it could have been a second goal for Wolves.
Another Wolves attack was started by Palmer who headed the ball towards Richards and then passed to Sunderland who put the ball into the back of the net only to be flagged offside another great chance for Wolves to restore the lead in the game.
Wolves took a quick throw from Daley which was passed to Sunderland in the box and did a ball over his head towards Gould who headed the ball into back of the net to make 2-1 to Wolves.
Half Time: Chelsea 1 Wolves 2
Wolves on the 71st minute of the game got there third goal of the game when Hibbitt headed a knock back towards Richards to head home and make it 3-1 to Wolves.
Chelsea chasing the game went on the attack to try and get back into the game hit the post from Lewington so close for Chelsea to get back into the game.
Then a corner in the 80th minute of the game Chelsea managed to score a goal when Britton the smallest man on the pitch headed near post in to make it 2-3 and give Chelsea hope of salvaging a draw in this entertaining game.
Pierce the Wolves goalkeeper has suffered a finger injury in the game and had to have the physios on to check him over and after that happened Chelsea started to bombard the Wolves goal with back-to-back corners and the resulting 2nd corner Chelsea got their equaliser after Pierce did a fantastic save to stop them scoring a goal when Finnieston headed home from 1 yard to make it 3-3.
Full Time: Chelsea 3 Wolves 3
Wolves Team: Pierce, Palmer, Parkin, Daley, Munro, Hibbitt, Sunderland, Richards, Gould, Patching Substitute: Farley Manager: Sammy Chung
Chelsea Team: Bonetti, Locke, G Wilkins, Stanley, Wicks, Hay, Britton, R Wilkins, Finnieston, Lewington, Swain Substitute: Harris Manager: Eddie McCreadie
a little more history
Wolves 2 Chelsea 1 22nd January 1983 in League Division 2 at Molineux
Wolves Team: Burridge, Humphrey, Palmer, Smith, Pender, Dodd, Hibbitt, Clarke, Gray, Eves, Matthews. Substitute: Coy Manager: Graham Hawkins
Goals: Eves (5), Clarke (72).
Chelsea Team: Francis, Lee, Jones, Bumstead, Pates, Chivers, Fillery, Hales, Speedie, Mayes, Rhoades-Brown. Substitute: Walker Manager: John Neal
Goal: Pates (38).
Attendance: 19,533
Interesting Facts
Graham Hawkins before kick off receives the manager of the month award for the second division.
Wolves 7 Chelsea 1 15th March 1975 in League Division 1 at Molineux.
Wolves Team: Pierce, Palmer, Parkin, Bailey, Munro, McAlle, Hibbitt, Carr, Richards, Kindon, Wagstaffe. Substitute: Withe Manager: Bill McGarry
Goals: Richards (23,74), Carr (25), Hibbitt (42), Bailey (59), Kindon (72), Wagstaffe (83).
Chelsea Team: Phillips, Locke, Sparrow, Hollins, Dempsey, Harris, Britton, R Wilkins, Finnieston, Garner, Cooke. Substitute: Kember Manager: Ron Suart
Goal: Garner (37).
Attendance: 21,649
Interesting Facts
Willie Carr made his debut in the game after completing his £100,000 transfer from Coventry City.
HEAD TO HEAD STATS
Premier League Head to Head
There has been 20 Meetings between the two sides.
Wolves have won 6 games with 5 Home wins and 1 Away Wins.
Chelsea have won 10 games with 6 Home wins and 4 Away Wins.
There have been 4 draws between the sides.
Wolves have scored 20 Goals.
Chelsea have scored 41 Goals.
Overall Head-to-Head
There have been 117 games in total.
Wolves have won 43 Games.
Chelsea have won 44 Games.
There has been 30 Draws.
Last 6 Matches
19th December 2021 Wolves 0 Chelsea 0 at Molineux
7th May 2021 Chelsea 2 Wolves 2 at Stamford Bridge
8th October 2022 Chelsea 3 Wolves 0 at Stamford Bridge
8th April 2023 Wolves 1 Chelsea 0 at Molineux
24th December 2023 Wolves 2 Chelsea 1 at Molineux
4th February 2024 Chelsea 2 Wolves 4 at Stamford Bridge
PLAYING FOR BOTH TEAMS
Michael Mancienne played for Chelsea 2006-2011 and made 4 appearances and played for Wolves in 2 loan spells and the first one was in 2008 where made 10 appearances and the 2nd spell was also a loan spell from 2009-2011 and made 46 appearances.
Carlton Cole played for Chelsea 2001-2006 made 25 appearances and scored 4 goals and played for Wolves in a loan spell 2002-2003 made 7 appearances and scored 1 goal.
Diego Costa played for Chelsea 2014-2017 made 89 appearances and scored 52 goals and just recently joined Wolves in 2022 for the rest of the season and so far has made 1 appearance to this date.
George Saville Played for Chelsea 2011-2014 where he made no appearances and played for Wolves 2014-2017 and made 50 appearances and scored 6 goals.
Dave Beasant Played for Wolves in 1992 in a loan spell of 4 games and Played for Chelsea in 1989-1993 and made 133 appearances.
Michael Gilkes Played for Chelsea 1992 made 1 appearance and played for Wolves 1997-1999 made 38 appearances scored 1 goal.
Tommy Langley Played for Chelsea 1974-1980 made 142 appearances scored 40 goals and played for Wolves 1984-1985 made 23 appearances scored 4 goals.
Jim McCalliog
Played for Chelsea 1963-1965 made 7 appearances scored 2 goals and played for Wolves 1969-1974 made 163 appearances scored 34 goals.
Pedro Neto
Played for Wolves 2019-2024 made 135 appearances scored 14 goals and played for Chelsea 2024 made 1 appearance after his transfer to the club.
Other Players:
Walter William George Akers, Bill Barraclough, Kevin Berkoe, Nathan Blake, Dickie Deacon, Keith Downing, John Harris, David Ijaha, Steven McMillan, Frank Nouble, Reginald Weaver, Dylan Williams.
PLAYED & MANAGED BOTH TEAMS
Colin Lee played for Chelsea 1980-1987 made 185 appearances and scored 36 goals and managed Wolves 1998-2000 as was in charge for 111 games.
Jim Barron Played for Wolves 1961-1965 made 8 appearances and had a caretaker manager spell in 1984 and played for Chelsea 1965-1966 made 1 appearance.
Tommy Docherty Played for Chelsea 1961-1962 made 4 appearances and managed Wolves 1984-1985.
Glenn Hoddle Played for Chelsea 1993-1995 made 31 appearances scored 1 goal and managed Wolves 2004-2006 and was in charge for 76 games.
Damian Matthew Played for Chelsea made 21 appearances and was Wolves scout 1999-2003.
ARTICLE BY KARL WHITEHOUSE
I am a Wolves fan been for over 30 years where
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.