Three years ago Wolverhampton Wanderers owners Fosun unveiled their vision for Molineux’s redevelopment.
At the end of season awards dinner in 2019, Wolves bosses unveiled images of what Molineux could look like after the planned redevelopment. Pictures included a single-tier South Bank and revamped Steve Bull and Billy Wright stands with capacity tipped to reach 50,000.
However, other than the introduction of rail seating on the South Bank, there haven’t been any major changes to Wolves’ stadium since those grand plans were revealed. Season ticket prices have increased again but Wolves reported a 95 percent renewal rate.
Fosun’s price hike won't hurt attendances at Molineux with 30,000-plus regularly cramming inside the stadium throughout last season. With thousands on the season ticket waiting list, the need for a larger capacity is obvious.
But, giving his latest update last year, chairman Jeff Shi said Fosun have put the stadium redevelopment on the backburner to prioritise investing in the playing squad. Shi made no secret of the fact Fosun want Wolves to become largely self-sustainable and highlighted the financial problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which saw supporters barred from Molineux in 2020/21.
Shi said: “When the moment is right – I mean financially, when the moment is right – then we take the risks like this pandemic into consideration. If we think it is right to do that, we will do that.
"And it is not to make profit. If it can break-even, then it can work, but now by current calculation, it’s harder to break even. And also if we meet a year like the last year, it will be disastrous. So we have to be careful.
“Also, if you have any money spare, I think the first priority is the first team, the starting XI, and even the academy is ahead of the new stadium. Different owners have different views.
"Of course, I understand that Sir Jack (Hayward) has done a lot of good things for the club, but I think you cannot compare two owners, because they share different backgrounds. And for Fosun and for myself, we always put the team first. When we talk about a club, the stadium is important, but in modern times it’s more about the squad."
Shi didn't address the stadium redevelopment in the latest edition of Ask Wolves, which was released at the end of May, but commercial chief Russell Jones reiterated the club's stance. Jones said: “As Jeff said in Ask Wolves last year, the priority still remains in this order, which is number one: team, number two: training ground, and number three: stadium. But I want to reassure fans that that doesn’t mean to say that we’ve downed tools on the stadium.
“We understand that actually this is home, this is home of the football club, and we want to keep improving it, we want our supporters to be proud of it, and we especially understand that the Steve Bull needs some work.”
Wolves have a nine-stage plan to redevelop the dated Steve Bull stand, which involves demolishing and rebuilding the lower section to move it closer to the pitch. It’s estimated that would allow for 1,100 extra seats on top of what Wolves already have in that part of the ground.
Further work to the Steve Bull stand, including redeveloping the concourse in both tiers and the hospitality areas, is estimated to be worth £16million by Jones. Work to Molineux’s iconic South Bank would cost almost twice that figure.
Jones added: “As you know as a huge Wolves fan, there’s nothing that would give me more pride than to see the South Bank redeveloped, sort of double its size, which would go from 5,000 to 10,000, which again is part of our plans.
“But that’s a £30million investment, and of course what comes with that is a significant interest from funding. It’s something again we’re working at, because we need to try to find the best possible interest rates to be able to support that finance that’s required.”
Wolverhampton Council also unveiled plans for a 'Molineux Quarter' in their latest investment prospectus. The Wolverhampton investment prospectus, which was presented to the UK Real Estate, Investment & Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) on Tuesday, includes plans to revamp Molineux and the surrounding areas. A new 'Molineux Quarter' is supposedly in the pipeline, which is "centred around expanding the football stadium and university with potential for new commercial/leisure development."
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