GROUNDS WITH SPEEDWAY/DOG TRACKS/ATHLETICS VISITED

[JonM]

8 hours ago, Poower Lad said:

Why did Sheffield leave owlerton 

Because it was pretty rubbish, and after Hillsborough, was declared unsafe. They had to play a nomadic season using a few different football grounds (and Belle Vue) in the year before Don Valley opened. The brand new 10 000 seat stand at Don Valley Stadium was one of the best in RL at that point - this was before anyone had moved in with football clubs.

[Mumby Magic]

Millenium Stadium Cardiff has srahed Grand Prix Speedway.

[ATLANTISMAN]

9 hours ago, Poower Lad said:

Why did Sheffield leave owlerton 

I would say because it was a dump:)

[RP London]

1 hour ago, JonM said:

Because it was pretty rubbish, and after Hillsborough, was declared unsafe. They had to play a nomadic season using a few different football grounds (and Belle Vue) in the year before Don Valley opened. The brand new 10 000 seat stand at Don Valley Stadium was one of the best in RL at that point - this was before anyone had moved in with football clubs.

Don Valley was a good move for Eagles and for the city.. but as with everything in Sheffield the council acted in a way that really should be classed as criminal in that they didnt reinvest in the stadium and keep it "up to date". There used to be great Grand Prix athletics there, remember watching Michael Johnson and Jon Drummond run there in their hey days! but they just trousered the money instead of reinvesting and it got to the point where it needed to be pulled down.. a sad day for athletics in sheffield and for Eagles... I know people had an issue with the athletics track but i never minded it.. 

 

[Hopping Mad]

Sheffield Eagles did return to Owlerton, for the 2014 season (pic below from a March game with Dewsbury). The narrow (and short?) pitch was one of many issues there.

The owners keep investing in the stadium, though, for dogs, speedway and stock cars. The turn one covered terrace is now a bar/restaurant.

[Mumby Magic]

With relation to Odsal.

Speedway.

Mid 1980s it featured World Pairs and World Team events. Money was invested for the pits for the early 90s World Championships making them the biggest Speedway Puts in the World at the time.

Stock Cars

F1 Level Stock Car events wete featured there in the 90s. World Champion John Lund, Wainman Snr and Jnr amongst others regularly took part.

[Leyther_Matt]

54 minutes ago, RP London said:

Don Valley was a good move for Eagles and for the city.. but as with everything in Sheffield the council acted in a way that really should be classed as criminal in that they didnt reinvest in the stadium and keep it "up to date". There used to be great Grand Prix athletics there, remember watching Michael Johnson and Jon Drummond run there in their hey days! but they just trousered the money instead of reinvesting and it got to the point where it needed to be pulled down.. a sad day for athletics in sheffield and for Eagles... I know people had an issue with the athletics track but i never minded it.. 

 

I always felt that going to a game at Don Valley was like having the game on TV in the front room at home, but you're stood in the kitchen. Reached a stage where that was the only away game that I'd actively try to arrange holidays around etc. Shame really as, when it comes to football, Sheffield Wednesday and particularly Sheffield United are up there with my favourite days out (in the days when Bolton weren't two or more divisions below them, of course...)

[Agbrigg]

On 01/12/2020 at 18:41, John Boriston said:

Defo dogs at Blackpool Borough

Last Blackpool stadium was the dog track near the football ground. However Blackpool had another dog track in Stanley park and they played there previously. As a very young kid went there to se them play wakey

[M j M]

It's on.

[Utility Man]

Before their successful lottery bid transformed a corner of Hillsborough Park into Hillsborough Arena, Sheffield Hawks played their Pennine League home games on a pitch surrounded by a cinder running track. 

[CmonTheBorough]

On 02/12/2020 at 20:18, Agbrigg said:

Last Blackpool stadium was the dog track near the football ground. However Blackpool had another dog track in Stanley park and they played there previously. As a very young kid went there to se them play wakey

There was indeed dog racing at Blackpool Borough’s original stadium but it was at St. Anne’s Road not Stanley Park.

[Kirmonds pouch]

On 01/12/2020 at 14:33, ATLANTISMAN said:

Yes I know too much time on ones hands:) LOL

After the grounds visited I thought I would start this one (The dreaded stadium with a speedway/greyhound/athletics track around it:( YUK and dont we hate them.

OK I will kick this off (It has to be a visit to a RL match whilst the stadium was still being used for any of the above)

HULL KR x 2 (Old/New Craven Park) Speedway/Doggies

HULL FC (Boulevard/Speedway)

FULHAM x 2 (Crystal Palace) Athletics (Barnet) Athletics

WHITE CITY (Athletics)

BRADFORD NORTHERN (Speedway)

WEMBLEY (Old) Speedway/Doggies

X111 CATALAN (Athletics) (Gilbert Brutus)

AVIGNON (Athletics)

CARCASSONNE (Athletics)

VILLENEUVE SUR-LOT (Athletics)

ST GAUDENS (Athletics) (Stadium used for TV matches only)

CARPENTRAS (Athletics) (Stadium used for TV matches only)

TOULOUSE FC (Treize Tournai Final 1998) Athletics

X111 CATALAN (Football stadium) Athletics

ALBI (Athletics)

ROCDALE HORNETS (Speedway)

WORKINGTON TOWN (Speedway)

SHEFFIELD EAGLES (Owlerton) Doggies

CAHORS (Athletics)

KENT INVICTA (Maidstone) Doggies

BLACKPOOL BOROUGH (Cannot remember if it was speedway or dogies)

Stade Français France v England (Athletics)

Millenium (Cardiff) Speedway

Gateshead England v France (Athletics)

Nottingham (Harvey Hadden) Athletics

LONDON SKOLARS (Athletics)

ARGELES (France) UTC (Athletics)

Olympic Stadium (Barcelona) Athletics

 

 

I will rack my BRAINS out for a few more tonight:)

 

Paul

 

 

 

 

You've actually missed one, unless you've never been To Trinity's BV. It's obscure I grant you and probably not in living memory but....

Have you ever wondered why the terracing down both sides of the ground is well below pitch level? No?

Well I'll tell you why, BV was originally a Velodrome as well as a RL ground, see image.

[Griff]

That athletics track next to tKeepmoat.

[George Watt]

On 02/12/2020 at 02:37, Wanderer said:

Belle Vue, Manchester for any octagenerians out there!

When I was about 10years old I was a speedway fan and  idolised Jack Parker who captained the Belle Vue Aces in the 50's. Only ever saw him race on TV as he never came to the track where I supported the Hull Angels team. Jack ranks as one of the best ever British riders.

[BJW]

On 02/12/2020 at 01:58, Oldbear said:

I went to almost all Fulham games that were played there, I don’t actually recall too many that were played in good weather, or is that my memory playing tricks again?

Plenty of games there in good weather (was a season ticket holder there) but think the lack of cover, even in the stand, makes you remember the bad weather more. (Was it Halifax in the CC when it poured with rain and you could see the people standing on the far side steaming ?)

BTW, fairy sure Carcassonne (Albert Domec) was a velodrome rather than an athletics stadium. Stadium at Narbonne (used by FFR XIII for finals occasionally) is an athletics stadium as was told one of the Caribbean nations had used it as a training facility before Barcelona Olympics.

[BJW]

On 01/12/2020 at 18:42, Gooleboy said:

Yes it did. I remember going there on the weekend of the big storm which Michael Fish failed to see coming. A long trip from Featherstone and we lost!

No he didn't, he said there was not a hurricane on it's way ! That was in reference to one affecting Florida at the time. His forecast did warn of strong winds however. Being pedantic, the Great Storm of 1987 did not qualify as a hurricane.

[Gooleboy]

47 minutes ago, BJW said:

No he didn't, he said there was not a hurricane on it's way ! That was in reference to one affecting Florida at the time. His forecast did warn of strong winds however. Being pedantic, the Great Storm of 1987 did not qualify as a hurricane.

Fair enough, but it was bad with trees down all over  the place. And like I said, a long way to go for a terrible performance and a deserved defeat at the Chiswick Polytechnic ground.

[Wanderer]

3 hours ago, Kirmonds pouch said:

You've actually missed one, unless you've never been To Trinity's BV. It's obscure I grant you and probably not in living memory but....

Have you ever wondered why the terracing down both sides of the ground is well below pitch level? No?

Well I'll tell you why, BV was originally a Velodrome as well as a RL ground, see image.

what a lovely stand

[Blind side johnny]

On 02/12/2020 at 20:18, Agbrigg said:

Last Blackpool stadium was the dog track near the football ground. However Blackpool had another dog track in Stanley park and they played there previously. As a very young kid went there to se them play wakey

Last Blackpool stadium was at Fylde RU. No dog track there AFAIK.

[Kirmonds pouch]

57 minutes ago, Wanderer said:

what a lovely stand

Only got knocked down in 1987 I think, after the Bradford fire disaster.

[ATLANTISMAN]

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread its been a lot of fun:)

Just remembered (Back in my old Peckham days) we played at Herne Hill cycle stadium.

BERYL BURTON anyone  what a pair of thighs LOL:) 

 

Paul

PS/Just looked her up and I see she came from Morley (Leeds) and sadly died so young 59 when I was a schoolboy if someone mentioned cycling only 2 names ever came to mind her and Tommy Simpson (Who is still a legend in France) 

[Harold Hill]

I was going to mention Herne Hill Stadium. 
 

in addition to LARL club games, it was also used when the London League put out a representative side against touring teams. They played the Aussie Schoolboys at around this time of the year when there were sheets of ice on large parts of the pitch. The game really shouldn’t have gone ahead but the Schoolboys other two game in the North didn’t go ahead because of the weather.

I also seem to remember A touring Tweed Heads Seagulls playing there against London (???)

[ATLANTISMAN]

3 hours ago, Harold Hill said:

I was going to mention Herne Hill Stadium. 
 

in addition to LARL club games, it was also used when the London League put out a representative side against touring teams. They played the Aussie Schoolboys at around this time of the year when there were sheets of ice on large parts of the pitch. The game really shouldn’t have gone ahead but the Schoolboys other two game in the North didn’t go ahead because of the weather.

I also seem to remember A touring Tweed Heads Seagulls playing there against London (???)

If it would that have been HH (Must have been prior to the 1980,s) I remember playing against Hemel and Bob Brown played for them (Lucky that day I had the goal kicking duties:) and we won by over 70 points I remember kicking around 14 goals LOL:) Also remember London rep games v either York or Hull district (Cant remember which) and a young 17 year old called Garry Divorty played for them you could see he was going to be a top player then.

 

P 

[Oldbear]

8 hours ago, BJW said:

Plenty of games there in good weather (was a season ticket holder there) but think the lack of cover, even in the stand, makes you remember the bad weather more. (Was it Halifax in the CC when it poured with rain and you could see the people standing on the far side steaming ?)

Not sure about the game, or opposition, but I do recall standing over the far side for one game (I generally didn’t like to sit in the concrete stand as I could move around and stamp my feet to keep warm, either that or my Scottish roots betrayed me when it came to spending a little extra) and actually seeing people stood alongside me who were steaming. Oh happy days!

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

The OP assumes , although it's not specific, that the track has to be around the footballing perimeter. Otherwise Oldham's Watersheddings ground could be added. The greyhound track was next to the pitch.