Review of the Year: January to June - Mowbray return and pain for Saddlers

January

The drama at Wolves was unrelenting as Matheus Cunha was banned for two matches following an altercation in a 2-1 defeat against Ipswich Town in December.

Aston Villa ended the month unbeaten in the Premier League – beating Leicester and Everton, before drawing to Arsenal and West Ham.

They suffered a 1-0 defeat at AS Monaco in the Champions League, but responded with a 4-2 success over Celtic at Villa Park.

Unai Emery guided them into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 home win over West Ham and signed Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund.

Albion endured a rollercoaster start to 2025, which began with a 3-1 home victory over Preston North End. Draws against Swansea and Stoke in the Championship came either side of a 5-1 humbling at the hands of Premier League side AFC Bournemouth in the FA Cup.

Former promotion-winning boss Tony Mowbray marked his first game as interim boss with a 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough, although his Hawthorns homecoming heralded a 5-1 demolition of Portsmouth.

Albion landed the signing of talented youngster Isaac Price from Standard Liege and loaned in Will Lankshear from Tottenham.

Walsall beat Tranmere Rovers 5-1 to stretch their lead at the League Two summit to 12 points with a club record-breaking eighth successive league win.

They would extend that run to nine with a 4-2 success over MK Dons without Nathan Lowe, who was recalled by Stoke City, although his departure would have big ramifications for the remainder of the season.

Mat Sadler and Lowe both won League Two awards and the latter was rewarded with a new contract until 2028. The Saddlers ended the month with 3-0 and 2-0 defeats at Bradford City and Fleetwood Town respectively.

Away from the footballing world, Wolverhampton boxer Conah Walker became British and Commonwealth champion after producing a thrilling finale to knockout title holder Harry Scarff.

Dudley darts star Tom Missell earned a two-year Pro Tour card to line up against the likes of Luke Littler, who won his first World Darts Championship at the start of the year.

February

Wolves enjoyed derby day delight as they beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Molineux, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Matheus Cunha finding the net. Cunha continued his fine form with a goal in the FA Cup against Blackburn, helping Wolves progress as new signing Marshall Munseti made his debut after a £15 million move from French side Reims.

West Midlands boxer Delicious Orie turned down an offer to pursue a career in professional wrestling to focus on his dream of becoming the world heavyweight champion, and signed with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions.

Wolves Women’s FA Cup journey came to an end with a heavy 6-0 defeat to Manchester United, but the team was left with "nothing but pride".

Tony Mowbray battled to guide West Bromwich Albion into the Championship play-offs. Meanwhile, an explosive FA report revealed details of a bust-up between Aston Villa and Newcastle United on Boxing Day.

Halesowen Town celebrated a 3-1 win over rivals Stourbridge in front of more than 3,000 fans in the No.9 Derby.

Wolverhampton-born golfer Aaron Rai narrowly missed out on his second PGA Tour win after bogeying two of the final three holes at the Mexico Open.

In cricket, England’s miserable white-ball winter reached its lowest point as they were eliminated from the Champions Trophy through a shocking defeat to Afghanistan.

Formula 1 legend Lewis Hamilton shared his belief that Ferrari had all the ingredients needed to challenge for the World Championship, fuelling excitement for the new season.

Darlaston boxer Ben Whittaker announced he would have a rematch with Liam Cameron on Easter Sunday in Birmingham.

March

Wolves continued to ease away from Premier League danger but suffered FA Cup heartache at Bournemouth.

Vitor Pereira’s team went out on penalties in the fifth-round on a day when the big story surrounded Matheus Cunha. The forward was sent-off just moments before the end of extra-time when he lashed out at Milos Kerkez, meaning he missed the shoot-out which ended in a 5-4 defeat.

Cunha was subsequently banned for four matches but Wolves were still able to secure a 2-1 win at Southampton, courtesy of a Jorgen Strand Larsen double, which moved them nine points clear of the bottom three.

Villa’s Champions League campaign continued with a 6-1 aggregate win over Club Brugge in the last-16.

Villa also booked a place at Wembley in the semi-finals of the FA Cup courtesy of a 3-0 sixth round win at Preston, which saw Marcus Rashford score his first goals for the club.

Rashford had already been handed an England recall earlier in the month as part of Thomas Tuchel’s first Three Lions squad. Villa’s Ezri Konsa and Morgan Rogers were also called up by the German.

Walsall’s apparently serene progress to promotion from League Two began to stutter as they went through the month without winning any of their sixth matches.

Taylor Allen’s late free-kick rescued a point against AFC Wimbledon to keep the Saddlers at the summit heading into April but their once comfortable lead at the top had now been trimmed to just one point.

Albion were another team losing momentum at the worst point of the season. An Adam Armstrong penalty earned a 1-0 home win over QPR but that came amid a run of draws before a late winner for Josh Sargent at Norwich had the Baggies, still sixth in the Championship, looking nervously over their shoulders.

April

April started in tragic circumstances as Wolverhampton Wolves urged speedway legend Tai Woffinden to 'stay strong' after he was airlifted to hospital.

The three-time world champion and two-time Elite League winner with Wolves was in an induced coma after being involved in a three-rider crash while racing in Poland.

In football, Wolves favourite Joao Gomes signed a new five-year contract with the club before helping his side beat West Ham and take the team 12 points clear of the relegation zone.

Wolves completed a crucial comeback win at relegation rivals Ipswich to all but secure their Premier League status and midfielder Andre grabbed headlines for his humorous celebration when he grabbed a mobile phone from a Wolves fan and took a video with it.

On the other side of the Black Country divide, Albion fell six points behind play-off rivals Bristol City after conceding a crushing late goal to lose 2-1 at Ashton Gate.

In Champions League action, Villa relinquished a lead to lose 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie with Paris Saint-Germain. A week later, Villa were knocked out of the competition despite a 3-2 win on the night in the second leg at Villa Park.

Vitor Pereira made a big decision by announcing he would leave star player Matheus Cunha on the bench to face Tottenham after the Brazilian returned from his ban. Cunha scored off the bench in Wolves' 4-2 Molineux win.

Wolves continued their winning run by doing the league double over Manchester United for the first time since 1979/80 thanks to a sublime Pablo Sarabia free-kick.

It was a busy long Easter weekend as Ben Whittaker was emotional after his boxing win over Liam Cameron, before Albion sacked Tony Mowbray, while it was revealed Manchester United had spoken to Wolves' Cunha over a potential summer move.

Villa then announced plans for a £100million redevelopment of the North Stand which would increase the capacity of Villa Park beyond 50,000.

Wolves announced they were freezing season ticket prices for next season in a move welcomed by fans, before the club's final game of the month saw them beat Leicester to record six consecutive wins.

But that joy was short-lived as fans were furious when it was revealed Wolves had not applied for promotion for their women's team, despite the side fighting at the top of the table all season.

May

Wolves' victory over Leicester at the end of the previous month, their sixth in a row, was to be the final win of the season as the month kicked off with defeat to Manchester City. Vitor Pereira would not win again as Wolves head coach.

Walsall's hopes for automatic promotion from the fourth tier ended in heart-breaking style in the final seconds of the final day. A 1-0 victory at Crewe was not enough as Bradford struck a 96th-minute winner to consign Mat Sadler's men to the play-offs.

England captain Harry Kane won the first major trophy of his career, the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich.

Zhao Xintong became the first Chinese snooker world champion after defeating Mark Williams at The Crucible.

Walsall saw off Chesterfield 2-0 with an away win in the first leg of their play-off semi-final. Sadler's troops went on to secure a Wembley final with a 2-1 success at Bescot.

Legendary India Test captain Virat Kohli, 36, called time on his career in that format.

Grand National and Gold Cup-winning jockey Rachael Blackmore, 35, hung up her saddle as she retired.

Crystal Palace beat Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley to win the FA Cup.

Scottie Scheffler held off the challenge of Jon Rahm to land the US PGA title. Aaron Rai finished nine shots off the lead in tied 19th.

Villa were left raging as a final-day 2-0 loss at Manchester United saw them miss out on Champions League football. It came laced with controversy as inexperienced referee Thomas Bramall incorrectly ruled out a Morgan Rogers goal at 0-0.

There was more Walsall misery as AFC Wimbledon edged the League Two play-off final 1-0.

PSG romped to the Champions League title with a 5-0 rout of Inter Milan.

June

The month started with Wolves' club record sale of Matheus Cunha to Premier League rivals Manchester United for £62.5 million.

Craig Dawson and Pablo Sarabia also left at the end of their contracts, while former captain Nelson Semedo later departed despite being offered a new four-year deal.

There was also a major restructure behind the scenes, as sporting director Matt Hobbs left his post as sporting director and Domenico Teti came in as technical director.

Later in the month, Rayan Ait-Nouri completed a £36million move to Manchester City and Wolves signed Fer Lopez from Celta Vigo for £19.5million.

Ryan Mason was unveiled as the new Albion head coach and penned a three-year deal at The Hawthorns. Defender Nat Phillips became the first signing of his reign when he arrived from Premier League champions Liverpool.

It was a busy start to the summer transfer window for Walsall in the wake of their League Two play-off final defeat in May.

Oisin McEntee departed for Hearts, as Ryan Stirk and Liam Gordon turned down contract offers to join Chesterfield and Port Vale respectively. Donervon Daniels, Jack Earing and Danny Johnson were also released, before fan favourite Taylor Allen left for Wycombe Wanderers.

In a major overhaul, Courtney Clarke, Harrison Burke, Mason Hancock, Vincent Harper and Aaron Pressley arrived on permanent moves and Myles Roberts signed on loan from Watford. Walsall also tied down Priestley Farquharson, Ronan Maher, Albert Adomah and Jamille Matt to new deals.

In the ring, Wolverhampton boxing sensation Conah Walker retained his British welterweight title with a seventh round knockout of Liam Taylor.

Black Country racer Michael Rutter had to be airlifted to hospital following a huge crash at the Isle of Man, which left him with a number of fractures in his spine.

Portugal were crowned Nations League winners after beating European champions Spain on penalties after a thrilling 2-2 draw in the final.

In the wider sporting world, the Fifa Club World Cup got under way in the US, while the British & Irish Lions kicked off their series in Australia.