Scott Golbourne glad to have helped get Wolves back on track

Shipping out the players that had let the club down and bringing in new blood, Scott Golbourne arrived for £700,000 from Barnsley and was an instant hit.

"It was the opportunity of being part of a club with huge potential," Golbourne said.

"They'd had back-to-back relegations and there was a rebuild project put together. It was nice to be part of a project, knowing if we execute it well there's a chance of getting back to the Premier League.

"Even though I was signing in League One, the goal was to get the club back to the Premier League. To be part of that and go on that journey, really excited me.

"There was a lot of questions at the time leaving Barnsley, and I could have gone to Blackburn and a few other clubs in the Championship, but I chose Wolves.

"People said I was stepping down a league and it wasn't a progressive move, but I saw it differently. I knew a couple of the lads playing here and the squad here at the time. I wanted to be part of that rebuild, with the size of the club.

"I'm pleased I did that. I still live in Birmingham and when I see Wolves fans, they still say it was the start of where the club is now.

"It was a special time and I feel that when I'm around Wolves fans. I feel appreciated by them. It was a special time in my career, probably the best time of my career, was spent at Wolves."

The left-back made 50 appearances in all competitions in 2013/14 as Wolves won the League One title in style and returned to the Championship at the first time of asking.

That season was not without its challenges, however. The infamous away defeat at Gillingham – in which goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey refused to play – was a wake-up call that eventually propelled the team to an incredible run of form.

Golbourne added: "There's two stand-out games for me. We lost at Gillingham away in the New Year and it was a really tough game.

"It wasn't easy to go down there. The weather was horrendous.

"I remember we had some tough conversations in the dressing room after that game. Kenny also let us know he wasn't happy.

"The next game we played Preston at home and battered them 2-0. We got back to playing real progressive football. That was the turning point and we started moving.

"The other one was Brentford away. They were a really good team that year as well and we knew it was going to be tough.

"So when we went down there and performed, it felt to me like we'd cracked it. We had a style of football, a set team and were stamping our authority on the league. We were unstoppable from then until the end of the season."

After a season of sensational highs, Wolves carried that into the following season and came incredibly close to another run at promotion.

Eventually finishing seventh in the Championship, only goal difference denied them a place in the play-offs.

"I try not to have any regrets, but I do believe the team we had in the Championship when we missed out on the play-offs, if fortunes had changed a little bit I think we'd have gone on and achieved back-to-back promotions," Golbourne said.

"We had a special team with a lot of character, and a huge amount of quality in the forward area. The guys were unstoppable.

"Even though the club has gone on and done it in the end, there was an opportunity there and I think we were a little bit unfortunate.

"But I definitely look back on it and it was a special time for me.

"It's also fused with my personal life. We moved to Birmingham and I got married, it was a special time in my life which also adds to it.

"We've not left Birmingham since because we were that settled and when I did leave Wolves, I didn't want to go.

"The club was up for sale at the time and there was a lot of confusion about what was going on.

"I loved it here and I look back on it with nothing but fond memories."

Still living locally, Golbourne is often stopped by Wolves supporters who think highly of that gutsy team under Jackett.

There is a big argument to say that the team Golbourne was part of laid the foundations for the success Wolves have enjoyed under Fosun, but the former defender is still surprised at the admiration from fans.

He said: "I left more of an impression with the fans than I thought!

"We had a lot of success at the time and after leaving, when you bump into people or come back to the football club, there's a real warm welcome and people do say regularly that it was a special team.

"It was a real turning point for the football club."