Matt Maher: The night that saved Wolves speedway

At first glance, there appeared nothing particularly significant about a 50-40 home Premiership victory over Sheffield. Yet enough people watching the action from Monmore live on Eurosport did spot something unusual and were not shy in talking about it.

“We had phone calls, emails and messages on social media asking why the stands were empty?” explains promoter Chris Van Straaten. “They wanted to know whether we were letting any people in. The truth was, we were at full capacity.”

The match with Sheffield was Wolves’ second home meeting and first televised in a season which had started two months late, with government guidelines on social distancing severely restricting attendances.

In a crisis which had begun more than a year previously, when the outbreak of the pandemic forced the postponement of the entire 2020 season, this period was the toughest for Van Straaten and his team. Each meeting run under Monmore’s reduced capacity of just 600 spectators was delivering a hefty loss. As a viable business, Wolves Speedway was starting to run out of road.

“Every time we opened we were losing a substantial amount of money,” says Van Straaten. “We felt the restrictions we were operating under were a little bit over the top.

“It created a lot of headaches. Tickets couldn’t be sold on the day, everything had to be done online. Once people had picked their area, they couldn’t move from it and as you might understand, that can be difficult to control.

“Speedway is a family sport but the restrictions took no notice of that. If a family of four came together, they had to stand in one circle and there would be a two-metre space to the next one. That left huge gaps.”

It was those gaps which were spotted by viewers, yet their outcry and the TV pictures ultimately proved invaluable, with Van Straaten and Monmore owners Ladbrokes using it as evidence to successfully lobby the council for an increased capacity.

“We sent the images to the council and they allowed us to have a few more people in, which helped,” he says. “We decided to call off the next meeting (against King’s Lynn) and, when we came back a month later, we had a really strong finish to the season.

“I really do think being on TV that night against Sheffield perhaps saved the club. Had we run any more matches on those restricted attendances, we would have been in big trouble.”

Just under 10 months on and the outlook is much brighter and it felt fitting this week’s official season launch, held at long-time sponsors Parrys International, was bathed in bright sunshine. This really does feel like a new dawn.

Van Straaten doesn’t disclose just how close the club got to the edge last year but for the longest-serving promoter in the sport, who has seen pretty much everything since first taking the reins at Wolves in 1986, it was the darkest hour of his tenure.

Perhaps the lowest point came in May, when the first meeting at Monmore in more than a year had to be abandoned after just two heats, as a track which had spent so long out of use remained waterlogged by rain earlier in the day.

“It was a debacle,” admits Van Straaten. “We had to stop the meeting as there was no way we could take people’s money for that. It was a disaster and I was pretty distraught that night.

“Emotionally and mentally I was at a very low ebb. Ultimately, the buck stops with me.”

What helped Van Straaten through, as has been the case in the past, was the response from supporters. Speedway is never going to grab Wolverhampton’s collective conscious in the same way football does. Yet the sport remain a precious part of the city’s fabric, a tradition passed down through generations of passionate fans.

Once again, when the club was in need, supporters stepped up. The proceeds of a Go Fund Me page helped ease the burden during the early weeks of last season and has now paid for a new £9,000 air fence on the first bend at Monmore. Last November, a group of fans launched the Wolfpack Speedway Support Team was launched, independent of the club, with the aim of safeguarding its long-term future.

“The response from the public was quite dramatic and really helped,” says Van Straaten. “The money they donated, which we never asked for, was put to one side in case we needed it. At the end of the season, with their agreement, we used it to pay for the new air fence.

“Speedway has been in Wolverhampton for such a long time and I’ve always said I am only a custodian.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have been at the front of it for so many years and enjoyed some very good times.

“Last year was rough but I’m optimistic there are much more positive times ahead.”