The Black Country is hoping for a windfall worth millions of pounds after Wolverhampton Wanderers gained promotion to the Barclays Premier League.
The club clinched a place in next season’s top flight by beating Queen’s Park Rangers 1-0 on Saturday, sparking scenes of jubilation involving thousands of fans at Molineux and across Wolverhampton. They enjoyed a promotion party after the match, flooding on to the pitch to salute the players and manager Mick McCarthy.
Celebrations continued at pubs across the Black Country throughout the weekend.
As the city began making plans for a celebration parade to mark promotion, business leaders were weighing up the financial benefits and what it would mean in terms of jobs and prosperity for the region. A spokesman for the Black Country Chamber of Commerce said: “This will mean millions of pounds to Wolverhampton and the Black Country region. Wolves have been five years out of the top flight and it’s about time the city was represented at the highest level again. With the Premier League being seen all over the world, it will certainly help raise the profile of the city.”
Leader of Wolverhampton City Council, Coun Neville Patten, said he anticipated that promotion to the top flight would bring new jobs and prosperity to the city while Wolves chairman Steve Morgan, who succeeded Sir Jack Hayward as club owner just over 18 months ago, said his priority would be to ensure Wolves stay up.
