Back to the 80s… again… for another shirt that features as a favourite for Wolves fans, the second shirt by the soon-to-be bankrupt kit supplier Scoreline… and it was suspiciously similar to their first.
Thanks to Pete Waller for providing material for this blog entry.
Seasons: 1989-1990
Finished: Football League Second Division, 10th
Style: 7/10
Popularity: 8/10
Quality: 8/10
Collectability: 9/10 (getting more popular)
Estimated price: Replica: circa £300+.
In this post:
Scoreline version
Pete Waller’s Molineux Collection version
Wolves had just come up to Division 2 (the Championship in new money) and big things were expected this year. A certain Steve Bull had just smashed in over 100 league goals in a match up from 4th division to 2nd and Wolves had a new smart kit that was… the same as the previous season’s with the manufacturers logo moved.
Wolves rapid ascension sadly stalled with a 10th place finish and 14 or so seasons stuck in what some described as “the division from hell” but don’t let that detract from the fact this is a good looking shirt.
An iconic sponsor in the form of Mander paints, a firm closely related to the fortunes of Wolverhampton, bright, two-tone shadow stripes, a version of the Wolves badge in a shield rather than hexagon (still some people’s favourite) … what’s not to like?
Scoreline went mad the next season, massively compromised on quality and sadly went bust. You can see close- ups of their third and final shirt at the bottom of the 1990-1992 shirt blog page. Wolves moved to Bukta after two months and continued to hang around the division for a decade or two.
This is my personal shirt but I didn’t get it at the time. I bought it from a bloke in the car park at the Penn Cottage pub in… er Penn, Wolverhampton in 1998 for £15. I had started collecting all the old shirts and I had advertised I was looking to buy them in the Express & Star. I guess he lived round there (it wouldn’t make much sense otherwise) because he asked to meet there and laughed at me for buying his old shirt. Fair enough I suppose although now good condition adult-sized ones are £300+ so who’s laughing now Penn Cottage Car Park man!?
Probably still him. Oh well.
Molineux Collection version
Peter Waller has kindly provided a close-up of a version of this shirt that is rarer still than the Scoreline version. A limited run of shirts that were signed by Steve Bull and produced under license as the Molineux Collection:
These were made to the same spec as the shirts the players wore so you’ll note embroidered badges. Also note that the spacing is different with the sponsor’s logo proportionately higher up the shirt towards the badges. Many thanks for sharing Peter!
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