Wolves have witnessed some incredible footballers don the gold shirt, seeing many stars rise to prominence in Wolverhampton.
In recent times, midfielder Ruben Neves became a modern-day Wolves legend. The Portuguese maestro shocked the whole of Europe when he traded Champions League football at Porto in 2017 to join Nuno Espirito Santo’s men in the Championship.
Fortunately, he repaid his £15 million price tag with outstanding midfield displays, captaining Wolves in the Europa League on two occasions and cementing his place as a Molineux hero before joining Al-Hilal in the summer of 2023.
Neves represents the best of what fans have seen across the past decade, whereas others, such as record goalscorer Steve Bull and record appearance holder Derek Parkin, are engrained into the history of the club.
Parkin, in particular, was part of the famous Wolves side in the 1960s that included electric forward Peter Knowles.
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Former Wolves winger Peter Knowles was likened to George Best
Some of the older generation will be able to remember when Knowles terrorised defences during the 1960s.
Captured from Wath Wanderers, a feeder team for Wolves during that time, Knowles joined as a spritely 17-year-old in 1962 and signed a six-month contract.
One of the brightest talents to emerge through the ranks at Molineux, the former England under-23 international produced moments of brilliance that compared him to Manchester United great George Best, as highlighted by Harry Redknapp, who shared a dressing room with him.
“In his playing days he was a lunatic,” Redknapp said via the Daily Mail. “He was renowned for pranks. He drove me mad. I got stuck with him, really, because nobody else wanted to share his room.
“He was wild. Flash, too. He would sit on the ball, or beat his man and deliberately go back and beat him again. I remember him getting George Best sent off once, by tripping over his own feet.”
Best was widely regarded as one of the greatest players the game has ever produced, and Knowles justified those comparisons on several occasions.
But, despite having the whole footballing world at his feet, Knowles made one shocking decision that denied him a shot at greatness.
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Knowles retired at the age of 23 to become a Jehovah’s Witness
Unfortunately, seven years after he arrived at Molineux as a fleet-footed teenager, Knowles retired from football at the age of 23 to become a Jehovah’s Witness.
Football is often likened to religion, and for Knowles, it proved to be the gateway into a more literal form of faith and belief.
During a trip to the United States to play games on loan for the Kansas Spurs, everything changed when two local Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on the door.
“At the time, I was an atheist. I didn’t believe in a God. I was happy to be a professional footballer, to play for Wolves,” Knowles told the Sun in 2018.
“I am not bragging here. But I loved it and I was good at it. One day, two Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on my door. I said to them: ‘Why did my dad and my two sisters, who’d done nowt wrong, die?’
“They came in and answered that question. They answered another question and then another I had never got an answer to.
“That’s how I became a Jehovah’s Witness. If I hadn’t met them I’d have carried on playing football.”
Despite being courted by the great Bill Shankly and the prospect of making Alf Ramsey’s 1970 World Cup squad, Knowles cut his time at Wolves short after 174 appearances and scoring 61 goals in gold.