Football clubs 'so much more than scores and numbers'

It was revealed by Wolves a few weeks ago that 94% of season tickets at Molineux were renewed for the 2025-26 season, which means I'll expect to be seeing many of the same faces near the press box when I turn up to cover home games.

Sometimes you can spot the families, and the different generations - parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren. Some stop to talk, at times to share a grumble, but others are defiantly optimistic: "We'll be all right if we win this one!".

Like all communities, there are inevitable changes over time. A group of ladies, obviously friends for decades, used to gather in one corner of the concourse close to the press box, clutching hot drinks. Last season, the group was down to one but she was there early every time, with her coffee cup, cheerfully confident that Wolves would win.

Football clubs rise and fall with their results, week to week and decade to decade, and ultimately that status dictates how they are judged from outside. The game, and the Premier League especially, now has a worldwide audience so there are many who faithfully follow Wolves from thousands of miles away who might never have been to Molineux, or even to England, and never will.

Their form of fandom is entirely valid, and increasingly relevant for the viability of the modern game. The Premier League would be much smaller without it.

But, looking and listening on the concourses, you are reminded that football clubs are so much more than scores and numbers. They are a community, drawn apparently at random from all classes and generations, united by one devotion. Like all relationships, it goes through times of strain - and faith can be tested - but the love remains. And when it matters most, at times of real trouble and personal loss, that community finds strength together.

A lady sometimes emails me during games at Molineux to tell me she is listening to find out whether her husband and son, both season-ticket holders, will be in a good mood when they get home. I'm sure there were some quiet evenings in their house last season.

But, I'm also sure they will be in the 94%, always hoping the result will send them home happy, but really there because it's Wolves - and that's where they belong.

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