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 BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars is a class of single-seater stock-car-racing in the UK with custom-built cars, with races conducted on walled oval tracks of either shale or tarmac of approximately a quarter-mile in length. The cars are of an open w ...

Greyhound racing

Origins & Opening

In 1923 the site chosen for Leicester Stadium was an area of land in north Leicester near the Blackbird Road. The exact location was on the north side of where the Parkers Drive met Somerset Avenue. Greyhound racing became extremely popular in the county of Leicestershire with tracks at

Aylestone Road Aylestone Road, now also known as the Leicester Electricity Sports Cricket Ground, is a cricket ground in Leicester, England, which was the headquarters of Leicestershire County Cricket Club from 1901 to 1939. Although the playing area is much r ...

in south Leicester and the nearby town of

Coalville Coalville is an industrial town in the district of North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England, with a population at the 2011 census of 34,575. It lies on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Tr ...

already hosting tracks that had opened in 1927. Leicester Stadium opened on Saturday 26 May 1928 with six heats of the Quorn Open sweepstakes and a hurdle race completing the seven race card. Eleven thousand spectators (including the Mayor Alderman J.Thomas) attended and watched Barley Leader become the first ever winner over 525 yards at odds of 4-7f. Trainers King, Hulme, Glover and Barton all picked up winners on that first night at the venue that was known at the time as 'The Stadium'. Speedway soon followed costing £30,000 to construct the dirt track inside the greyhound circuitBamford, Robert & Jarvis, John (2001) ''Homes of British Speedway'', Tempus, , p. 147-9 and the first speedway meeting on 6 September 1928, with sidecar racing also staged that year.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Pre-War Years'', Automedia, p. 10

History

Despite competition from further tracks opening in Leicestershire ( Syston 1931,

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughbo ...

1936 and

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...

1946) business remained strong with

totalisator A tote board (or totalisator/totalizator) is a numeric or alphanumeric display used to convey information, typically at a race track (to display the odds or payoffs for each horse) or at a telethon (to display the total amount donated to the chari ...

turnover in 1946 an impressive £1,605,830. The stadium was bought by Alan and Hilda Sanderson, owners of the two Coventry stadiums ( Lythalls Lane) and (

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

) in 1950 which resulted in a new company name of Midland Sports given to all of the tracks. Charles Ochiltree who had some shares in the company was made General Manager and racing was held on Thursday and Saturday evenings at 7.00pm. The hare was an 'Inside Sumner' with a track circumference of 467 yards. Facilities included a small self-service restaurant, three buffet bars and three licensed bars. In 1959 Harold Richards replaced O’Leary as Racing Manager before Dan McCormick and former trainer John Rowe were brought in as General and Racing Manager's respectively. Resident trainers in 1965 consisted of Peverell, McNally, Wales and Lea but it was the appointment of leading trainer Geoff DeMulder joined the track as a trainer that brought success to the track in 1967 after he won the Derby Consolation with Daybreak Again. A significant event called the Midland Grand Prix was inaugurated at the track and in 1973 George McKay who had been a Racing Manager died.

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 ...

formerly of

Harringay Harringay (pronounced ) is a district of north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is centred on the section of Green Lanes running between the New River, where it crosses Green Lanes by Finsbury Park, and Duckett' ...

and

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, includ ...

was made chief Racing Manager at Leicester and Coventry before Ochiltree received offers to sell the track.

Track records

Stock car racing

Stock car racing was first held in 1954 through to 1956, then held in 1962 and 1963. Racing finally returned in 1974 until the stadium closed in 1984.

Speedway

The stadium lent its name to the speedway team, known as 'Leicester Stadium', which competed in the

English Dirt Track League The Northern League was founded in 1929 when it was known as the English Dirt Track League, the earliest league (along with the Southern League) in speedway racing in the United Kingdom, comprising teams from Northern Britain. The addition of two ...

in 1929 and the Southern League from 1930. The speedway track was relaid before the 1932 season, but speedway only operated intermittently in the years that followed. Speedway returned to the stadium in 1949 with the

Leicester Hunters The Leicester Hunters were a motorcycle speedway team which operated from 1948 until 1962.Bamford, R & Jarvis J. (2001) ''Homes of British Speedway'', , p. 147-149 History Speedway had operated before the war at both Leicester Stadium and the ...

who continued there until 1962, after which the speedway promotion of the day moved to

Long Eaton Long Eaton is a town in the Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and some 8½ miles (13.7 km) south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It has ...

due to low attendances. A few meetings were staged in 1963, including the 'Pride of the Midlands' individual competition won by

Ove Fundin Ove Fundin (born 23 May 1933) is a Swedish former professional motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in the Speedway World Championships from 1951 to 1970. Fundin is notable for winning the Speedway World Champ ...

, but regular speedway did not return until 1968 when the Long Eaton operation transferred to Leicester, beginning the first era of the

Leicester Lions Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. The club returned to speedway for the 2011 Premier League season, moving up to the Elite League ...

Closure

In November 1983 it was announced that Midland Sports Stadiums Ltd had accepted a conditional offer for the Blackbird Road Stadium. Despite a failed bid in 1978 a second bid from Barratts Homes was accepted. The last meeting took place on 15 September 1984 with a greyhound called Spinning Top being the last winner.

References

{{Motorcycle speedway tracks Defunct speedway venues in England Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Sports venues in Leicester Defunct sports venues in Leicestershire