Guest Posted July 29, 2017 (edited) How many stadiums in the UK were purpose built for speedway? Many stadiums where speedway takes place were built and dished for multi-sport? I know that I will miss somewhere out but the only purpose built venues originally primarily built and designed for speedway IMO are Belle Vue, Somerset, Plymouth, Isle of Wight, Buxton, Scunthorpe, Ipswich, Mildenhall. The one with the biggest capacity of these is probably Ipswich. Edited July 29, 2017 by Guest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Humphrey Appleby 13,961 Posted July 29, 2017 How many stadiums in the UK were purpose built for speedway? Many stadiums where speedway takes place were built and dished for multi-sport? I know that I will miss somewhere out but the only purpose built venues originally primarily built and designed for speedway IMO are Belle Vue, Somerset, Plymouth, Isle of Wight, Buxton, Scunthorpe, Ipswich, Mildenhall. The one with the biggest capacity of these is probably Ipswich. Wasn't Coventry purpose built for speedway? Not sure if that's considered defunct yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,246 Posted July 29, 2017 Wasn't Coventry purpose built for speedway? Not sure if that's considered defunct yet. I think the same applied to Oxford when the grass tracking community were looking for an alternative venue to their usual site (Sandford-on-Thames) prior to the Second World War. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted July 29, 2017 How many stadiums in the UK were purpose built for speedway? Many stadiums where speedway takes place were built and dished for multi-sport? I know that I will miss somewhere out but the only purpose built venues originally primarily built and designed for speedway IMO are Belle Vue, Somerset, Plymouth, Isle of Wight, Buxton, Scunthorpe, Ipswich, Mildenhall. The one with the biggest capacity of these is probably Ipswich. Don't forget Redcar. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 29, 2017 How many stadiums in the UK were purpose built for speedway? Many stadiums where speedway takes place were built and dished for multi-sport? I know that I will miss somewhere out but the only purpose built venues originally primarily built and designed for speedway IMO are Belle Vue, Somerset, Plymouth, Isle of Wight, Buxton, Scunthorpe, Ipswich, Mildenhall. The one with the biggest capacity of these is probably Ipswich. Wasn't Coventry purpose built for speedway? Not sure if that's considered defunct yet. Don't forget Redcar. Add in Coventry and Redcar to my initial list. And now I think we can also add Leicester? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dontforgetthefueltapsbruv 10,706 Posted July 29, 2017 Add in Coventry and Redcar to my initial list. And now I think we can also add Leicester? some would argue that the last thing Leicester was purpose built for was Speedway.... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted July 29, 2017 some would argue that the last thing Leicester was purpose built for was Speedway.... :rofl: Naughty!! :rofl: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martinmauger 584 Posted July 29, 2017 Pretty sure Coventry and also Sheffield were purpose built with dog tracks added later. Interesting that the capacity of most UK stadia is around the 8,000 mark. At a fan forum someone once asked Ian Thomas the average crowd at the Boulevard and he replied "439, but 3,000 climb over the wall each week !".... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A ORLOV 8,628 Posted July 29, 2017 Pretty sure Coventry and also Sheffield were purpose built with dog tracks added later. Interesting that the capacity of most UK stadia is around the 8,000 mark. At a fan forum someone once asked Ian Thomas the average crowd at the Boulevard and he replied "439, but 3,000 climb over the wall each week !".... Is that what he told the tax man Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 29, 2017 UPDATED: Tracks primarily built and designed for speedway: Belle Vue, Redcar, Coventry, Sheffield Leicester, Somerset, Plymouth, Isle of Wight, Buxton, Scunthorpe, Ipswich, Mildenhall. The one with the biggest capacity of these is probably Ipswich. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Long Eye 278 Posted July 29, 2017 UPDATED: Tracks primarily built and designed for speedway: Belle Vue, Redcar, Coventry, Sheffield Leicester, Somerset, Plymouth, Isle of Wight, Buxton, Scunthorpe, Ipswich, Mildenhall. The one with the biggest capacity of these is probably Ipswich. What was the capacity at New Cross? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pete cc 322 Posted July 30, 2017 Our sadly missed Dudley wood stadium was purpose built.( I think)? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) On another thread there is a debate on could any other stadium in UK stage another GP. How big is the capacity of the different stadiums. I would think Ipswich would be one of the biggest UPDATED: Tracks primarily built and designed for speedway: Belle Vue, Redcar, Coventry, Sheffield Leicester, Somerset, Plymouth, Isle of Wight, Buxton, Scunthorpe, Ipswich, Mildenhall. The one with the biggest capacity of these is probably Ipswich. It's nice to see items about possible purpose-built tracks of the past, but my understanding is this thread is about current purpose-built modern speedways which are purpose built and suitable for staging a GP. Most of them are not and capacity wise Ipswich would appear to be the best. But what an embarssmnt for speedway should Foxhall Heath ever be considered. With all the criticisms made about small oval car/stock car racing having to make a possible deal with possibly that sport's biggest promoter Spedeworth Motorsports - although they are not anti-speedway. Edited July 30, 2017 by Guest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
longlivefrankie 458 Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) If we mentioning defunct tracks, Newport's Hayley stadium was purpose built as Caermarthen's show ground home. Both much missed by me It's worrying that so many purpose built venues over the years have been closed Says something about the sport Edited July 30, 2017 by Ken Morgan 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 30, 2017 If we mentioning defunct tracks, Newport's Hayley stadium was purpose built as Caermarthen's show ground home. Both much missed by me It's worrying that so many purpose built venues over the years have been closed Says something about the sport Possibly what you mention is that because of the overheads needed in maintaining a large stadium basically they need to be multi-use? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites