The last kick in the teeth - corporate greed kills off the last speedway team standing in the West Midlands

The Brummies were thrashed by the Leicester Lions in their farewell meeting. 

Their victors are now the nearest team for Black Country speedway fans to get their high-octane fix, or up to Manchester to Bell Vue Stadium. 

The greyhound racing from Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium has moved to Dunstall Park in Wolverhampton, but the speedway, has, em. Gone. Ended. Finitto. 

Which is the last kick in the teeth for Wolves speedway fans who had been attending Perry Barr, even christening their own part of the stadium - The Wolfpack Shed. They loved the sport so much they'd put up with going to Birmingham and watching the Bloomin' Brummies.

So many sports, other than football, struggle finding fans. Speedway does not, in the Black Country the fans struggle finding the sport. 

In Dudley, the Cradley Heathens were the biggest sporting club in the borough. But that still did not stop the closure of their legendary Dudley Wood stadium in 1995.

The club reformed in 2010 and raced on other tracks as the dream of a new stadium was dangled in front of fans without ever materialising. They finally packed up in 2019, leaving just memories behind.

They always looked at Wolves with envy at their Monmore Green home. They had the same home for a century, as safe houses. So we thought. 

But two years ago in one of the great corporate vandalism cases in the UK. Ladbrokes owners evicted the team because they wanted to hold more greyhound meetings so they could plunder the pockets of gambling addicts as their share price fell.

All the history and all the love of the fans counted for nothing as Wolves were given notice to leave, their last tear-soaked season ended in semi-final defeat but the loss was so much more than on the track. 

What the bottom line, and the shareholders never take into account, is the human aspect of sport. Husbands met wives, friends gathered weekly and the lonely felt part of something when the speedway was on. 

Such is the love of the speedway in Wolverhampton, the Wolfpack supporters club headed to Perry Barr to watch The Brummies. Just to feel the adrenaline of watching bikes without brakes whizz round a track. 

One of my first memories is lying in bed and hearing the unmistakable drone of the bikes in Perry Barr. My visit to the speedway with my dad was an assault on all the senses. The smell of kerosene, the dust from the track sticking eyelashes together and the sound of roaring engines was something I would never forget. 

The Brummies original Perry Barr stadium closed in the 1980s, but they came back 20 years ago to Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium. The neighbouring Birmingham City University tried to stop it because their students would be put off their revising for two hours every two weeks for half the year.

Thankfully, the university lost, and before Perry Barr knew it had left for pastures new in Birmingham city centre. 

And then came the Commonwealth Games, oh the sporting legacy of the games would be something we would all be grateful for. Until they bulldozed loads of shops and evicted residents to make way for the athletes village.

Which, they did not finish on time but stands idle, with empty apartment blocks looking over the greyhound and speedway track. Birchfield Harriers, which was the stadium's first home, now struggle to meet at the Alexander Stadium. Again, a legacy of the Games no-one wanted.

So it is even more of a kick in the teeth knowing the stadium is being bulldozed to make way for yet more houses, when there are over hundreds of empty apartments standing empty which have cost the taxpayer over £500m pounds.

And across from the stadium is a collection of black metal boxes, which was meant to be a Boxpark for Commonwealth Games visitors, and more importantly, residents to enjoy a bit of leisure. Which was never finished or opened. 

The Brummies were the last speedway team standing. But surely, somewhere in the Black Country there has to be a plot of land which can be used for a new speedway stadium.

Where Cradley Heathens and Wolves fans can watch their beloved sport, who knows we could even invite the Brummies.