Wolves for sale: Club in limbo as Steve Morgan leaves
Wolves were left in limbo today after the bombshell announcement that chairman and owner Steve Morgan has put the club up for sale and left with immediate effect.
Morgan took over the club in 2007 and his departure – which came completely out of the blue for supporters – has left Wolves in limbo.
The majority of Wolves fans said they were pleased to see the back of the Liverpool-born property magnate.
Wolves said the decision was made 'after much thought' and insisted it was 'business as usual' at Molineux.
The sale raises serious questions about the club's future, but:
It comes amid rumours of an angry spat with supporters before Saturdays game at Preston
Boss Kenny Jackett is thought to have been at odds with Morgan over transfer policy
Senior members of staff have been left stunned by the sudden departure
Morgan insists he will still invest in Wolves until a new owner is found
Chief executive Jez Moxey will take over the day-to-day running of the club in the meantime
Many fans are pleased with Morgan's departure – 60 per cent welcomed the news in an Express & Star poll.
But Charles Ross, editor of Wolves fanzine A Load of Bull, said the timing was 'awful'.
He added: "This is a club clearly at a cross roads, if not in a crisis. The long-term future of the club has a huge question mark.
"The timing of it, frankly, is awful. The team is having a crisis of confidence on the pitch, and now they have got one in the boardroom. It is not good, there is no way it can be spun as business as usual."
The passionate businessman owns land across the city, and as recently as an interview published last week told the Express & Star his heart was in Wolverhampton.
During the interview with the Express & Star, Morgan spoke positively about the club's future and said he hoped this year would belong to his club.
"I think we've got a very strong squad," he said. "There's a lot of great players, I'm very proud of them. A lot of them have come through the academy which I set about to invest in as soon as I arrived, and we are seeing the result of that investment coming through, not only in the current squad but other players in the academy who will come through either later this year or in the next few seasons.
"We can only do our best, but we feel we're in there with a shout among the best of them."
And when speaking about young players coming through at the club and impacting on the future success, he added: "The club has got a deep tradition of bringing players forward and I think under my spell in charge we've actually put that into overdrive and invested strongly, not just in the physical academy, but in the depth of the coaches, the quantity and the quality of the coaches – all of which has improved quite dramatically and the investment is quite significant.
"We must have one of the highest percentage of ex-academy players in the first team squad of anybody in the league, and I'm very proud to see this investment is now paying off."
He took over Wolves from the late, great Sir Jack Hayward in 2007, nominally paying a £10 sum but agreeing to invest £30 million in the club. In a statement released by Wolves, the club said of the departure: "Wolverhampton Wanderers FC announces that after eight eventful and enjoyable years at the club, and after much thought, owner and chairman Steve Morgan has decided to put his 100 per cent shareholding in the club up for sale.
"Steve will step down from the board with immediate effect and day-to-day activities will continue to be managed by the chief executive with the current board overseeing operations.
"While the process of finding a new owner is being undertaken it is very much business as usual for the head coach, players, staff and all other stakeholders involved with Wolves. Steve would like to relay to all concerned that his ongoing commitment and financial support to Wolves will continue until a new owner can be found. He would like to thank everyone connected with the club for their support and backing over his tenure to date and, as always, wishes Wolves every success for the future.
"Steve will not be making any public comments in relation to this announcement."
It means Wolves are the third West Midlands club up for sale, along with Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion – who have both struggled to find new owners.
Morgan owns several car parks around Molineux, as well as a number of properties near the Wolves training complex in Compton, in which he has invested £50m.
He has proved a controversial and divisive figure to Wolves fans. It is believed some angrily confronted him before Saturday's game at Deepdale against Preston. Things initially went swimmingly for Morgan after he joined in 2007, with Wolves promoted to the Premier League in two years. But after surviving for two seasons in the richest league in the world, Mick McCarthy's and then Terry Connor's Wolves team were relegated and Morgan was accused of not investing enough money on players.
He sacked McCarthy in February 2012 – weeks after reportedly storming into the dressing room to admonish the team after a 3-0 defeat to his beloved Liverpool.
Morgan hired Connor, who didn't win a game in charge, in the short-term before turning to eccentric Norwegian Stale Solbakken and handing him a £10m war chest to win promotion.
