FSE students become 12th man as they roar Wolves on to cup victory

Over 100 international students roared on Wolverhampton Wanderers’ stars of the future, as the Faculty of Science and Engineering took its Global Gathering mixer event to The Molineux!

FSE students and staff took over the Billy Wright lower stand for the Wolves FC men’s (U21s) Premier League International Cup tie against Sparta Prague on Friday 24 November. Uchechukwu Uwadia, an MSc Data Science student, said: “It was my first time watching a game in a stadium so I really enjoyed the entire experience; it was amazing!”

The students’ passionate and noisy support was evident as they cheered on Wolves to a 2-1 victory against their Czech Republic opponents under the stadium’s floodlights.

The Faculty organised the event, with a prize draw of a Wolves replica shirt for the person who predicted the time of the first goal scored. Two students guessed the same time, and after a tiebreaker, Oluwaseun Adekanmi was the delighted winner. She said: “Coming to The Molineux and seeing a night match under the floodlights was a wonderful experience. Not only did they win, but I won the shirt competition too; I was so happy that I won!”

Paul Hampton, Head of the School of Architecture and Built Environment, said: “Our students were definitely ‘the 12^th man’ on the night; they never stopped cheering the Wolves on! The International Cup match was a fantastic opportunity for our students to see a live match at a Premier League stadium steeped in history, and the event was a great success. The University and this Faculty is proud of its links to the club, and our students impressed everyone with their support and passion for the Wolves.”

MSc Data Science student Elvis Enyiaka thanked the organisers: “It was thoughtful and helpful of the Faculty to put together the events to help students integrate. I’m Nigerian and two of my inner circle friends are from Nepal, and we met during an FSE Global Gathering event! Global Gathering has been a great source of support and information for us all.”

Fittingly, Wolves Under 21s’ squad featured players from Singapore, Iceland, The Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Portugal, Uruguay and Paraguay, as well as Great Britain, while Sparta’s squad featured top Slovakian talent alongside promising global stars, such as Nigerian midfielder Nelson Okeke.

Tawanda Chirewa’s first-half penalty gave Wolves the lead at the interval, which was doubled by Matty Whittingham in the 85th minute before a late Sparta Prague reply set up a nervy ending.

For more information, please contact Global Gathering organiser and Assistant Faculty Registrar Kate Faulkner at kate.faulkner@wlv.ac.uk.