Sawbridge looking for the great escape

That year, as this, the club finished second in the league table, staged the first leg of the play-off final at home and took a lead with them to defend.

Seven years ago their eight-point advantage didn't appear sufficient, but the team clung on to lift the trophy in a dramatic last-heat decider at Eastbourne.

Sawbridge, author of the definitive "A History of Wolverhampton Speedway," has a vague memory of that day.

He said: "The first leg was a little bit of a blur to me, really. All I can remember is heat 14 when Eastbourne's David Norris was accused of diving off. He played to the gallery by doing a kind of dive gesture, which upset everybody.

"Everyone thought eight points wasn't enough and I can remember going down to Eastbourne and thinking: 'This isn't going to be it."

"Wolves did really well throughout the meeting, but I seem to remember Paul Hurry having three exclusions. Every time he came out it was another disaster, to the point where Jon Cook the Eastbourne team manager complained about him to the referee!"

Wolves had a chance to put the tie away in heat 14, but it was not to be.

Sawbridge said: "I remember heat 14 very, very vividly. Chris Neath had to beat Edward Kennett, who was a stand-in because Savalas Clouting pulled out with suspected meningitis before the start.

"Neath had to beat Kennett, who was an inexperienced 16-year-old, and failed. Chris was distraught when he came back to the pits, to the point where he was virtually inconsolable.

"So it meant Wolves had to get something from the last heat, and it was the Karlsson boys (Mikael, now Mikael Max, and Peter).

"I remember them carving out a superb first corner. They were first and third so, going down the back straight of the last lap, even if one of them had an engine failure, we knew it was in the bag.

"All the Wolves fans were massed on the first bend, and there was a gap in the stock car fence.

"The gap was about a foot and a half off the floor and there was a little gate. I was the first person to open the gate, crawl under it and run onto the track.

"When I looked behind me there were literally 20 or 25 Wolves fans, all on their hands and knees, trying to scuttle through this gap. It was like the Great Escape!"

Wolves also reached the final in 2004, but were beaten home and away by Poole.

Sawbridge said: "We peaked too early in 2004. The semi-final was against Ipswich and Mikael Max had to win a run-off against Hans Andersen to get us through to the final.

"He did it by the skin of his teeth and we scraped through. But we were on the down slope."