Charles 'Charlie' Richard Lister OBE (born 1940) is a former English

greyhound trainer A greyhound trainer is a person who trains greyhounds for racing. This involves exercising, feeding, and grooming them in addition to keeping the greyhound in race condition to enable the greyhound to race to the best of its ability. History Befo ...

. He is a four times winner of the

Greyhound Trainer of the Year The Greyhound Trainer of the Year or Champion Trainer is an award for the leading greyhound trainer in the United Kingdom. It was inaugurated in 1961 and was originally elected by a press panel but is now awarded to the trainer who achieves the ...

and is regarded as one of the leading trainers of all time. He also holds the record for

English Greyhound Derby The English Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the British Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927. It was first held at White City Stadium, but moved to Wimbledon ...

wins with seven.

Early life

He was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and used to attend

coursing Coursing by humans is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight, but not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, t ...

with his father. He then owned some greyhounds with a trainer called Joe Booth who ran on the independent circuit, known as flapping (unregulated racing).

Career

After learning his trade on independent tracks he applied for a

National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom. History The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the r ...

C-licence. He was then gained a professional trainers licence and was awarded a contract at

Leicester Stadium Leicester Stadium was a sports stadium on Parker Drive in Leicester. The stadium was initially used for greyhound racing with motorcycle speedway starting there five years later. It was also a venue for BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars. Greyhound ...

Mick Wheble Michael John Wheble MBE (born 1949) is a retired Racing Manager, marketing executive, author and charity advocate. Career He held the senior role, that of a Greyhound Board of Great Britain licensed Racing Manager at Leicester Stadium and Coventr ...

. His first breakthroughs were with Swift Band, who won the 1981

East Anglian Derby The East Anglian derby is a sobriquet used to describe football matches held between Norwich City and Ipswich Town, the only fully professional football clubs in the neighbouring East Anglian counties of Norfolk and Suffolk respectively. In rece ...

and Glamour Hobo who finished runner up in the 1985

Scottish Greyhound Derby The Scottish Greyhound Derby was an original classic greyhound competition held at Shawfield Stadium. Held at Carntyne Stadium from 1928 to 1968, after the closure of Carntyne the race appeared at Shawfield from 1970 until 1985. In 1988 the Gre ...

. The first Classic race success came in the 1993

Cesarewitch The Cesarewitch Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newmarket over a distance of 2 miles and 2 furlongs (3,621 metres) ...

with Killenagh Dream at

Belle Vue Stadium Belle Vue Stadium was a greyhound racing track in Belle Vue, Manchester, England, where the first race around an oval track in Britain was held on 24 July 1926. It has also been used for motorcycle speedway, as the home ground of Elite League t ...

and a first Derby final appearance came one year later in the 1994 English Greyhound Derby. By 1996 Lister had become a leading trainer on the open race circuit and regularly won classic and major races. Training out of kennels in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, he steered Some Picture to victory in the final of the 1997 English Greyhound Derby and 1997 Scottish Derby. Lister became one of the most successful trainers in the sport after two more Derby wins with Rapid Ranger in the 2000 English Greyhound Derby and 2001 English Greyhound Derby. Farloe Verdict won the 2003 English Greyhound Derby and in 2010 Bandicoot Tipoki won the

2010 English Greyhound Derby The 2010 William Hill Greyhound Derby Final took place during April and May with the final being held on 29 May 2010 at Wimbledon Stadium. The competition was sponsored by William Hill following the end of the sponsorship deal with Blue Square. ...

to equal the record held by Leslie Reynolds. The following year

Taylors Sky Taylors Sky (born 1 March 2009) is a white and blue male Greyhound. He is owned by Steve and Becky Taylor and was trained by Charlie Lister. He won the English Greyhound Derby in 2011, and was named Britain's Greyhound of the Year in 2011, havi ...

was crowned champion and in the 2013

Sidaz Jack Sidaz Jack (born 8 June 2011) is a white and blue male greyhound. He was owned by Daren Johnson and Simon Wooder, and trained by Charlie Lister. He won the English Greyhound Derby in 2013. His father was two time English Greyhound Derby winner W ...

extended Lister's record to seven wins.

Retirement

Lister retired in September 2018, handing the kennels and licence to head man Chris Akers.

Awards

He has won the

four times, won the Trainers Championship six times. In 2011 he received an

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for services to Greyhound Racing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lister, Charlie Sportspeople from Yorkshire 1940 births Living people British greyhound racing trainers Officers of the Order of the British Empire