Wolverhampton Wolves
| Wolverhampton Wolves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Club information | |||||||||
| Track address | Monmore Green Stadium Wolverhampton | ||||||||
| Country | England | ||||||||
| Founded | 1928/1951 | ||||||||
| Closed | 2023 | ||||||||
| Team manager | Peter Adams | ||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||
| Club facts | |||||||||
| Colours | Old Gold and Black | ||||||||
| Track size | 264 metres (288.7 yd) | ||||||||
| Track record time | 52.69 | ||||||||
| Track record date | 29 August 2016 | ||||||||
| Track record holder | Niels Kristian Iversen | ||||||||
| Major team honours | |||||||||
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Wolverhampton Wolves were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They were five times champions of the United Kingdom and raced at Monmore Green Stadium from 1928 to 2023.
History
1928–1930
Speedway (known as Dirt Track racing at the time) was first held at Monmore Green Stadium on 30 May 1928, arranged by the Birmingham Motor Cycle Club the meeting consisted of several feature races.[1] The first meeting to feature the Wolverhampton team name was an Inter–Town race against Manchester on 25 August.[2] After a series of challenge matches during 1929 and 1930, speedway would not return to Wolverhampton for twenty years.
1950–1954
During 1948 and the post-war optimism, record crowds were attending speedway events up and down the country. With towns keen to cash in on the boom, Wolverhampton's stadium owners applied to the local council for a track to be re-built at the original site. Australian Arthur Simcock set the ball rolling and was granted permission to promote speedway in Wolverhampton and finally his dream came true on 14 October 1950. The first to test the new track were some visiting Norwich riders, en route to a meeting followed by Wulfrunians defeating Sheffield 58-26.[3] Officially founded again in 1951, the team would ride as the Wolverhampton Wasps and they were admitted into the 1951 Speedway National League Division Three.[4]
The winter of 1952/3 was a tumultuous one for speedway in the Black Country when Cradley Heathens merged with the Wasps 1953 season. Wolverhampton were pleased with this 'promotion' and at one meeting supporters were 'locked out' after the capacity was reached. It was reported 12,000 fans turned up with many more scaling the walls. This was however short lived and the team enudred a series of poor results at the start of the 1954 season. A decision was made by the promotion and in early May of the same year, Wolverhampton closed its doors to speedway.[5]
1961–1990
It wasn't until the 1961 Provincial Speedway League, that the sport returned to the venue again. Now called the Wolverhampton Wolves the team had two solid seasons before securing their first silverware, winning the 1963 Provincial Speedway League.[6] The 1963 team consisted of three new signings Maury Mattingley, Dave Hemus and Rick France, who joined heat leaders Tommy Sweetman and Graham Warren to produce consistent results and win the league by two points from Stoke Potters.[7]
From 1965, Wolverhampton competed in the top tier of British speedway with the exception of 1981 (second tier) and 1982/3 (inactive).[8] In 1973, led by Ole Olsen, the club won the Midland Cup[9] and the following year reached the final, but saw Gary Peterson killed in the home leg.[10]
1991–2000
Wolves won their first highest league title (and second ever title) in 1991, after winning the 1991 British League season. They were led by their American star Sam Ermolenko, who became the first rider to push former Wolves rider Hans Nielsen from the top of the averages after eight consecutive years at the top. The Wolves team relied on two more American riders, Ronnie Correy and Sam's younger brother Charles Ermolenko, in addition to Englishman Graham Jones to seal the title from Bradford.[11][12] The Wolves won the title for the second time in six years in 1996, with Ronnie Correy being the sole survivor of the 1991 winning team. In a strange coincidence a new set of two brothers helped Wolves win the title, back in 1991 it was the Ermolenko brothers but now it was the Swedish Karlsson brothers. Peter Karlsson and Mikael Karlsson both scored heavily and ended the season with averages around the 10 mark.[13]
2001–2009
The Wolverhampton Wolves were the Sky Sports Elite League champions in 2002. Although they only finished 2nd in the regular season table they defeated Eastbourne Eagles in the play off final. It was Wolves third title success in 11 years and the Swedish Karlsson brothers, Peter and Mikael were once again integral to the Wolves team throughout the season.[14] After a play off final loss in 2004 they regained the champion status in the 2009 season, beating the Swindon Robins 95-90 on aggregate in the 2009 play-offs.[15] In 2008, Parry's International Travel signed a deal with owner Dave Parry (a former Wolves rider). The team was managed by Peter Adams and promoted by Chris Van Straaten.
2010–2019
On 10 August 2015, Swindon Robins rider Darcy Ward broke the track record time held by Tai Woffinden. Darcy's new record time 53.45 seconds. Then on 29 August 2016, Niels-Kristian Iversen broke the track record again with a time of 52.69 seconds. The team became UK champions for the fifth time in 2016, beating the top of the table finishing Belle Vue Aces. Led by Tai Woffinden and Freddie Lindgren, they won by an 18-point margin at home in the first leg by beating the Belle Vue Aces 54-36, the second leg was a win for Belle Vue of 50-42, meaning victory for the Wolves by a 10-point margin with the aggregate scores 96-86.
2020–2023
The team finished 2nd and 4th respectively in 2021 and 2022 but were beaten in the play offs. In 2023, it was announced by the Monmore Green Stadium owners Entain that the venue would only be used by greyhound racing during 2024.[16]
Season summary
Riders previous seasons
Extended content
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1975 team 2004 team
2005 team 2006 team
2007 team
Also Rode: 2008 team
Also Rode: 2009 team
Also Rode:
‡ Doubling-up between Premier and Elite League.
‡ Doubling-up between Premier and Elite League. 2011 team
2012 team 2013 team
2014 team
2015 team
2016 team
2017 team
2018 team
2019 team
2021 team 2022 team[17]
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Notable riders
-
Jim Airey -
James Bond -
Ronnie Correy -
Bruce Cribb - Sam Ermolenko
- Andy Grahame
- Billy Hamill
- Dave Hemus
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George Hunter - Norman Hunter
- Peter Jarman
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Jesper B. Jensen Monberg -
Mikael Karlsson Max - Peter Karlsson
- Fredrik Lindgren
- Dave Morton
- Hans Nielsen
- Ole Olsen
- Nicki Pedersen
- Gary Peterson
- Peter Ravn
- Bobby Schwartz
- Dennis Sigalos
- Jan Staechmann
- Tommy Sweetman
- Finn Thomsen
- Graham Warren
- Tai Woffinden
Olympique
Wolves hosted the Olympique annually.
References
- ^ "Dirt Track Motorcycle Racing". Evening Despatch. 28 May 1928. Retrieved 25 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1928 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "1950 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- ^ "Speedway Club out of League". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 24 May 1954. Retrieved 25 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ "1963 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "British League Tables - British League Era (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- ^ "Midland Speedway Cup". Leicester Daily Mercury. 10 October 1973. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Speedway rider Gary Peterson killed". Reading Evening Post. 18 October 1975. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1991 league tables". Speedway GB. 3 March 2017.
- ^ "1991 Season Review". Cradley Speedway.
- ^ "1996 league tables". Speedway GB. 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ Bamford, Robert (1 March 2007). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 978-0-7524-4250-1.
- ^ "Wolves bow out at Monmore". British Speedway. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "Wolverhampton Wolves Speedway: 2022 WOLVERHAMPTON WOLVES". Wolverhampton Wolves.
