FA Cup fourth round: West Brom versus Wolves is about ‘glory and shame’
By Neil Johnston
Last updated on 26 January 2024
Long before Wolverhampton Wanderers had sealed their place in the FA Cup fourth round, Molineux was awash with derogatory songs about West Bromwich Albion. The taunts started before kick-off in last week’s replay with Brentford and peaked after Matheus Cunha’s extra-time penalty confirmed a first meeting with their fierce rivals in front of supporters for 12 years.
In a nutshell, fans of West Brom and Wolves dislike each other with a passion. ‘It’s one of the most intense derbies in the world,’ Dazzling Dave, founder and presenter of Always Wolves Fan TV, says of a fixture peppered with hostility and outrageous behaviour down the years.
After the Baggies beat their neighbours 2-0 in the Premier League in 2011, two Wolves fans walked on to The Hawthorns pitch unchallenged and made their way to the centre circle. As one started filming, the other ‘relieved’ himself before security guards could intervene. ‘This is raw tribalism – a world away from the slick presentable image of modern-day football,’ Chris Lepkowski, West Brom’s head of media between 2014-16, tells BBC Sport.
On Sunday, Championship side West Brom host Premier League Wolves in the first FA Cup tie between the clubs for 17 years.
‘This isn’t just any other game,’ John Homer, a West Brom season ticket holder since 1976, says. ‘This is about glory – and shame and humiliation.’
Wolves are not even the nearest club to West Brom. Aston Villa is just four miles from The Hawthorns and are considered bigger rivals among older members of Albion’s fan base. ‘The turning point was around the mid-80s when Albion, Birmingham and Wolves fell from grace,’ explains Homer. ‘We stopped playing Villa. That’s around the time we had Steve Bull, Ally Robertson, Robbie Dennison and Andy Thompson. We sold all four to Wolves and they all helped keep them alive. Anyone born after 1986, if they’re Albion fans then you’ll find that their main rivalry is with Wolves.’
Homer has witnessed more than 50 West Brom-Wolves fixtures since attending his first in 1967, when Jeff Astle performed
