Lythalls Lane Stadium was a

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

and

Motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

stadium in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

. It is sometimes referred to as Foleshill Stadium or Coventry Stadium but should not be confused with

Brandon Stadium Brandon Stadium, also known as Coventry Stadium, is located 6 miles east of Coventry in Brandon, Warwickshire, England. It was the home of the Coventry Bees motorcycle speedway team. It also hosted BriSCA F1 Stock Car Racing on the 1st Satur ...

Origins

In 1928 the Coventry Greyhounds Ltd constructed a greyhound and speedway stadium in the

Holbrooks Holbrooks is a residential area of Coventry, West Midlands, England. Most of the length of the four brooks which pass through the area are covered or culverted, one culvert is adjacent to the recently built housing on Watery Lane. Another broo ...

area of Coventry off Lythalls Lane,

Foleshill Foleshill is a suburb in the north of Coventry in the West Midlands of England. Longford, Courthouse Green and Rowley Green are to its north and Keresley is to its west. The population of the Ward at the 2011 census was 19,943. History Folesh ...

. Opening night was 7 April 1928; the track was a reasonable size and able to accommodate over 5,000 spectators. There was a large grandstand on the home straight and tote facilities right in front of the winning line.

History

Coventry Greyhound Stadium Lythalls Lane c

The track got off to an inauspicious start when the General and Racing Manager Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Nigel Fitzjohn committed suicide in the stadium offices in 1929. The 47-year old took a dose of prussic acid, a highly poisonous substance. Then in early 1933 the main stand caught fire and was destroyed. In 1938 the

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown P ...

was inaugurated at the track over 500 yards. Lythalls Lane was located in a mainly rural area during the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

which luckily resulted in minimal damage during the

Coventry Blitz The Coventry Blitz (blitz: from the German word ''Blitzkrieg'' meaning "lightning war" ) or Coventration of the city was a series of bombing raids that took place on the British city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Seco ...

in 1940 and 1941. Apart from the clubhouse that was burnt down the stadium fared well compared to the rest of Coventry. A year later Ballynennan Moon one of the sports great stars graced the circuit and duly won the Eclipse, the event had returned after a two-year break. After the war the Sanderson's (Alan and wife Hilda) acquired the freehold of the stadium, Alan Sanderson owned the luxury

Selsdon Park Hotel Selsdon Park Hotel is a luxury hotel located in Selsdon, London, England. It is housed in a country house. History Selsdon Park passed through several private owners until 1924 when Allan Doble Sanderson bought the house and the accompanying ...

built in the 1920s and was reputed to have bottomless pockets. In addition to the Lythalls Lane purchase was the nearby

that hosted the

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees were a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon near Coventry, England. History A Coventry team was first formed in 1928 and competed in the inaugural season of the Southern ...

speedway team. Sanderson was also a big speedway fan. The racing was very profitable as indicated by a tote turnover of £1,529,244 in 1947 and the track could attract the best greyhounds of the era. In the Invitation Stakes run at Coventry on 9 August 1945 Bah's Choice beat Quare Times by five lengths in a new track record with a time of 29.45sec. In 1946 Clare Orton (son of the great Sidney Orton) was recruited by the track. The company changed name in 1950 following the purchase of

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 ...

in Blackbird Road from Leicester Stadium Ltd. The new guise would be Midland Sports.

Achievements

The Sanderson's employed George McKay as their greyhound trainer considerable success. Duffys Arrival reached the final of the 1945

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 ...

losing out to Ballyhennessy Seal. Another of McKay's charges Robeen Printer won the

St Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a d ...

in 1945 and then went for the Oaks but had to settle for runners up spot to Prancing Kitty. Robeen Printer had arrived in England with a fine reputation following a victory in the Irish Laurels. The fawn was bought for record 1,650 guineas for a bitch by the Sanderson's. McKay would become Racing Manager at the track some years later. Success in the fifties came in the form of Drumman Rambler trained by Olly Chetland, the Coventry greyhound finished runner up in the 1952

final. Duke of Alva (Dicky Myles) claimed the St Leger title in 1957.

Closure

Midland Sports owned three

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

tracks and with competition for business this ultimately let to the demise of Lythalls Lane. An agreement was reached for the redevelopment of the site and planning permission was passed. The last meeting was held on 25 September 1964. Today there is a road called Stadium Close, the only reminder that a stadium existed beneath the housing on Compton Road.

Competitions

* The

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

Track records

References

{{Motorcycle speedway tracks Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Defunct speedway venues in England Sports venues in Coventry