5 fascinating ways in which Wolverhampton has changed in the 25 years it has been a city
About 25 years ago, Wolverhampton was officially was granted city status by the late Queen Elizabeth II. Here's how the city's changed in that time.
It was December 2000, when our much-loved city of Wolverhampton was formally declared to be a new 'city', alongside two other newly-formed cities being Brighton and Hove and Inverness.
25 years later, it is safe to say that the city’s population has grown steadily.
According to census data, in 2001, Wolverhampton reported a population of 236,582, whereas in comparison 20 years later, Wolverhampton recorded a population of 263,700 (2021). At the time, many heralded the news that the city was now considered to be major status upgrade for the historic Black Country city.
We’ve taken a trip down memory lane, and here are some of the way's the city has changed:
Football
25 years ago, it was a time when local football team Wolves, was going through a difficult time in the football league table.
In 2001, the local football club saw a mid-table finish in the second tier.
Nowadays, the club finds itself in the bottom half of the Premier League, and at the moment the league is placed on the 16th spot (as of March 11th 2026).
