The Guardian joined Wolves at the start of their first season as a fully professional side, determined to show they’re no pushovers

Suddenly the bustling classroom at the back of the Guru Nanak Satsang Sikh Gurdwara falls almost silent and all eyes are on Dan McNamara. The Wolves head coach, experiencing a wrestling lesson, is engaged in a tense tussle. He twists, panting and heaving, eventually ends up on top of his opponent, and the room erupts. Compared with some of the challenges McNamara and Wolves have grappled with during his eight and a half years coaching the team, this exercise was child’s play.

Wolves, promoted to Women’s Super League Two in May, are visiting the gurdwara – which became Wolverhampton’s first in 1966 – as part of an afternoon city tour which has also included a trip to the historic The Halls music venue and a walk in the centre, as some of their new signings acquaint themselves with the area before the club’s first season as a fully professional women’s team, and their first WSL2 home match, against Sheffield United, on Sunday.