Aldershot Shots also known later as Aldershot Poppies were a
speedway
Speedway may refer to:
Racing Race tracks
*Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta
*Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana
Types of races and race cours ...
team that existed from 1950 to 1960, they were based primarily at
Aldershot Stadium in
Tongham
Tongham is a village northeast of the town of Farnham in Surrey, England. The village's buildings occupy most of the west of the civil parish, adjoining the A31 and the A331. The boundaries take in Poyle Park in the east and the replacement to ...
, near
Farnham
Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...
.
Brief history
In 1929, eight meetings were held at Boxalls Lane before the sport was introduced to the Tongham track in 1950. They first competed in the
National League Division Three in 1950 and were based at
Aldershot Stadium, where the team finished the season in fifth place. In 1951, the finished slightly better in third place. The star of the 1950 and 1951 team was
Trevor Redmond
Trevor John Redmond (16 June 1927 – 17 September 1997)Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2003) ''Bristol Bulldogs: 50 Greats'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. was a New Zealand speedway rider who mainly rode for the Aldershot Shots, and the Wembley Lio ...
while his fellow Kiwi
Geoff Mardon was also a star man.
In 1952, the third division was replaced by the
Southern League and Aldershot finished 7th. In 1953, the stadium was used for open meetings.
A team called the
California Poppies
California Poppies were a British speedway team based at Longmoor Speedway California in England, California Country Park, Nr Wokingham, Berkshire.
History
The California Poppies raced in the California Country Park in an area known as Califor ...
moved to Aldershot in 1957 and were renamed the Aldershot Poppies. The team competed in the
1957 Southern Area League, Aldershot reverted back to the name Shots and had one more season of league racing in 1959.
In 1960, after a short season of open meetings, the track closed.
[Pavey,A. (2004) ''Speedway in the North-West'', Tempus Publishing Ltd. ]
Season summary
See also
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References
{{Reflist
Defunct speedway teams in the United Kingdom
Sport in Aldershot