Wolves squad of the century: The goalkeepers

From veterans with already-distinguished careers to young talents who broke through in gold and black, plenty of top players have graced Molineux.

But who would make the ultimate squad from those who have played at Wolves since January 1, 2000?

Well, with lockdown leaving plenty of us looking for stuff to do, we gave Wolves fans a bit of homework and asked them to come up with a 23-man World Cup-style squad.

In keeping with a World Cup format, there were just two rules.

Firstly, they had to name three goalkeepers, and secondly the squad had to have balance and cover in case of injury or suspension.

In total, 67 Wolves fans came back with their squads, so let’s go through the results – starting today with the keepers.

Goalkeepers: Rui Patricio, Matt Murray, Carl Ikeme

Three excellent shot-stoppers here, with two of them making every single submitted squad.

All of the 67 supporters that took part included current No.1 Patricio and 2003 play-off final standout Murray in their groups.

It is hardly a surprise either, with Patricio arriving as a Euro 2016-winner and thriving in both the Premier League and Europa League for Wolves over the past couple of years.

He has played every minute of every game in the league for Wolves so far this term and all but one of the Europa matches.

Many believe Murray would have played for England had his career not been curtailed and, ultimately, cut short by injuries as well.

Murray only made 100 appearances between the sticks for Wolves in the end but left in an indelible mark during that 2002/03 promotion campaign.

Another keeper who had his career ended prematurely – following a successful fight against leukaemia – is Ikeme, coming in at third-choice while Patricio and Murray were joint first.

He received 31 votes thanks to his contributions throughout 15 years on Wolves’ books as a professional.

Ikeme, who went on to play for Nigeria on 10 occasions, made 12 appearances as the Championship title was won in 2008/09 and 41 as the League One crown was lifted in 2013/14 – the latter arguably being his best season for the club.

He got in the squad ahead of Welsh glovesman Wayne Hennessey, who was next on the list in terms of votes, with 20.

Hennessey was the main man for Wolves’ three seasons in the top flight under Mick McCarthy and, briefly, Terry Connor – before he left in 2014 for Crystal Palace, where he still is now.

The No.2 keeper from that period, American international Marcus Hahnemann, made a couple of squads, as did Mike Stowell – whose most significant contributions were in the 90s but qualifies as he left the club in 2001.

Current second-choice goalkeeper John Ruddy, who kept a whopping 24 clean sheets as Wolves won the Championship under Nuno Espirito Santo a couple of years ago, received 12 votes.

Don’t miss tomorrow to see which defenders got into the squad.