Wolverhampton Wanderers were formed in 1877 by John Baynton and John Brodie. The team was made up of former students at St Luke's school in Blakenhall. On two occasions they reached the final of the Birmingham Cup, only to lose to Wednesbury Old Athletic. Wolves won their first cup in 1884 when they defeated Hadley in the final of the Wrekin Trophy by 15-0.

Wolverhampton Wanders entered the Football Association Challenge Cup for the first-time in the 1886-87 season. However, they were knocked out in the 3rd round by Aston Villa.

The decision to pay players increased club's wage bills. It was therefore necessary to arrange more matches that could be played in front of large crowds. On 2nd March, 1888, William McGregor circulated a letter to Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, and West Bromwich Albion suggesting that "ten or twelve of the most prominent clubs in England combine to arrange home and away fixtures each season."

J. J. Bentley of Bolton Wanderers and Tom Mitchell of Blackburn Rovers responded very positively to the suggestion. They suggested that other clubs should be invited to the meeting being held on 23rd March, 1888. This included Accrington, Burnley, Derby County, Notts County, Stoke, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Old Carthusians, and Everton should be invited to the meeting.

The following month the Football League was formed. It consisted of six clubs from Lancashire (Preston North End, Accrington, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, Bolton Wanderers and Everton) and six from the Midlands (Aston Villa, Derby County, Notts County, Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers). The main reason Sunderland was excluded was because the other clubs in the league objected to the costs of travelling to the North-East. McGregor also wanted to restrict the league to twelve clubs. Therefore, the applications of Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest, Darwen and Bootle were rejected.

The first season of the Football League began in September, 1888. Preston North End won the first championship that year without losing a single match and acquired the name the "Invincibles". Eighteen wins and four draws gave them a 11 point lead at the top of the table. Wolves finished in third place with 28 points. Wolves had a great defensive record with half-backs, Alfred Fletcher, Arthur Lowder and Harry Allen representing England in the 1889 international games.

Wolves did even better in the FA Cup. They beat Old Carthusians (4-3), Walsall Town Swifts (6-1), Sheffield Wednesday (5-0) and Blackburn Rovers (3-1). Preston beat Preston North End 3-0 in the final. The goals were scored by Jimmy Ross, Fred Dewhurst and Samuel Thompson. Preston won the competition without conceding a single goal.

Wolverhampton Wanderers team in 1893.

Wolves continued to do well finishing in 4th (1889-90), 4th (1890-91) and 6th (1891-92). Wolves finished a disappointing 11th in 1892-93 but had a very successful cup run beating Bolton Wanderers (2-1), Middlesbrough (2-1), Darwen (5-0) and Blackburn Rovers (2-1).

Wolves played Everton at the Fallowfield Ground in Manchester in the 1893 FA Cup Final. Nine of the Wolves team were locally born players. Everton on the other hand fielded six players from Scotland. Over 40,000 people turned up to see the game. Wolves won the game with the only goal scored by Harry Allen.

Wolves enjoyed a good run in the FA Cup in the 1907-08 season. They beat Bury (2-0), Swindon Town (2-0), Stoke City (1-0) and Southampton (2-0) to reach the final against Newcastle United. Newcastle had just finished 4th in the First Division during this season, and after two successive league titles they were hot favourites to win the cup against their Second Division opponents. It was also Newcastle's third FA Cup final appearance in 4 years.

Newcastle United had the vast majority of the possession but couldn't penetrate the Wolves defence. After 40 minutes a poor clearance went straight to Kenneth Hunt, the Wolves right-half. Jim Lawrence, the Newcastle goalkeeper, got a hand the Hunt's tremendous shot but could not keep it out of the net. Soon afterwards George Hedley scored a second. In the second-half, Newcastle's constant pressure resulted in a goal for Jimmy Howie. Just before the end, Wolves broke away and Billy Harrison added a third.

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