'Wolves are family' – Speedway fans show what the sport means to them during emotional night

This was not a simple slogan to whip up the home fans, this was an emotional promise as much as to himself as to the crowd.

Because Wolves speedway could die.

This historic club which started during the Great Depression in 1928, survived World War Two and post war austerity. Got through the oil crisis, the three day week and the winter of discontent in the 1970s, the boom and bust of the 1980s, another recession in the 1990s and another round of austerity in the last ten years.

Through it all the tapes went up on a Monday evening.

The club consistently setting the gold standard to the rest of UK speedway how a club could prosper when others fell by the wayside. Last night, kids got in for quid, as they watched Wolves beat Peterborough, another club in danger of disappearing, 50 to 40 points.

But big money betting could be the end of Wolves. Entain, owners of Ladbrokes and Monmore Green Stadium, want more money for their shareholders and cannot set aside 20 Monday nights a year to keep the club alive.

This time next year's nights like last night could just be a memory.

And Wolves fans turned out in force to ensure it was a night to remember. They were queuing up way before the doors opened at 7pm.

Generations of the same family had rung around since the news broke and vowed to turn up to the next meeting. Lapsed fans made the effort to show their face, teenagers were prised away from their tablets and told they were joining the rest of clan for a night of speedway.

Speaking to fans of all ages, one theme emerged, well, two if you count the universal disgust at Entain' greed, and that was family.

"My dad carried me on my shoulders to my first meeting," said 68-year-old Roger Daintey from Wednesfield.

Michael Kay, aged 30 from Willenhall, said: "My uncle brought me down when I was a toddler, he has died of cancer, so I come with my girlfriend now."

Anthony Phillips, aged 80, from Eccleshall reeled off the team of the first Wolverhampton, then the Wasps, he saw in 1952.

Standing beside his son Paul, 53, and grandson Joe, 22, Anthony said: "It's disgusting an entire sport in Wolverhampton could die because of the greed of a betting company.

"I've been coming down here since the 1950s, I love the atmosphere and have seen some incredible racing down here."

A roar greeted the tape going up on the first race and within seconds there were gasps of shock and awe across the stadium.

On the first corner of the first race two riders clipped one another and crashed into the barriers.

The bravery of riders to go hell for leather on their magnificent machines without the ability to break is what makes this sport so exciting.

One rider was disqualified as the first aiders rushed round the circuit to help a stricken rider. Minutes later they were back on track and ready to race.

Everyone when asked about their first time down the speedway mentioned a family member, no-one said "I saw an advert on Sky" or "I got a Groupon voucher".

Remembering the first time they experienced the sport's unique smells and sounds everyone remembered a family member, some standing next to them, others gone to the great speedway track in the sky, who had taken them to Monmore Green.

Wolfpack Supporters Club Secretary Alison Hartsthorne said: "Speedway is a family sport. Families bond at the speedway, my son is in his 20s and we brought him here as soon as we could and he has been coming ever since. It is all he knows.

"We have followed the Wolves to all four corners of the country, from Edinburgh to Poole, and have even followed them to Europe, making memories as a family as we went.

"There is a whole new generation of the Wolfpack coming through, we have to keep the club alive for them."

For so many in the stadium last night, if Wolves do become just a memory, it will be like a death in the family.