[6] Having been relegated from the Premier League after three seasons, the club sought to put a new playing style in place under new manager Ståle Solbakken[7] who officially became the permanent replacement for Mick McCarthy on 1 July.

[18] After four pre-season matches, their first competitive game of the campaign saw the team narrowly win a League Cup tie against Aldershot after a penalty shootout.

These results came at a price as their injury list grew with Razak Boukari, Stephen Hunt[22] and Sławomir Peszko[23] all sidelined with long-term problems.

[2] He later expressed disappointment at owner Steve Morgan offering him such a limited period of time to oversee a reshaping of the club's playing culture and identity.

[38] A home loss to Burnley in their penultimate match effectively consigned the club to their fate, and led to some supporters storming the pitch at full-time to show their anger at the situation.

[41] Although Saunders initially spoke of his hopes to be allowed to rebuild the team in League One,[42][43] three days later it was announced that he had become the fourth Wolves manager in fifteen months to leave his post.

[6] The club announced it would be taking an indefinite time to seek a "head coach" rather than a manager as it sought to restructure in preparation for their first season outside the top two divisions since 1988–89.

[44] The final pre-season friendly was scheduled to be held on 11 August against Aston Villa, but was cancelled to allow Wolves to instead take up the option of playing their League Cup tie on this date.

The provisional fixture list was released on 18 June 2012, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.