Speedway

[henage]

Headed to Sheffield On Monday night to watch Sheffield v Kings Lynn .

Watched speedway in Hull until it closed down .

Not sure if I would enjoy the meeting as a lot of the teams are no longer running . Plus its struggling in general .

What a great nights racing . 

A few races where won from the start . Most heats had some great overtaking , close racing .

Couple of crashes . Everyone walked back to the pits .

Pits area was a bit tight for the riders . Great for the crowd to see whats going on between races .

Entry fee was a little high for me (£25) Food was great value . 

Crowd was bigger than I was expecting . Stadium needs a lick of paint !

 

 

 

[The Future is League]

43 minutes ago, henage said:

Headed to Sheffield On Monday night to watch Sheffield v Kings Lynn .

Watched speedway in Hull until it closed down .

Not sure if I would enjoy the meeting as a lot of the teams are no longer running . Plus its struggling in general .

What a great nights racing . 

A few races where won from the start . Most heats had some great overtaking , close racing .

Couple of crashes . Everyone walked back to the pits .

Pits area was a bit tight for the riders . Great for the crowd to see whats going on between races .

Entry fee was a little high for me (£25) Food was great value . 

Crowd was bigger than I was expecting . Stadium needs a lick of paint !

 

 

 

I thought it was going the same way as Greyhound racing, but it appears not.

[Josef K]

What are the attendances at speedway in the uk like. I watched a couple of minutes of it on Saturday ITV4 but i haven’t a clue what was going on, id imagine it’s noisy. I only watched it as i thought the football highlights were coming on at 9pm. 

[henage]

On 19/08/2026 at 21:40, Josef K said:

What are the attendances at speedway in the uk like. I watched a couple of minutes of it on Saturday ITV4 but i haven’t a clue what was going on, id imagine it’s noisy. I only watched it as i thought the football highlights were coming on at 9pm. 

Not really sure . Struggle a little i think .

Riders race in Poland and the UK . 

Its very loud , smell of the shale/engines is part of the attraction . 

 

[tonyXIII]

On 21/08/2026 at 16:19, henage said:

Not really sure . Struggle a little i think .

Riders race in Poland and the UK . 

Its very loud , smell of the shale/engines is part of the attraction . 

 

Many, many years ago, we went en famille to watch Belle Vue Aces a few times. It was the age of Peter Collins and the things I remember most were the noise and the smell of the fuel. Exciting!

[henage]

3 hours ago, tonyXIII said:

Many, many years ago, we went en famille to watch Belle Vue Aces a few times. It was the age of Peter Collins and the things I remember most were the noise and the smell of the fuel. Exciting!

Yes the smell back in the day was Castrol R . 

Belle Vue is the top stadium for speedway in the Uk .

We have been to Cardiff rugby stadium a few times for the British GPs , fantastic venue , great views . 

Think the cost stopped the racing , shame . 

[Click]

My dad used to take our family to watch Eastbourne on a pretty regular basis when I was younger, it was always great fun. I still watch the highlights on YouTube of the various grand prix every now and then. 

Eastbourne went to being a youth team and then closed, I believe I saw a story of the Dugards partnering with someone new to try and bring the stadium back up to scratch. 

I even remember a very long car journey down to watch Eastbourne @ Poole in the playoffs one year

Edited August 23 by Click

[Click]

Just remembered that my dad's first speedway team that he followed around the country .. not sure the name would be allowed these days though ..

"White City Rebels"

[gingerjon]

4 hours ago, Click said:

My dad used to take our family to watch Eastbourne on a pretty regular basis when I was younger, it was always great fun. I still watch the highlights on YouTube of the various grand prix every now and then. 

Eastbourne went to being a youth team and then closed, I believe I saw a story of the Dugards partnering with someone new to try and bring the stadium back up to scratch. 

I even remember a very long car journey down to watch Eastbourne @ Poole in the playoffs one year

They kicked out the remaining motor racing folk a month or so back but have since been persuaded to do some work to keep the stadium open.

No sign of any speedway return.

[OriginalMrC]

Speedway was at one time hugely popular in Coventry. There are plans to try to bring back Coventry Bees as the housing developer who bought the stadium (and has tried to let it rot) has repeatedly had planning permission refused. I'm not a huge speedway fan but I'd love to see the Bees back again and giving people the choice of another sport to watch here locally. 

[gingerjon]

8 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

Speedway was at one time hugely popular in Coventry. There are plans to try to bring back Coventry Bees as the housing developer who bought the stadium (and has tried to let it rot) has repeatedly had planning permission refused. I'm not a huge speedway fan but I'd love to see the Bees back again and giving people the choice of another sport to watch here locally. 

The Bees were stopped by local community objecting to noise. I can't see that having changed.

Of course, one might wonder, how many of those objections were organic - just like breweries can always find people to object to the noise of pubs that they want to sell for housing (but blame pub failures on alcohol duty).

[OriginalMrC]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

The Bees were stopped by local community objecting to noise. I can't see that having changed.

Of course, one might wonder, how many of those objections were organic - just like breweries can always find people to object to the noise of pubs that they want to sell for housing (but blame pub failures on alcohol duty).

They had their stadium sold for redevelopment and made homeless so I don't think noise issues were a major concern. It's not a massively built up area and while it is likely there was noise concerns from some people locally the stadium hosted speedway and motor racing for decades and well before surrounding housing was built. Anyone buying a house there would have known it was next to a stadium (I know that people will still complain despite this - see people who buy houses next to pubs / airports etc) 

[Bearman]

23 hours ago, gingerjon said:

The Bees were stopped by local community objecting to noise. I can't see that having changed.

Of course, one might wonder, how many of those objections were organic - just like breweries can always find people to object to the noise of pubs that they want to sell for housing (but blame pub failures on alcohol duty).

Wrong.

The local community did not complain about the noise. I live nearby and work in the Binley Woods community ( Brandon Stadium is located in Binley Woods)

I have never heard anyone say they are glad it has gone and just the opposite the locals want it back.

The Speedway Stadium was there when most of the houses were built after the war and they understood that Saturday night was Speedway or Stockcars and they were happy with that.

The Speedway was purchased by a carpetbagger who thought he could make a killing by closing the speedway ( and it was also a premier stockcar venue regularly holding the World Championship).

At the time I was told by a someone in the know that the purchaser had clearly notdone due diligence. I was told that there was a clause in the deeds that stated the land could only be used for motor sports and it could be used 365 days a year INCLUDING CHRISTMAS DAY!.

Clearly what I was told was correct. Time and time again the local council ( Rugby) have turned down his building plans. Binley Woods is a wellheeled community and is much sort after. Some houses have been improved and now in the   plus million pound bracket.

An adjoining piece of ground to the stadium has in fact been developed into a new  ( premium) housing development.

The last two plans from the carpetbagger have even included a Speedway track in midst of the housing he wants to build.

And yet they have been dismissec by Rugby Council.

They have made it clear that they would rather have Speedway back and are bending over backwards to help the Speedway group to find a backer to facilitate it.

The latest is that a backing group and the Speedway group are in talks.

 

[henage]

35 minutes ago, Bearman said:

Wrong.

The local community did not complain about the noise. I live nearby and work in the Binley Woods community ( Brandon Stadium is located in Binley Woods)

I have never heard anyone say they are glad it has gone and just the opposite the locals want it back.

The Speedway Stadium was there when most of the houses were built after the war and they understood that Saturday night was Speedway or Stockcars and they were happy with that.

The Speedway was purchased by a carpetbagger who thought he could make a killing by closing the speedway ( and it was also a premier stockcar venue regularly holding the World Championship).

At the time I was told by a someone in the know that the purchaser had clearly notdone due diligence. I was told that there was a clause in the deeds that stated the land could only be used for motor sports and it could be used 365 days a year INCLUDING CHRISTMAS DAY!.

Clearly what I was told was correct. Time and time again the local council ( Rugby) have turned down his building plans. Binley Woods is a wellheeled community and is much sort after. Some houses have been improved and now in the   plus million pound bracket.

An adjoining piece of ground to the stadium has in fact been developed into a new  ( premium) housing development.

The last two plans from the carpetbagger have even included a Speedway track in midst of the housing he wants to build.

And yet they have been dismissec by Rugby Council.

They have made it clear that they would rather have Speedway back and are bending over backwards to help the Speedway group to find a backer to facilitate it.

The latest is that a backing group and the Speedway group are in talks.

 

Lets hope the speedway and stock cars can get racing in the not to distant future.  

[gingerjon]

46 minutes ago, Bearman said:

Wrong.

The local community did not complain about the noise. I live nearby and work in the Binley Woods community ( Brandon Stadium is located in Binley Woods)

I have never heard anyone say they are glad it has gone and just the opposite the locals want it back.

The Speedway Stadium was there when most of the houses were built after the war and they understood that Saturday night was Speedway or Stockcars and they were happy with that.

The Speedway was purchased by a carpetbagger who thought he could make a killing by closing the speedway ( and it was also a premier stockcar venue regularly holding the World Championship).

At the time I was told by a someone in the know that the purchaser had clearly notdone due diligence. I was told that there was a clause in the deeds that stated the land could only be used for motor sports and it could be used 365 days a year INCLUDING CHRISTMAS DAY!.

Clearly what I was told was correct. Time and time again the local council ( Rugby) have turned down his building plans. Binley Woods is a wellheeled community and is much sort after. Some houses have been improved and now in the   plus million pound bracket.

An adjoining piece of ground to the stadium has in fact been developed into a new  ( premium) housing development.

The last two plans from the carpetbagger have even included a Speedway track in midst of the housing he wants to build.

And yet they have been dismissec by Rugby Council.

They have made it clear that they would rather have Speedway back and are bending over backwards to help the Speedway group to find a backer to facilitate it.

The latest is that a backing group and the Speedway group are in talks.

 

Thanks for the additional info and I hope that speedway can return at some point.

I only went there once but I did have a decent time.

[Derwent]

My 2nd favourite sport, but it is dying in the UK. Only 15 teams now, 6 in the Premiership and 9 in the Championship (8 next year when Workington quit the league), but half of the riders ride for a club in each league as there is a shortage. The UK clubs can't afford the stars of the sport from Poland etc these days. Poland is the place to be for speedway riders - the crowds at some clubs are higher than the top Polish football clubs. We do have 2 genuinely world class riders in Dan Bewley and Robert Lambert though, both in the top 5 in the world. Most UK teams are made up of British riders who aren't good enough to race in Poland, young Aussies who come over here to make a name for themselves in the hope of getting a move to Poland, and the odd aging top rank foreign rider who is topping up the pension fund.

[ivans82]

Back in the day we would watch Workington Comets ride at 1930 on a Friday , stay in the bar until 2300. Two coach loads of supporters would then head off to Canterbury for the meeting on Saturday . We would arrive in Canterbury 0700/0800 in the morning day out in the Town watch the Speedway , a few pints back to the Hotel . Leave Sunday morning after breakfast to go to Eastbourne to watch the Comets again , few pints back on the bus around 1900. Would arrive back in West Cumbria around 0800 just in time to get off the supporters bus , hop on to the service bus and go straight to work ........happy days !

[henage]

5 hours ago, ivans82 said:

Back in the day we would watch Workington Comets ride at 1930 on a Friday , stay in the bar until 2300. Two coach loads of supporters would then head off to Canterbury for the meeting on Saturday . We would arrive in Canterbury 0700/0800 in the morning day out in the Town watch the Speedway , a few pints back to the Hotel . Leave Sunday morning after breakfast to go to Eastbourne to watch the Comets again , few pints back on the bus around 1900. Would arrive back in West Cumbria around 0800 just in time to get off the supporters bus , hop on to the service bus and go straight to work ........happy days !

Hell , great effort 

[Gerrumonside ref]

I hope it can come again in the UK