A LIFELONG Wolves fan who said the club was her lifeline after the death of her husband has an extra reason to be excited about the Challenge Cup final.

Joan Ayres, 52, was shocked when she got a call from the BBC to tell her she was nominated to sing Abide With Me before the match at Wembley and appear in a special edition of Songs of Praise.

The former English Martyrs School pupil has been following the Wolves since she was a child, when former Warrington player Mike Peers and his wife Jan would take her to games.

She said: “My mum said I was too young to go on my own and I used to sit on the gates waiting for them to pick me up. They were friends of my parents and we all went to the game together.”

After getting married to Kevin and having a son, Dean, Joan said they remained big Wolves fans but did not get to as many games.

She said: “I lost my husband six years ago and it was a really rough time. I felt as though I had lost my own life because I did everything with him.

“After about 18 months my son said, ‘you have got to shake yourself out of this, how about coming to the rugby?’

“It was my son who got me back into it and it became my outlet. I would do anything for the club now.”

Joan has been volunteering with the Warrington Wolves Pass it Back project since Christmas, where she collects memories including photographs and VHS to chart the team’s heritage.

She was nominated to represent the club at the Challenge Cup Final by her friend’s husband, Tony Cowgill.

She said: “I thought he was sending the information to me so I could nominate somebody else – I just deleted it without reading it to be honest.

“Then someone from the BBC called and I was gobsmacked. I said, ‘but I can’t sing!’ and he told me ‘Joan, you’re one in 80,000 people, I don’t think it matters.’

“It’s a fantastic opportunity. I think there’s a lot more people who are more worthy than me in the club.

“They sent through the words and a video about how to take breaths. It’s even better because we’re in the final.

“I was so nervous before the semi final, I thought we can’t do a fourth year of not getting through. When I got up on the Sunday after the match my throat was like razor blades from singing so much!

Joan said it is daunting to know that she will appear in the Songs of Praise special following the match and cannot quite believe that for some viewers the choir will be more interesting than the game.

She said: “As long as we win at the end of it, it will all be worth it. This is the opportunity of a lifetime – not many people walk onto the turf at Wembley.

“I’m so proud to be representing the town that I have always lived in, it’s a dream come true.

“It makes it even more magical because now I know everybody from Warrington will be there singing with me.”

Joan will feature on Songs of Praise on Sunday 28 August at 5.15pm.