Wolves fans deserve this success – Mike Stowell

Nuno Espirito Santo’s charges finished seventh on the back of winning the Championship and also got to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Europa League qualifying starts against either Northern Irish team Crusaders or Faroe Islands side B36 Torshavn next month too.

But such success evaded Stowell during his 11 years – 1990 until 2001 – at Wolves, making 378 appearances, and he said: “That’s my biggest regret, hand on heart, not achieving promotion to the Premier with Wolves. That was the aim, the goal.

“I felt in my 11 years, we had a real go maybe five or six times, having the facilities, the personnel, the fire-power to get out (of the second tier). That’s one of my biggest regrets, just not achieving that promotion.

“But what’s happening there now is amazing, to be fair. The semi-final (loss to Watford) was heart-wrenching, but they’ve only just got promoted. It’s fantastic.”

Stowell – who now works as a coach at top-flight rivals Leicester – played with a host of greats during his time at Molineux including all-time top goalscorer Steve Bull, Robbie Dennison and the late Dean Richards.

And he is happy that the ‘good and honest’ supporters now get to see stars such as Joao Moutinho, Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota shine against the elite.

“We had a lot of good players and managers during my time and the support was always amazing. They’re good and honest fans,” added Stowell.

“Some people used to say they’re a tough group, Wolves fans, but I’d say ‘no, they’re not, they’ll get right behind you if you work hard’. I had a fantastic time at Wolves. I started at Everton and went to Bristol City, but in terms of playing, my club was Wolves.”