The Fosun Group came in with a mountain to climb at Wolves. After not getting things originally as planned, heavy investment followed and a rise to European football was the outcome. So what were the most memorable moments that have occurred since the 2016 takeover?
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00:00Well, Charles, I think it's time for a bit of a nostalgic look back at the Fosun era
00:07at Molineux.
00:08Of course, an era in Wolves' modern history that has provided some great moments and some
00:14not so great moments.
00:16Great moments, you think of Nuno in Europe and all the memories, all the chants, of course,
00:21and Wolves doing quite well in the Europa League as well.
00:25And then more recently, it's not been so good, languishing towards the bottom of the league
00:29and struggling to buy a place, becoming more of a selling club, whereas they once were
00:34more of a buying club, bringing in some of these brilliant talents, and now they've had
00:37to sell a lot of them as well just to make some more money back.
00:39So it is a bit of a frustration, I think, for Wolves fans that, you know, this ownership
00:43clearly had the ambition at one point, but they've had to sort of back down on that a
00:47little bit more recently.
00:49And that's really annoying because, of course, you think, well, this Wolves team, and you
00:52clearly have the backing and the funds there, but you can't always go there.
00:56So from your point of view, how would you rate the ownership?
01:01I mean, obviously, you can look back and try and sort of review their time here at Wolves,
01:07but how would you rate them overall as well in terms of what they've done for the club?
01:11Yeah, I mean, they have to be up there as one of the best owners in the club's history, really.
01:17I mean, you walk around morning, you're on a match day, you're in the pub before a game
01:22and you speak to some of these fans who are 50, 60 years old, they've never seen anything
01:26like it.
01:27They've never seen Wolves in Europe.
01:28Obviously, our first time since, you know, the 50s, really, when sort of floodlit games
01:34were invented by Wolves.
01:35So it's remarkable to see where they took Wolves.
01:40You know, they came in and obviously didn't get it right straight away with Walter Zenger
01:44and they ended up finishing lower than the season before in the Championship, which is
01:48quite ironic.
01:49They have been unbelievable.
01:51The FA Cup quarter-final at home against Manchester United to reach the new Wembley for the first
01:57time, Wolves hadn't actually played a game there.
01:59So to get there in those circumstances, to beat Man United in one of the best Wolves
02:04performances of modern history was unbelievable, you know, albeit then it went wrong against
02:10Watford at Wembley in the semi-final.
02:12So they were a game away from an FA Cup final, which had been incredibly special for them.
02:19The Europa League journey as well, you have to credit them.
02:22Wolves were, looking back, I mean, you have Raul Jimenez, who never misses a penalty.
02:26He misses a penalty in a crucial moment and they lose out in the quarter-final.
02:31I mean, they were certainly favourites after that for me to go on and win the Europa League.
02:35And then more recently, obviously, the Albion win at the Hawthorns.
02:39Wolves, you know, a lot of fans my age and below have not seen Wolves ever win at West
02:44Bromwich Albion.
02:45It was the 90s when they last did it.
02:47So that was an incredibly special time as well.
02:49But yeah, as you say, Wolves fans are just hoping that Fosun can return that bit of passion
02:55into the club.
02:56But by all means, it's been an amazing era.