KARL WHITEHOUSE TAKES A LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF WOLVES V MANCHESTER UNITED
FIRST ENCOUNTERS
- Division 1 – The initial clash between the two clubs in Division 1 took place on 15th October 1892, with Newton Heath emerging victorious with a 10-1 scoreline before they changed their name to Manchester United.
- FA Cup – The first face-off in the FA Cup occurred in the Semi Final at Hillsborough on 26th March 1949. The match concluded with a 1-1 draw after extra time, leading to a replay at Goodison Park on 2nd April 1949, where Wolves secured a 1-0 win.
- Premier League – The inaugural meeting of the two clubs in the Premier League happened on 27th August 2003, resulting in a 1-0 victory for Manchester United.
- League Cup – The first encounter between the two clubs in the league cup took place in the 3rd round on 23rd September 2009, ending in a 1-0 win for Manchester United.
MOST RECENT MEETINGS
- Premier League – Manchester United won the most recent game 1-0 at Old Trafford on the 14th of August 2023, with the goal scored by Raphael Varane. Wolves were very unlucky with this one as there were questionable VAR and officiating decisions.
- FA Cup – The most recent game was a 3rd round tie replay on the 15th of January 2020, which ended 1-0 to Manchester United.
- League Cup – The most recent game was in the 4th Round on the 26th of October 2010, with Manchester United securing a 3-2 victory.
WOLVES BIGGEST WIN
- Division 2, the largest win between the two teams occurred on 26th December 1931, with Wolves finishing 7-0.
- Division 1, the biggest win between the two teams was on 4th October 1952, with Wolves finishing 6-2.
- Premier League, the biggest wins between the two teams were on 5th February 2011 and 2nd April 2019, with Wolves finishing 2-1 in both games.
- FA Cup, the largest win between the two teams was on 16th March 2019 in the quarterfinal, with Wolves finishing 2-1.
MANCHESTER UNITED BIGGEST WIN
- Division 1 – Manchester United scored a 6-2 victory on 1st November 1947, marking their biggest win in this division.
- Premier League – On 18th March 2012, Manchester United achieved their biggest win in this league with a 5-0 victory.
- FA Cup – Manchester United’s biggest win against the two clubs occurred on 10th March 1965 during the quarter-final, with a 5-3 victory.
MATCH OF THE DAY
A game took place close to the upcoming meeting on 29th January 2006 in the FA Cup 4th Round. Manchester United won the game 3-0.
Kieran Richardson put United ahead early on with a first-time shot, as the Wolves central defence couldn’t handle Louis Saha’s low cross. Saha then outpaced Wolves’ back line to get on the end of Nemanja Vidic’s long pass for United’s second goal. Richardson then finished off a great move by heading in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s cross.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Wolves beat Manchester United 1-0 on 17th January 2004 in the Premier League at Molineux.
On 17th January 2004, Wolves secured a 1-0 victory against Manchester United in the Premier League at Molineux. Before the match began, there was controversy as the Manchester United players broke protocol by heading straight onto the pitch instead of walking out with the Wolves players.
The game showcased a top versus bottom clash in the Premier League, which proved to be entertaining for spectators. In the first half, Manchester United dominated possession, keeping the ball without allowing Wolves a chance on goal. Van Nistelrooy had the best opportunity to score with an overhead kick narrowly missing the bar just before half time.
Wolves came close to taking the lead when Ince, playing against his former club, struck the post with a powerful shot from 25 yards. This near miss came after Rio Ferdinand suffered an injury, leading to his substitution by Wes Brown.
Michael Oakes managed to block a close-range shot from Paul Scholes, who dived to push the shot away from the goal. Then, in the 66th minute, Wolves made a breakthrough when Kenny Miller intercepted a loose Manchester United throw-in and bypassed Wes Brown in the United defence to score past Tim Howard in the United goal, giving Wolves the deserved lead and sending the home fans into a frenzy.
This served as a wakeup call for United, prompting the manager to make numerous changes from the substitutes’ bench in an attempt to salvage at least a draw. However, their efforts fell short as Darren Fletcher’s shot in the penalty area was denied by Wolves goalkeeper Oakes, securing a clean sheet for the team.
The final whistle brought mass celebrations among the Wolves fans, marking a brilliant victory against the league leaders. The match ended with Wolves 1, Manchester United 0, denting United’s title hopes and giving Wolves a chance to stay in the league.
Wolves Team: Oakes, Irwin, Craddock, Butler, Naylor, Newton, Ince, Rae, Kennedy, Miller, Iversen.
Substitutes: Cameron, Clyde, Kachloul, Ikeme, Ganea
Manager: Dave Jones
Manchester United Team: Howard, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Fortune, Fletcher, Keane, Phil Neville, Ronaldo, Scholes, Van Nistelrooy.
Substitutes: Butt, Carroll, Brown, Bellion, Forlan.
Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson
A LITTLE MORE HISTORY
Wolves 1 Manchester United 0 19th August 1980 in Division 1 at Molineux
George Berry scored the only goal of the game in the 88th minute of the game to give Wolves the victory 1-0.
Wolves Team: Bradshaw, Palmer, Parkin, Daniel, Hughes, Berry, Brazier, Carr, Gray, Richards, Eves.
Substitute: Clarke
Manager: John Barnwell
Manchester United Team: Roche, Nicholl, Albiston, McIlroy, Moran, Buchan, Grimes, Greenhoff, Coppell, Macari, Thomas.
Substitute: Ritchie
Manager: Dave Sexton
HEAD TO HEAD
Premier League Stats
There has been 19 Meetings between the two sides.
Wolves have won 4 games with 3 Home wins and 1 Away Wins.
Manchester United have won 12 games with 7 Home wins and 5 Away Wins.
There has been 3 draws between the sides.
Wolves have scored 11 Goals.
Manchester United have scored 28 Goals.
Overall Head-to-Head
There have been 112 games in total.
Wolves have won 37 Games.
Manchester United have won 55 Games.
There has been 20 Draws.
Last Six Premier League Games
23rd May 2021 Wolves 1 Manchester United 2 Played at Molineux.
29th August 2021 Wolves 0 Manchester United 1 Played at Molineux.
3rd January 2022 Manchester United 0 Wolves 1 Played at Old Trafford.
31st December 2022 Wolves 0 Manchester United 1 Played at Molineux.
13th May 2023 Manchester United 2 Wolves 0 Played at Old Trafford.
14th August 2023 Manchester United 1 Wolves 0 Played at Old Trafford.
PLAYING FOR BOTH TEAMS
Cameron Borthwick Jackson Played for Manchester United 2015-2016 made 10 appearances and played for Wolves in a loan spell from Manchester United 2016-2017 made 6 appearances.
Sylvan Ebanks Blake Played for Manchester United 2004-2006 made 2 league cup appearances and 1 goal and played for Wolves 2007-2013 made 177 appearances and scored 61 goals.
Darren Ferguson Played for Manchester United 1990-1994 made 28 appearances and played for Wolves 1994-1999 made 117 appearances and scored 4 goals.
Michael Gray Played for Manchester United in his youth career 1988-1990 but failed to make a single appearance for the club and played for Wolves 2007-2009 made 41 appearances and scored 4 goals.
Paul Ince Played for Manchester United 1989-1995 made 206 appearances and scored 25 goals and played for Wolves 2002-2006 made 115 appearances and scored 10 goals and was part of the Wolves team that got wolves promoted to the premier league in 2003.
Denis Irwin Played for Manchester United 1990-2002 made 368 appearances and scored 22 goals and played for Wolves 2002-2004 made 75 appearances and scored 2 goals and was part of the Wolves team that got promoted to the premier league in 2003.
Jemal Johnson Played for Manchester United in his youth career didn’t make a single appearance in the first team and played for Wolves 2006-2007 made 20 appearances and scored 3 goals.
David Jones Played for Manchester United in his youth career 1995-2003 and first team where he made no appearances for the team only made 4 appearances in the FA Cup and League Cup 2003-2007 and played for Wolves 2008-2011 made 66 appearances and scored 6 goals.
Tomasz Kuszczak Played for Manchester United 2006-2007 in a loan spell from West Bromwich Albion and a permanent spell from 2007-2012 made 32 appearances and played for Wolves 2014-2015 made 13 appearances.
Jim McCalliog Played for Wolves 1969-1974 made 163 appearances and scored 34 goals and played for Manchester United 1974-1975 made 31 appearances and scored 7 goals.
Scott McGarvey Played for Manchester United 1980-1984 made 35 appearances and scored 5 goals and played for Wolves 1984 in a loan spell from Manchester United made 13 appearances and scored 2 goals.
Mark Todd Played for Manchester United 1986-1987 made no appearances for the first team and played for Wolves in a loan spell from Sheffield United 1990-1991 made 7 appearances.
Other Players who played for both clubs.
Arthur Allman, Glen Andrews, Brian Birch, Billy Bryant, George Bissett, Joe Davies, Reece Devine, John Ferguson, Richard Flash, Johnny Gorman, John Griffiths, Billy Harrison, Tom Huddlestone, Ben Morton, Daniel Nardiello, Bill Pendergast, Arthur Potts, Tommy Rowe, Jack Rowley, Kris Taylor, George Travers, Syd Tyler, Jeff Wealands, Billy Wrigglesworth.
Played, Coached and Managed both teams.
Major Frank Buckley Played for Manchester United 1905-1906 made 3 appearances and managed Wolves 1927-1944.
Brian Carey Played for Manchester United 1989-1993 made no first team appearances and was a assistant manager of Wolves 2013 working with Dean Saunders who was the manager at the time.
Chris Turner Played for Manchester United made 64 appearances and was youth team manager at Wolves 1995-1998 where he worked under Mark McGhee.
ARTICLE BY KARL WHITEHOUSE
I’ve been a Wolves fan for over 30 years, supporting them at both home and away games in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. Now, I enjoy delving into the stats behind the games they play in the Premier League and also looking at other stats if someone asks on the podcast. I’ve also visited all 92 football league grounds and will soon be creating an ebook about people’s favourite matches they’ve attended, complete with a match report and, if possible, stats from the game.