Wednesfield Aces club is wrecked by blaze

The clubhouse of Wednesfield Aces Cycle Speedway Club was destroyed by arsonists in the early hours of today.

The blaze, which was spotted at 5am, gutted the inside of the metal-reinforced premises at Ashmore Park.

Steel shutters had been forced open and paper piled up inside before being set alight, wrecking records of the club which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year along with trophies and priceless photographs.

Fire crews said the blaze was started deliberately. Police are investigating.

David Jukes, the chairman of the club, who should have been celebrating after their rider Ricki Johnson, 16, was crowned European Junior Champion at a meeting in Ipswich yesterday, said: "This is sickening."

Chief executive Paul Bodley burst into tears when he saw the damage caused to the cycle speedway club he started as a 14-year-old boy 50 years ago. The father-of-two said: "I'm not easily moved to tears.

"But this has been my life since I borrowed my dad's spade to start digging the first track for the club in 1962. Since then we have built it into one of the best-known cycle speedway clubs in the country and have taken the name of Wednesfield throughout the world.

"I dread to think what the cost of repairs are going to be."

The retired production manager who was at the former Wards Bridge Secondary School in Wednesfield when he and pal David Parry decided to start their own cycle speedway club, said: "We won't be beaten by those responsible for this."

Committee member Tony Mullinder, aged 70, said: "This is heartbreaking."

Police are believed to be checking the theory that it might have been triggered by a vendetta.