New tracks ?

[Neila]

1 hour ago, IainB said:

Have you not heard?

... they're putting a roof on it, I'm sure it'll be ready any day now 😁

Weren't they gonna do that years and years ago to make it the Wembley of the north  ??

[singy13]

1 hour ago, geoff100 said:

It was aussie chris blythe am sure he wont mind ,wasnt a bad rider him and bernie hornby won a best pairs on a rainy day over a class field .

Just before the 1970 season started when interviewed on Border TV Ian Thomas labelled Vic Lonsdale 'The King of crash',,,,,but soon the crowd got tired of Vic's low scoring and booed at the mention of his name, he was hopeless.  Then yes Chris Blythe got that title - not exactly one to be proud of eh. (I think Chris passed away this year?)

And yes two unlikely lads won that 'best pairs' - I was there watching it.

[Disasterpiece]

Just out of sheer curiousity whatever happened to this new track phil morris mentioned?

[Lefty]

21 minutes ago, Disasterpiece said:

Just out of sheer curiousity whatever happened to this new track phil morris mentioned?

It sank due to the amount of water on it. It's now been declared a Dam !

[mikebv]

44 minutes ago, Disasterpiece said:

Just out of sheer curiousity whatever happened to this new track phil morris mentioned?

He changed it into a swimming pool....

[RoundTheBoards]

8 hours ago, Disasterpiece said:

Just out of sheer curiousity whatever happened to this new track phil morris mentioned?

That was for 2024 after we lost Peterborough and Wolverhampton, and the Premiership was facing going down to 5 teams.

Chris Louis was considering opening at Northampton to give an extra track.   

In the end Birmingham moved up and Oxford did all leagues, so the Premiership was back to 7, and Northampton wasn't needed.

[The White Knight]

16 hours ago, RoundTheBoards said:

That was for 2024 after we lost Peterborough and Wolverhampton, and the Premiership was facing going down to 5 teams.

Chris Louis was considering opening at Northampton to give an extra track.   

In the end Birmingham moved up and Oxford did all leagues, so the Premiership was back to 7, and Northampton wasn't needed.

Typical of Speedway.

With the publicity of a Northampton Track already in the public domain - perhaps the people of Northampton might think differently.

Nothing like raising people's expectations.

Just saying.........................

Edited yesterday at 02:09 PM by The White Knight
Forgot a couple of points

[StevePark]

On 8/27/2025 at 7:02 PM, Chadster said:

One of the problems now is the increasing lack of ready made stadiums to move into. When Division 2 was formed 6 of the 10 teams were able to move into existing dog tracks, 4 of which had staged speedway previously. Belle Vue Colts used their existing facilities and Berwick, Canterbury and Nelson rode around football tracks. How many stadiums are there today ready and waiting to stage speedway? Sunderland might be one, especially given the demise of Newcastle, but the sport has never been a success there. I read a facebook post recently from Brafield, announcing the opening of a new stand. There was talk a year or so ago that a promoter was looking there.

Both Brough Park (Newcastle Greyhound Stadium) & Sunderland are owned (run) by the same company Arena Racing Company (ARC), and, seeing as they didn't want speedway at Newcastle, they are very unlikely to want speedway returning to Sunderland.

[P T Preece]

Its difficult to bring on the youngsters, when the drop a few points. They just bring in another young aussie.

[old bob at herne bay]

Where would the supporters come from ?

 

Tracks down here in London and the South East have been closed down for so long the vast majority of the  original supporters have moved on .... and will not be returning to watch speedway ever again. 😞 There's always rumblings of old defunct tracks being reopened , but with 1,500,000 homes to be built in the next 4 years , I dont see a speedway track fitting in the mix. 

We have just the brave venture of the 3rd division Kent "Eagles" who seem to be making a go of speedway on the old Iwade training track for just a handful of meetings a season, and the amateur speedway at Lydd. Both sites are currently out of the  reach of housing developers ....... 

Now the West Midlands has lost its last track, and despite the embers of Brandon being regularly raked over, that seems to be the end in that part of the UK.  

 

 

 

[The White Knight]

4 hours ago, StevePark said:

Both Brough Park (Newcastle Greyhound Stadium) & Sunderland are owned (run) by the same company Arena Racing Company (ARC), and, seeing as they didn't want speedway at Newcastle, they are very unlikely to want speedway returning to Sunderland.

About twenty years ago we investigated the possibility of a Speedway return to Sunderland on behalf of Tony Mole. At the time, if I remember correctly, Newcastle was a National League Track. Tony was proposing to open up as a Conference League Track. Whilst we had about two meetings at the Stadium, they would not entertain a Team at Sunderland racing in a lower League than Newcastle. They were however receptive to, and listened to us and heard us out. We informed Tony Mole of their position and left it with him. No further action was taken.

I suppose that being as we got our Meetings that it was NOT a definite NO from the  Stadium, they never said that.

Perhaps now that Newcastle has gone, it may be worth another try. Some Promoter can only ask.

We would definitely need the support of Newcastle Supporters too, in order to make it a viable concern. Given the response to Sunderland in the 1970's, I would like to think things have changed, and that we could all get together to support a Sunderland Team in the North East for the benefit of BOTH Cities.

Many things will have changed in the ensuing twenty years. Maybe Steve is right and that there is NO chance - but - if you don't ask, you don't get.

[Ray Stadia]

20 hours ago, The White Knight said:

Typical of Speedway.

With the publicity of a Northampton Track already in the public domain - perhaps the people of Northampton might think differently.

Nothing like raising people's expectations.

Just saying.........................

The Northampton stadium looks a nice stadium, they have made several improvements. I get updates on Facebook. Of course, it's a stock car and banger track and would probably need extra rider protection, as they have put in place at Mildenhall.   

[StevePark]

13 hours ago, The White Knight said:

About twenty years ago we investigated the possibility of a Speedway return to Sunderland on behalf of Tony Mole. At the time, if I remember correctly, Newcastle was a National League Track. Tony was proposing to open up as a Conference League Track. Whilst we had about two meetings at the Stadium, they would not entertain a Team at Sunderland racing in a lower League than Newcastle. They were however receptive to, and listened to us and heard us out. We informed Tony Mole of their position and left it with him. No further action was taken.

I suppose that being as we got our Meetings that it was NOT a definite NO from the  Stadium, they never said that.

Perhaps now that Newcastle has gone, it may be worth another try. Some Promoter can only ask.

We would definitely need the support of Newcastle Supporters too, in order to make it a viable concern. Given the response to Sunderland in the 1970's, I would like to think things have changed, and that we could all get together to support a Sunderland Team in the North East for the benefit of BOTH Cities.

Many things will have changed in the ensuing twenty years. Maybe Steve is right and that there is NO chance - but - if you don't ask, you don't get.

I didn't say there was "no chance." I said it was "very unlikely." There's a difference.

[The White Knight]

2 hours ago, StevePark said:

I didn't say there was "no chance." I said it was "very unlikely." There's a difference.

Not much though.

Sorry for misquoting you. 🙂

[singy13]

4 hours ago, StevePark said:

I didn't say there was "no chance." I said it was "very unlikely." There's a difference.

Yes very unlikely is how it may well be..But I think east Boldon greyhound/speedway stadium is only 5/6 mile from the large catchment area of Tyneside so it's surely worth some wealthy promoter at least running the rule as to reviving speedway - maybe some already have of course?