A little known fact outside football anorak circles involves Wolverhampton Wanderers being the first men’s professional football team to be crowned champions in all four of the English league divisions during their history. Now the famous West Midlands club is celebrating another first, this time a foray into hawking recorded music, partnering with Warner Music UK to create Wolves Records, the first partnership of its kind in English football.
The history of the beautiful game has always involved a close relationship with music of all genres. Since 1927, the elegiac 19th-century hymn ‘Abide With Me’ has preceded every FA Cup Final, belted out by emotional Wembley masses powered by the combination of a rare change of scenery, not to mention oceans of cup-final-day wallop. Everyone’s all too familiar with ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, the Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune, appropriated by Liverpool supporters following the Gerry and the Pacemakers 1963 cover. Most recently, Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ has enjoyed a new lease of life, bafflingly the latest football fan favourite agnostic of club loyalty. Back in the day, Wolves themselves were involved in their own musical love triangle, vying with bitter local rivals West Bromwich Albion for the right to call ‘Liquidator’—the sun-drenched Harry J All Stars skinhead anthem from 1969—their own. The song was eventually banned from both clubs’ tannoys thanks to its link to terrace misbehaviour.
Initially targeting local talent, but with ambitions to broaden their reach, artists signed to Wolves Records will enjoy hearing their songs aired on Molineux match days as well as promotion via the club’s digital channels. Whether this is an untapped commercial opportunity, overlooked by so many football clubs for so long, or the club’s attempt at generating new post-pandemic revenue streams remains to be seen. Looking beyond our shores may have convinced Wolves of its potential viability; a similar joint-venture between French powerhouse Marseilles and BMG, helping nurture the French port’s rich and varied seam of pop and hip-hop talent, and already bearing fruit.
One of the football club’s foundation ambassadors, ex-club shop employee turned producer and singer-songwriter ‘S-X’ is already joining the Wolves Records roster. Boasting an impressive history of collaborators including Lil Wayne, Childish Gambino and Skepta, his appearance on KSI’s ‘Down Like That’ helped it reach almost 100 million Spotify streams to date. A profile like that should help drum up contemporary talent and let’s hope the city’s other famous musical offspring also voice their support to the project.
Words by Michael Price
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