2008–09 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

The close season saw the likes of Richard Stearman,[1] David Jones[2] and Sam Vokes[3] arrive, along with the experience of Chris Iwelumo,[4] while making a transfer profit with the sale of players such as Seyi Olofinjana,[5] Jay Bothroyd[6] and Freddy Eastwood.

Trying to arrest this slump, the January transfer window saw the arrival of three new faces: Kyel Reid[11] and Nigel Quashie[12] on loan for the remainder of the season from West Ham United; defender Christophe Berra also joined from Scottish club Hearts for £2.3million.

[13] The FA Cup had brought some cheer with a fringe squad winning 2–0 at local rivals Birmingham in the 3rd round, before the club exited the competition with a 2–1 home defeat to Premier League side Middlesbrough.

Weathering their bad run of league form, Wolves managed to regain an air of consistency, reinventing their game from the free-flowing, free-scoring football of the first third of the season to hold down a string of clean sheets and one goal margin victories against Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday.

With promotion rivals Birmingham City and Reading unable to take advantage of their poor run, March saw an upturn in Wolves' league form as the club took 13 points from a possible 15, strengthening their position at the top of the table that they had led since October.

With just seven games left on the Championship calendar, Aston Villa striker Marlon Harewood was loaned for the run-in,[14] though the team were also hit by the news that key midfielder Michael Kightly would miss the remainder of the season after suffering a broken metatarsal in his foot.

[15] Further injury woe struck when Chris Iwelumo suffered medial ligament damage in a loss to local rivals Birmingham in April that ended a five-game unbeaten run.

Championship trophy presentation at Molineux on the final day of the 2008-09 season.