Highs and lows of almost a century of speedway in Wolverhampton

The high-pitched whine of motorcycle engines were carried by the breeze, a whiff of petrol filled the air. Gravel was sent flying towards the crowds, as 23-year-old Jack Parker flung his brake-less motorbike round the bends to take the prize.

The 5,000 people who turned out to Wolverhampton's new Monmore Green dog track on May 30, 1928 were witnessing the birth of a new sport. Motor-car racing was well established by this time, but it was very much an elitist sport, the preserve of the wealthy playboy. Motorcycle speedway was an altogether earthier, grittier experience – literally – with a palpable sense of jeopardy.

Now, 95 years on, the days of speedway at Monmore Green look to be at an end.

Entain Group, which owns the track, has informed Wolverhampton Wolves their tenancy agreement will not be extended beyond the end of this season. This means the last races will be held on October 31, leaving the club to potentially face the same fate as former rivals Cradley Heath, who never recovered after being forced to quit the Dudley Wood Stadium in 1995.

The bombshell news, which will send shockwaves through the sport, was delivered to long-time Wolves promoter Chris Van Straaten by Entain executives at a meeting last month.

In a statement issued yesterday, the company said it had made the decision in order to focus on a new Premier Greyhound Racing venue.

Monmore currently hosts six greyhound meetings a week, with speedway taking place on Monday nights between March and October.

Leo Walker, Entain's transformation and experience director, says: “Monmore has enjoyed a long and proud relationship with the Wolverhampton Wolves and this decision has not been taken lightly.

“However, following the launch of Premier Greyhound Racing we have taken a decision to centre our resource and investment on greyhound racing at the track.

“We understand that fans of Wolverhampton Wolves and Speedway will be disappointed by this news and we are supporting Chris Van Straaten, chief executive of Wolverhampton Wolves, through this transition.”

Van Straaten, who has run Wolves since 1986 and is UK speedway’s longest-serving promoter, has been left devastated by the development.

He claims to have been offered a four-year licence to continue racing at Monmore as recently as February, though it is believed Entain has denied this.

Van Straaten said: “My world has collapsed. Discussions over a new three-year deal began last year. Nothing in these discussions gave me any indication a new contract would not be forthcoming.

“At the moment, I am on the floor. It has come as such an unexpected shock.”

Club historian Mark Sawbridge has attended more than 1,000 meetings since his parents first took him to Monmore Green 50 years ago.

"I was seven years old, and fell in love with it from the first moment," he says.

"I have seen them win five league championships.

"When you go to a race meeting, you see 15 races, these short bursts of excitement, you get the chance to get your breath back, and then there's another one.

"There is also a closeness between the riders and the fans that you don't get any more with sports like top-level football."

'Dirt track' motorcycle racing was in its infancy when the first event was held at Monmore Green in May, 1928, and the venue claims to be the UK’s oldest speedway track. While race meetings had been held at Camberley, Surrey, and Droylesden, Lancashire, in 1927 – it is generally considered that two meetings at High Beech in the Epping Forest marked the birth of speedway. The first, on February 18, attracted 30,000 spectators, and was so successful that a second meeting was held on April 9, this time with no brakes and 'broadsiding' on corners – allowing Colin Watson, Alf Medcalf and 'Digger' Pugh to demonstrate their skills for the first time.

A few weeks later, the sport came to Wolverhampton.

Jack Parker, winner of the inaugural race at Monmore, went on to enjoy a long career as one of Britain's first speedway stars, winning the British Riders' Championship in 1947 and finished second in the 1949 World Championship.

Wolverhampton was first represented in a team competition in July, 1929, when Wolves took on Warrington. Wulfrunian Tommy Deadman, who worked at the town's Sunbeam Factory, was the biggest star at the time.

But after a brief honeymoon period, speedway's bubble appeared to have burst by the early 1930s, and Wolves closed in 1930 after two mediocre seasons and poor crowds.

A postwar renaissance in British Speedway saw the club revived in 1951 as Wolverhampton Wasps, entering the Third Division of the National League. It was not an easy return, though, with Wasps winning just five league meetings out of 36, and finishing bottom of the league.

The 1952-53 season was a tough time for speedway in the region. Cradley Heathens had endured a tough season in Division Two, with losses of £6,000 putting them on the brink of closure. The clubs effectively merged, taking Cradley's place in the second division. The new team was led by Brian Shepherd, before he retired at the end of the season, and Harry Bastable, before he was bought by Perry Barr and moved to Division One.

This season saw a crowd of 12,000 attend one race meeting, with the gates having to be locked to stop more fans getting into the stadium. That did not stop countless fans scaling the walls to watch.

Again, the success did not last. Following poor performances and poor attendances, it was decided to close the club again in May, 1954. After another seven years of silence at Monmore, speedway was relaunched with Wolverhampton in the second tier of British speedway.

Wolves made a push for the title in the 1963 when they were defeated by local rivals Stoke but it was overturned after a Speedway Control Board ruled that Middlesbrough used a rider called John Mills illegally in a meeting against Wolves earlier in the season.

Devastation came in 1963 as the stands caught fire, resulting in the track's closure and major renovation as a new stand was built with a modern-glass fronted restaurant.

In 1965, the Provincial League and the National League merged, putting Wolves into top-tier league racing for the first time - and they have remained there ever since except for three years in the early 1980s.

Danish speedway legend Ole Olsen joined from Newcastle Diamonds in 1970, winning the World Championship in 1971 and 1975, but the highest the team finished during that era was seventh in 1973. However, Wolves did win the Midland Cup Final against Leicester that year. Olsen made 179 appearances for Wolves, scoring 2,248 points.

Another hero arrived in 1986 in the form of American 'Sudden' Sam Ermolenko, who went on to become the club's all-time leading scorer, also winning the world championship final in 1993. He made 542 official appearances and 6,434 points.

After Chris Van Straaten took over the club they climbed to third place in the British league, making it the highest finish for 22 years. Two years later, the club won their first senior league title

They came close to winning the league title in 1993 when they went 13 points clear at the top of the table by the end of August. But, after losing five of their eight riders to injury in the season's final two months, they lost out to Belle Vue.

Wolves' uncertain future comes follows two decades of unparalleled success, winning the Elite League in 2002, 2009 and 2016.

But the stadium has also been the scene of several tragedies over the years, with Gary Peterson killed by injuries sustained during the 1975 Midland Cup final, and Swedish rider Fredrik Lindgren suffering head, neck and back injuries in August 2011. Junior rider Mike Rogers also suffered fatal injuries at the track in 1953.

The experience of Cradley Heathens, who have from time to time raced at Monmore after being evicted from Dudley Wood in 1995, demonstrates the difficulty Wolves are likely to face in finding a new home. While many people might say they like the idea of supporting grassroots sport, attempts to find new venues are invariably met with opposition from locals. Mark Sawbridge says the fact that Monmore will continue to operate as a greyhound track still gives a ray of hope.

"It's not like it was with Cradley, when they built houses on the stadium," he says. "All it takes is a change of heart from the stadium owners."

Tim Holdsworth of management consultants Knight, Kavanagh and Page, says the sport itself faces a difficult future, with 15 teams having folded since 2005.

"For all the enthusiasm of its aficionados, speedway is undeniably a sport in decline," he says.

"Participation and audience numbers have been dropping consistently for a decade or more.

"Many of the venues that host speedway events are in crisis and television coverage has tailed off, taking with it a vital source of the sport’s revenue."

While Premier League football has evolved into a slick, multi-billion pound business, sports such as speedway have been left behind, with an ageing and predominantly working-class following.

Holdsworth says the difficulty is compounded by the fact that the sports which used to make speedway venues viable, such as stock car racing and greyhound racing, are facing similar struggles.

"On this evidence, speedway would seem to be a sport from the past," he says.