No speedway in 2024 but Wolves are not dead yet

Monday’s confirmation Wolves will not race next year, while not unexpected, still hit like a sledgehammer for anyone who cares about the sport, whether in the city, the region and further afield.

Yet amid the despair and frustration, there is also genuine cause for optimism.

“We are not dead and buried yet,” declared defiant manager Peter Adams in the wake of the 55-35 win over Sheffield which sealed his team’s spot in the Premiership play-offs.

Of course, the ideal scenario would be for Wolves to be racing next season, preferably at Monmore Green, speedway’s oldest UK track and the club’s home for nearly a century.

But this is real life, not Hollywood. The sad truth is the chances of things staying the way they were – the way those 21,000 and counting who have signed that petition want – was the longest of long shots from the moment Monmore’s faceless owners Entain announced its intention to cease speedway at the venue back in April.

Instead, the focus of Wolves’ long-time promoter Chris Van Straaten and his colleagues has from that moment been on the next step and finding a new home.

The simple logistics of such a venture made a halt to racing inevitable, if only hopefully for the short-term.

As Monday’s statement explained, a site for what the club intend to be a multi-discipline moto-park has been located. Such projects are ambitious and difficult to pull off. No-one involved here, not least Van Straaten, is anything but a realist. Recent history would suggest the odds are stacked against Wolves. Just ask fans of Cradley Heathens.

That is still no reason to give up hope. Speedway has left the city and come back before. It can happen again.

At the same time, supporters and the community as a whole are entitled to feel a sense of anger at how we reached this point. More than four months since announcing its decision, Entain is still to provide a decent reason for why nearly a century of history must come to an end, or why it was willing to discuss a four-year lease with Van Straaten as recently as February before performing a sudden about-turn.

Initially, the gambling firm said it intended to focus on greyhound racing, before later adding a bit more context by claiming stones from the speedway track had been causing injury to the dogs. Presumably, that is the same track which has operated alongside the greyhounds without previous complaint for several decades? Forgive me for the unintentional pun but that smacks as a pretty lame excuse.

For Entain, this has always been simply business. It owns the site and can pretty much do as it likes and while bosses insist they “fully understand” the importance of Wolves speedway, actions speak far louder than words. On that note – and while it may only be a minor act of defiance – any speedway fan who likes a flutter might now consider placing their bets at a firm not owned by this particular betting behemoth.

There may be more at stake here than simply the future of one club. Speedway is not a sport in particularly rude health and there is no point pretending otherwise.

Wolves are not the only club in trouble. Peterborough, their Premiership rivals, are also poised to be homeless next year while the owners of Perry Barr want to build housing on what is now the only remaining speedway track in the West Midlands when the Brummies’ tenancy agreement expires three years from now.

The impact of losing a strong club like Wolves, even for only a year, will be considerable and anyone with even the slightest interest in the sport must hope for a positive and swift resolution.

If the past four months have proved nothing else, it is people do care. You can find it in the signatures on the petition, see it in the crowds who have flocked to Monmore in a season which could yet end in title glory and hear it in the words of the politicians who have pledged their support.

The hope is they are all now prepared to stick with Van Straaten and see the fight through.

The story of Wolves speedway cannot end here.