Comment: In defence of Wolves' 2008/09 team – do they get the credit they deserve?

The other won promotion through the play-offs, finishing fifth and earning 76 points, before being relegated in 20th place the following year.

One is arguably more revered than the other – and Karl Henry is probably right when he says it's unjustly the latter, when comparing the Mick McCarthy's 2009 title winners with Dave Jones' 2003 play-off-winning team.

Henry is never shy in sharing his opinions, a refreshing outspoken voice in a modern football world of sanitised soundbites.

And he didn't hold back when discussing how the 2008/09 team that he captained is regarded in comparison to the 2003 side.

"I've always felt we never quite got the credit we deserved," Henry, speaking on Wolves' Old Gold Club podcast, said this week.

"What Mick did in that time and us as a squad, I thought was phenomenal. And he did it on a shoestring budget.

"What's frustrating for me, it felt at the time like the 2003 team were more revered than us.

"As players you always respect previous players but that team finished 5th in the Championship and were relegated the next season, that's the bottom line.

"We won the Championship and stayed in the Premier League for three years, we were the most successful squad in the club's modern era.

"At the time it felt like it was always about the 2003 team, that's all we kept hearing about.

"Fast forward a few years, no one is talking about our team. Wolves posted on Twitter the goal we scored against Spurs (from a 1-0 win in 2010), with 18 or 19 passes, Jonah (David Jones) finished it beautifully.

"I saw some of the comments from the Wolves fans and it makes your blood boil, I'm seeing things like "it was all two or three touch back then, the difference now is it's one-touch".

"At the time I was asked to open the museum in the new stand. I saw a shrine of a wall on the 2003 team, it's a lovely museum and they did a great job.

"On our squad they had this poster, probably half an A5. I just couldn't believe it, that the club wasn't recognising what we, Mick and TC (Terry Connor) had done."

The only thing I'd disagree with there is the 'shoestring budget' line, as McCarthy's squad cost £13m to compile, compared to £14m for Jones' squad – but apart from that he's spot on.

It's a shame that Henry feels this way and he suggested a few of his 08/09 team-mates share the same opinion.

And it's a shame primarily because that 2008/09 team was bloody good. What a season that was, full of excitement and goals (and if we're doing era-based comparisons, last year's 2017/18 vintage only netted two more, on 82, than Henry's team), from a, yes, young and hungry side that was the most relatable in terms of having down-to-earth blokes who gave everything for the shirt since Graham Turner's through-the-leagues double title winners.

There's a long list of unforgettable games that year but the one that really stands out for me is a phenomenal 3-2 win at Derby County when Wolves came from 2-1 down to win it with three minutes left. When the scores came in from elsewhere, promotion had all-but been secured in a thrilling, dramatic fashion.

Who can forget the 5-1 demolition of Nottingham Forest early in the season, when McCarthy's boys raced into a 4-0 half-time lead playing sumptuous attacking football. Michael Kightly, Matt Jarvis, Chris Iwelumo and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake were unstoppable that day.

A 1-0 victory against the same opponents at the City Ground when Kightly netted a late winner was also a day to savour, ditto another late 1-0 win at Doncaster thanks to a Neill Collins special.

Then of course there was the day promotion was won against QPR, rabid scenes at Oakwell a week later when Kyel Reid's equaliser sparked a pitch invasion and then on the final day when Richard Stearman's 90th minute winner bookended the campaign perfectly.

Kightly and Jarvis were the flying wingers, Ebanks-Blake scored 25 times (no Wolves player has got near that total since), Iwelumo netted 15 in 16 (!) at the start of the season, Henry, Jones and Dave Edwards shone in midfield, Stephen Ward suddenly became an accomplished left-back, Stearman, Collins, Jody Craddock and Christophe Berra did the business at the back and Wayne Hennessey matured into a fine Championship keeper.

And in the middle of all that Kevin Foley, a right-back, won the player of the season award, which shows you just how remarkably consistent the Irishman was. Comparisons to Denis Irwin were justifiable.

So why is the 2003 team, if Henry is right, perhaps remembered with more fondness?

From a fan perspective, the 2008/09 season as a whole was far more enjoyable. The football was fantastic, the atmosphere was great, the players were likeable, the games were exciting and they had a better team. The fact they finished 15th the following year with only a few additions suggests as much.

However, what the 2003 team had was, quite simply and again from a fan perspective, the greatest single day in Wolves' modern history.

What should never be forgotten is the context behind that 3-0 win over Sheffield United in Cardiff.

Wolves had spent the entire 1990s spending seriously big (in some seasons they were in the top-10 spenders in the country) and getting absolutely nowhere.

Sir Jack wanted a return to the 1950s glory days, he rebuilt Molineux, he brought o=in top flight players and an ex-England manager – and got absolutely nowhere.

All the frustration, all that agony, all those near-misses, they were forgotten on May 26, 2003. It was a day of uninhibited jubilation.

The celebrations back in Wolverhampton were feral – and continued for days. This correspondent recalls walking down Compton Road on May 27, still wearing the same clothes as the day before and almost everyone you met either stopping to make a comment about Wolves, while cars beeped their horns incessantly at every Wolves shirt they passed.

It was a special time. A feeling of euphoria and huge expectation as to what might lie ahead. Nothing can replicate that feeling, not even last season, I'd suggest.

Karl is right, the 2008/09 team deserves far more recognition. Both sides played their parts in rare Wolves successes in the past 40 years – they should both be lauded and fondly remembered in equal measure.

There have been several events recently to mark 15 years since the play-off final. Let's hope 2019 sees some appropriate 10-year recognition since Mick McCarthy gave Wolves a team to be proud of.