| Clubname: | Wolverhampton Wolves |
| Track: | Monmore Green Stadium Wolverhampton |
| Country: | England |
| Founded: | 1928/1951 |
| Closed: | 2023 |
| Manager: | Peter Adams |
| Colours: | Old Gold and Black |
| Tracksize: | 264m (866feet) |
| Track Record Time: | 52.69 |
| Track Record Date: | 29 August 2016 |
| Track Record Holder: | Niels Kristian Iversen |
| Honour1: | UK League Champions |
| Year1: | 1991, 1996, 2002 2009, 2016 |
| Year2: | 1996 |
| Honour3: | Div 2 League Champions |
| Year3: | 1963 |
| Honour6: | Midland Cup |
| Year6: | 1973 |
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.
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.
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]
It wasn't until the 1961 Provincial Speedway League, that the sport returned to the Monmore Green again. The team, now called the Wolverhampton Wolves completed 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 inaugural British League, which was the clubs first season in the top tier of speedway.[8] The team then recorded successive mid-table finishes before two poor seasons in 1968 and 1969.[9]
Before the 1970 season, Wolves signed the Danish champion and one of the world's leading riders Ole Olsen. The Dane made an immediate impact, pushing Wolves up the table and winning the 1972 British League Riders' Championship.[10]
In 1973, Wolves won the Midland Cup[11] and the following year reached the final.
The 1975 season was overshadowed by the death of Gary Peterson, killed in the home leg of the Midland Cup final.[12] Olsen then left after the 1975 season and Wolves spent the remainder of the decade battling in the lower half of the league table standings. However, one high point was the signing of Hans Nielsen in 1978, the 18-year-old Dane topped the team's averages in 1978 and 1979.[13]
Hans Nielsen continued to impress topping the league averages in 1980[14] but the team struggled and costs increased, resulting in promoter Mike Parker putting the riders on the transfer list and dropping down a division for the 1981 season.[15] The promotion was taken over by Dan McCormick for the 1981 season before Mike Parker returned but he was unable to form a team and Wolves would not race for two seasons.[16]
Promoter Peter Adams brought the team back for the 1984 season.[17] Wolves signed Sam Ermolenko in 1986 and supported by a group of Danes and Americans, the team became hard to beat. A third place finish in 1986 was followed by a second place finish in 1989.
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.[18] [19] The Wolves won the title for the second time in six years during the 1996 season, 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.[20]
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.[21] Two years later in 2004, Wolves lost in the play off final.
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. The decade ended with a second place finish in the league standings before regaining champion status in the 2009 season, beating the Swindon Robins 95-90 on aggregate in the 2009 play-offs.[22] Freddie Lindgren was the star of the 2009 team but veteran Peter Karlsson and 19-year-old rider Tai Woffinden both scored heavily.
Another play-off final defeat ensued in 2010 and a third place finish was sealed in 2013. The team became champions of the United Kingdom 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.
Wolves lost another play-off final in 2017 in extraordinary circumstances, having won the first leg against Swindon, away from home 47–43, they lost their home leg 47–42, with promoter Peter Adams gracious in defeat, stating that speedway was the winner.[23]
After the leagues were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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.[24] The team disbanded after the 2023 season.
| width=350 | Year and league | width=50 | Position | width=350 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | rode as the Wasps | ||||
| 4th | rode as the Wasps | ||||
| 7th | rode as the Wasps | ||||
| n/a | withdrew | ||||
| 9th | |||||
| 10th | |||||
| 1st | Champions | ||||
| 3rd | |||||
| 7th | |||||
| 9th | |||||
| 8th | |||||
| 16th | |||||
| 16th | |||||
| 9th | |||||
| 12th | |||||
| 9th | |||||
| 7th | |||||
| 11th | |||||
| 13th | |||||
| 11th | |||||
| 15th | |||||
| 17th | |||||
| 11th | |||||
| 15th | |||||
| 13th | |||||
| 10th | |||||
| 10th | |||||
| 3rd | |||||
| 10th | |||||
| 8th | |||||
| 2nd | |||||
| 2nd | |||||
| 1st | Champions | ||||
| 5th | |||||
| 2nd | |||||
| 3rd | |||||
| 5th | |||||
| 1st | Champions & Knockout Cup winners | ||||
| 7th | |||||
| 6th | |||||
| 10th | |||||
| 6th | |||||
| 8th | |||||
| 2nd | Champions (won PO final) | ||||
| 5th | |||||
| 2nd | PO final | ||||
| 8th | |||||
| 6th | |||||
| 6th | |||||
| 9th | |||||
| 2nd | Champions (won PO final) | ||||
| 2nd | PO final | ||||
| 8th | |||||
| 9th | |||||
| 3rd | PO semi final | ||||
| 7th | |||||
| 7th | |||||
| 3rd | Champions (won PO final) | ||||
| 2nd | PO final | ||||
| 6th | |||||
| 3rd | PO semi final | ||||
| 2nd | PO semi final | ||||
| 4th | PO semi finals | ||||
| 2nd | PO semi finals |
1975 team
2004 team
2005 team
2006 team
2007 team
Also Rode:
2008 team
Also Rode:
2009 team
Also Rode:
‡
†
2010 team
‡
AS
2011 team
2012 team
2013 team
2014 team
2015 team
2016 team
2017 team
2018 team
2019 team
2021 team
2022 team[25]
See main article: Wolverhampton Olympique. Wolves hosted the Olympique annually.