2002 Wimbledon Revival And Other Happenings

[The White Knight 9,039]

Zero % chance I'm afraid. 602 flats are incorporated in the site's rebuilding.

Speedway never really stood a chance - the other possible developer (which would have kept a dog track) was still going to involve a lesser amount of housing and had no plans to involve motor sport.

The money boys won.

Was it ever thus? :sad:

[Guest]

No chance of a Speedway Track being incorporated in to the proposed new Stadium I suppose?

 

 

Zero % chance I'm afraid. 602 flats are incorporated in the site's rebuilding.

Speedway never really stood a chance - the other possible developer (which would have kept a dog track) was still going to involve a lesser amount of housing and had no plans to involve motor sport.

The money boys won.

 

​Sadly I agree - no chance at all for motor sport at Plough Lane/Wimbledon Stadium. I think it was brave of Spedeworth Motorsport to keep the cars active for some 12 years after the Dons last speedway meeting in 2005.

[salty 2,202]

Was it ever thus? :sad:

Well don't vote Tory then!

[The White Knight 9,039]

Well don't vote Tory then!

Haha!!! :rofl:

[Guest]

​Wimbledon Stadium football scheme update:

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/afc-wimbledon-overcome-major-hurdle-in-their-quest-to-return-to-plough-lane-a3570231.html

[Guest]

What was the fixture and actual date of the last speedway meeting at Wimbledon in 2005. I have a memory that it was 'The Laurels' and in October. Probably won by Mark Burrows.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Guest

[Guest]

The last speedway meeting at Wimbledon in 2005 was The Laurels and won by Mark Burrows (still need the actual date but I think either of these Thursdays - October 6 or October 13). Here is a list of all the winners.

http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/laurels-wimbledon.html

Edited July 17, 2017 by Guest

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

Can anybody put the heat details and times of all the Wimbledon v Swindon Sprockets 2003...??? i have a few missing one meeting was the Burrows v Holloway show.

[Guest]

KENT KINGS v WIMBLEDON PRESS RELEASE:

Double Divisional Riders Champion Steve Boxall is back at Central Park Stadium on Monday 24^th. July heading up an impressive line-up of riders competing for the Wimbledon Dons in the annual John Cearns Cup challenge. Canterbury born Boxall is a legend of Kent Speedway having ridden as the inspirational captain and number one in the Kings’ debut season in 2013 – a year which culminated in Boxall taking the National League Riders Championship (a unique second title for the now recently turned 30- year- old having previously scooped the individual championship crown back in 2005).

Boxall is also the current holder of the Laurels/WJ Cearns Trophy having taken that prestigious title on his last visit to Central Park last year and now seeks to lead his troops for the day to the second of the two events on the Kent Speedway racing calendar which acknowledge the Cearns’ family’s contribution to the history of Speedway in the UK.

 

Central Park Stadium owner and Kent club chairman Roger Cearns is the grand-son of one of the men who back in 1928 brought the sport of Speedway which originated in Australia to these shores, WJ Cearns - who also built the then hugely impressive Wimbledon Stadium that same year in London SW17 to stage the new sport. The Wimbledon Dons ran from then up to the early 1990s and then again in the opening years of this century before the stadium on Plough Lane sadly fell to the clutches of redevelopment finally closing as a Greyhound Racing and Stock Cars venue in March of this year.

That this then is the first appearance on track of a Wimbledon Dons’ side since the complete closure of their long-time iconic home makes the meeting on Monday an especially poignant occasion and a large number of devotees of the famous London club are sure to make the journey to Sittingbourne. Joining Boxall in the side is another former Conference League Riders Champion and ex-Kent Kings skipper in David Mason. The all-time record points scorer in the third tier known throughout the sport as ‘Magic’ Mason is in excellent form this season and rides for the reigning champions Birmingham. A third member of the Kings’ 2013 side is also donning the London club’s red and yellow body colours on Monday – it’s Connor Coles, who is joined in the side by his club captain from the Isle of Wight Warriors, James Cockle. Cockle is that rare breed in modern Speedway: a London-born rider hailing initially from Edmonton. At reserve, the Dons feature the teenager from Eastry near Sandwich, James Laker (who turns out regularly for Kent’s Southern Development League side, the Code Kestrels) and the recent winner of the Futurama junior event held at Central Park Stadium, Adam Portwood.

For the hosts, the 2013 ‘reunion’ continues with Ben Morley (National League Riders Champion himself as a Kent King two seasons ago) back ‘guesting’ at number one. With Nathan Stoneman joining his skipper Luke Bowen on the sidelines (a broken leg in the case of Stoneman), the home side will utilise Rider Replacement to cover, with Ben Hopwood back on duty. Jack Thomas continues to deputise in the role of captain. Anders Rowe is unavailable and coming in for a first appearance this season in Kent colours is Kelsey Dugard.

There will be a special souvenir programme priced as £2.00. Gates open at 5.00pm with the usual parade followed by tapes up for heat on me of the John Cearns Cup event at 6.30pm.

[iris123 20,987]

Each to their own,but i find these made up teams a bit of a joke.Let the Dons rest in peace instead of pretending a Wimbledon side is taking to the track.Might just as well call them New Cross or High Beech imo.This is the strange side of speedway........

[The White Knight 9,039]

Each to their own,but i find these made up teams a bit of a joke.Let the Dons rest in peace instead of pretending a Wimbledon side is taking to the track.Might just as well call them New Cross or High Beech imo.This is the strange side of speedway........

Nothing wrong with nostalgia.

 

Apart from anything else it is good to to keep the names of some of the defunct Track names in the public eye. We can always hope that Speedway may return one day to our local Track.

 

EDIT: Oops! I forgot to mention my Track is Sunderland.

Edited July 20, 2017 by The White Knight

[Guest]

Each to their own,but i find these made up teams a bit of a joke.Let the Dons rest in peace instead of pretending a Wimbledon side is taking to the track.Might just as well call them New Cross or High Beech imo.This is the strange side of speedway........

 

 

Nothing wrong with nostalgia.

 

Apart from anything else it is good to to keep the names of some of the defunct Track names in the public eye. We can always hope that Speedway may return one day to our local Track.

 

EDIT: Oops! I forgot to mention my Track is Sunderland.

​I agree TWK. Nothing wrong with keeping such a wonderful club name as Wimbledon in the public eye. Let us hope the weather is kind for Monday's staging at Kent Kings. And here's a Link albeit a repeat of the previously posted publicity in this thread for the match:

 

http://www.kentkings...hp?extend.971.1

Edited July 21, 2017 by Guest

[norbold 7,110]

 

EDIT: Oops! I forgot to mention my Track is Sunderland.

You should have started a web site about it. I bet if you had it would still be going today. (The web site that is, not the track!)

[iris123 20,987]

 

 

​I agree TWK. Nothing wrong with keeping such a wonderful club name as Wimbledon in the public eye.

Each to their own,but i just don't understand why?What is the point of just keeping the name in the public eye.Not really even doing that as most of the public aren't interested in speedway and if someone outthere hasn't followed speedway for years and is attracted by the name Wimbledon they are going to be disappointed and maybe even ripped off.Wimbledon doesn't exist any more and for the vast majority of the time it did exist it didn't put riders out at this level

 

It is about as relevant as getting some non league football players together and putting on a game between Belfast Celtic and Thames Ironworks.Great names from the past but the clubs died a long time ago.At least years back they put on meetings between ex-West Ham or ex-Wembley and the riders generally had some connection with those clubs.The only connection these riders have with Wimbledon is they might have watched the tennis on tv....

[The White Knight 9,039]

Each to their own,but i just don't understand why?What is the point of just keeping the name in the public eye.Not really even doing that as most of the public aren't interested in speedway and if someone outthere hasn't followed speedway for years and is attracted by the name Wimbledon they are going to be disappointed and maybe even ripped off.Wimbledon doesn't exist any more and for the vast majority of the time it did exist it didn't put riders out at this level

 

It is about as relevant as getting some non league football players together and putting on a game between Belfast Celtic and Thames Ironworks.Great names from the past but the clubs died a long time ago.At least years back they put on meetings between ex-West Ham or ex-Wembley and the riders generally had some connection with those clubs.The only connection these riders have with Wimbledon is they might have watched the tennis on tv....

Keeping the name in the Speedway arena is useful in that Promoters, who may be looking for new venues, may be tempted to give said Track another go. If they are not aware of somewhere, or it's History, then they may not even consider Sunderland, Wimbledon or anywhere else.

 

It also demonstrates that there are folk in said area who already know about Speedway - even after a gap of over forty years.

 

It is probably a forlorn hope I know, but still worth doing.