Save Our Speedway: There’s much to lose - The sights, sounds and smell

I was aged seven and was being taken somewhat under duress. I had no idea what this ‘speedway’ thing was all about.

I knew it was motorcycle racing, and I’d heard of this man called Ole Olsen who rode for Wolverhampton and was supposed to be quite good.

What I witnessed that evening was nothing more than an assault on the senses.

As well as being thrilling and a little bit scary to watch, there was the noise. And as for the smell of the Castrol ‘R’, well that was like some sort of addictive substance.

As the bikes roared and the shale flew from the back wheels, I realised I was hooked. I’d well and truly caught the speedway bug.

And 50 years, and over a thousand visits to Monmore Green later, I still feel that same sense of excitement and euphoria whenever I attend a meeting there.

Following the Wolves over that period of time has been something of a rollercoaster ride.

That Olsen fellow I’d heard so much about turned out to be a superstar who won the World Championship title twice while a Wolverhampton rider.

When he left in the middle of the 1970s, some lean years followed. A voluntary relegation to the sport’s second tier in 1981 followed, then there were two years of closure.

Peter Adams, the current – and long-time – Wolverhampton team manager, revived the sport at Monmore Green in front of a full house in 1984.

It felt as if the good times were back. Except, if anything, they were even better.

Chris Van Straaten bought the club in 1986 and led it into its glory period.

After two near misses in 1989 and 1990, Wolves claimed their first senior league championship title in 1991.

They followed this with a league and cup double in 1996 and won three more titles, in 2002, 2009, and 2016.

Those of you with a mathematical brain will have spotted the seven-year sequence in that last sentence. A continuation of that would mean silverware this season.

The 2023 Parrys International Wolves are a very good team, so there’s every chance. But, alas, it may be our last season. And the end of a unique piece of history.

Monmore Green is actually the oldest remaining speedway venue not just in the UK, but in the world.

Transport yourself in a time machine back to May 30, 1928, and you’d witness dirt-track racing, as it was then known, at the stadium.

Competitors would ride their motorcycles along the roads to the stadium, then remove their number plates, headlamps, and brakes and ride in the meeting.

They’d then reassemble their machines at the end and ride back home. How things have changed.

But in a strange way, they haven’t.

Those magnificent men on their dirt track machines are still enchanting the ladies and stealing the scenes nearly a century later.

Since those early days, unlike other sports, speedway hasn’t lost its authenticity.

There’s a bond between participants and supporters that’s unique, which other sports can only envy.

There’s none of the ‘prawn sandwich brigade’ (to quote Roy Keane) at a speedway meeting.

There are no adverts for Chinese betting firms or crypto-currency exchanges, thank goodness. And there’s certainly none of the hatred or bile one finds at other sporting venues.

Come to Monmore Green and you won’t see a single member of the police force in attendance.

Away fans mingle freely with those decked in gold and black. Any security staff are there predominantly to enforce the health and safety regulations.

Although it’s said that speedway’s fan base is older than most other sports, there are always lots of younger people at ‘the Green’ – helped, no doubt, by Wolverhampton’s management, who do all they can to encourage children to come to speedway.

And now it’s all changed, changed utterly.

The announcement by the stadium owners Entain that Monmore Green will become a 100 per cent greyhound racing venue was a devastating blow to those of us who love our speedway.

Nearly a century of tradition will end in October this year.

Speedway at Monmore Green is an asset to the city of Wolverhampton.

There are those of us who intend to do all we can to keep it going. But unless Entain have a change of heart, or someone has a parcel of land in the area on which a new stadium can be built, then it will be gone forever.

Wolverhampton Speedway has given me 50 years’ worth of entertainment, friendship and excitement. I hope very much to be there to celebrate the club’s centenary in five years’ time.

To lose speedway at Monmore Green would be a tragedy – not just for supporters, but for the sport and for Wolverhampton. There are many of us who would mourn its passing.

Mark Sawbridge

Wolverhampton Speedway historian and chairman of the Wolfpack Speedway Support Team