WOLVES chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick has paid tribute to the fans after the deflating loss to Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley yesterday.

The Wire went into the historic contest as huge favourites but trailed from the second minute and failed to recover sufficiently in a 20-14 loss, leaving the silverware to be taken to France for the first time in the competition’s illustrious history.

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“The support we had was fantastic,” said Fitzpatrick in what was his first final as the club’s CEO.

“We walked out and looked to the left and could see them all cheering on the boys.

“I got a bit of goose bumps when they were singing Abide With Me and they were all waving their flags. It was fantastic.

“I’m so proud of them and they’ve been fantastic all year, and I mentioned that about the semi final when we had 7,500 behind us at Bolton.

“Hopefully they can get behind us now and create the 18th man to roar us on to a Grand Final success.

“I’m not sure of the total figure of Wire fans at Wembley, but they were fantastic.

“I hope they were able to enjoy their evening although we didn’t get the result.

“We’re very appreciative of their support, it means so much to us.

“To go down to Wembley when it’s difficult with the trains not running and things of that nature, when it’s also the summer holidays, I really appreciate the support and I know the boys and Steve Price do as well.”