Our trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers is tomorrow night, with a 7.45pm kick-off, and presumably the match was put back from the usual Tuesday because we had a live TV game on Sunday. If you didn’t manage to get a ticket, there is always the live beamback which is taking place at Elland Road.

Molineux is on the northern edge of the city centre, just outside the ring road. To get there by car you need to take junction 10 off the M6, then keep following signs to Wolverhampton on the A454, until you reach the ring road. There you take the 4th. Exit from the roundabout (signposted Stafford A449) and the stadium is on the right-hand side after 0.6 Miles.

The official site says that traffic is expected to be busier than usual due to the switching on of the Christmas lights, which obviously takes precedence over football in these parts. There will be a number of road closures, with details https://www.leedsunited.com/news/team-news/22575/wolves-supporter-information" > here . And they now also have other road restrictions around Molineux on any match day - particularly Waterloo Road, with details https://www.wolves.co.uk/news/club/20171020-road-closures-information/" > here .

The best option for parking is to use the Civic Hall car park just off the ring road near Molineux, which costs £2 for the evening, provided you enter after 5pm. Normally I point out that there are plenty of city centre car parks a short distance from the stadium, but on this occasion they are likely to be busier than usual (see above). Another option is to head for the some street parking on a small industrial estate near to Wolverhampton Railway Station, in the region of Kennedy Road (off Culwell Street) which is about a ten minute walk to Molineux. You’ll find it by taking the A4124 off the ring road and then the first left. The police advise away fans not to use the car park behind 'The Wanderer' pub, where many vehicles have been vandalised.

The ground is about 15 minutes walk from the railway station. Leave the station and turn immediately right, following the ring road as it continues around to the left. Eventually you will see Molineux on the right. You can just about get a train back to Leeds after the game by catching the 22.48 and changing in Manchester, eventually reaching Leeds at 01.59.

It is generally recommended that you don't wear Leeds colours anywhere in the city centre. Most of the pubs near the stadium are best avoided, as they tend to be full of hostile Wolves fans and the publicans don't need the extra trade or possible hassle from away fans, while some establishments are members only. And I don't know of any decent takeaways near the stadium, but there are loads of food vans outside Molineux on matchdays. Inside the food is mainly pies and pasties, and there will be no alcohol available for Leeds fans.

The designated away bar in the city centre is the ‘Stonehouse’ in Queen Street, though Real ale fans should look out for the ‘Great Western’ pub, which is behind the railway station. Instead of heading towards the Stadium you need turn right and go down a path that goes underneath the station, although you might not get in if you're wearing Leeds colours. Another place you could try is a bar called the ‘Bluebrick’ inside the Premier Inn hotel, which is close to the ‘Great Western’.

During the 1990s Molineux enjoyed a £20M makeover, thanks to the financial backing of Sir Jack Hayward. In 1992 the pitch was moved to the east so the John Ireland stand (now the Steve Bull stand) no longer stood in splendid isolation, and the Stan Cullis stand replaced the remains of the former North Bank terrace. At the start of the 1993/4 season the Billy Wright stand opened, and the scheme was completed when the Jack Hayward stand replaced the South Bank in the December of the same season. More recently, they have added an extra tier to the Stan Cullis stand, which now towers over the rest of the stadium.

The total capacity is now 31,700, and our allocation is 2,300 seats in something called the 'Steve Bull lower.' Ticket prices for this section are £25 for adults and £10-£15 for different categories of concessions. Leeds tickets were initially sold through the ‘attendance tracker’ loyalty scheme, and although a few remained after the first round of sales, they were quickly snapped up once they were made available to other season ticket holders and members. Home tickets are still on sale on the Wolves site, but “restricted to supporters with a previous purchase history only”. In the past away fans found in home stands have been marched to the police station and photographed for their records, despite the fact they had only broken ground regulations by being there and hadn’t committed any criminal offence.

The Club have planning permission to re-develop the Steve Bull stand, which is now the oldest part of the stadium even though it was completed relatively recently in 1979 (at a huge cost which nearly dragged Wolves into bankruptcy) as well as building a new large single tiered stand to replace the even newer Sir Jack Hayward stand. This would increase the capacity of Molineux to around 40,000, and could well happen if the backing of the current wealthy owners takes the club up to the Premier League. Hopefully this will also mean that we also get a more generous allocation of seats if and when we get to visit Wolverhampton in the future.

Some of this stuff came from www.footballgroundguide.com .

Photo: Action Images

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