The Nottingham speedway team competed in the 1930s, with a home track on Trent Lane,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

.Bamford, Robert & Jarvis, John (2001) ''Homes of British Speedway'', Tempus, , p. 193-4Dalling, Philip (2007) ''Nottingham and Long Eaton Speedway'', Stadia, , p. 13-40, 49-65, 77-112

History

The track was first used in 1928, when the Nottingham Tornado Motorcycle Club put in a grass track but plans for greyhound racing had been discussed in early 1927 and the

Greyhound Racing Association The Greyhound Racing Association was a UK-based private company founded in 1925 and existed until 2019. It was involved in the management of sports venues, notably greyhound racing stadia. The GRA was responsible for introducing Greyhound racing ...

(GRA) ensured that they had a financial interest in the stadium. In 1929, a dirt track was laid down by the Olympic Speedway Ltd over the grass track and the stadium was known as the Olympic Grounds and open matches were held. A Nottingham team competed in the Southern League in 1930 and 1931 but finished last in the league table on both occasions. During the 1931 season the team had completed 20 fixtures before they withdrew form the league. In 1933, White City (Nottingham) Ltd constructed a new stadium known as the

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock ...

which included a new greyhound track and speedway circuit, replacing the original Olympic Grounds. The speedway team returned, competing in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

but finished last once again and did not return for the 1934 season. The team returned to the league in 1936, competing in the second tier called the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

finishing third. The following season was the most successful as they won both the Provincial League Trophy and Coronation Cup and finished third in the league. In 1938 the Provincial League became the National League Division Two; Nottingham started the season but withdrew after the final meeting to be held at Nottingham on 31 May 1938, with Leeds taking over the team's remaining fixtures. The team were nicknamed 'The Lacemen', and also briefly the 'Wasps'.

Notable riders

* Charlie Blacklock *

George Greenwood Sir Granville George Greenwood (3 January 1850 – 27 October 1928), usually known as George Greenwood or G. G. Greenwood, was a British lawyer, politician, cricketer, animal welfare reformer and energetic advocate of the Shakespeare authors ...

Nobby Key Walter Charles Key known as Nobby Key (1906–1941) was an international speedway rider from England. Speedway career Key earned the nickname 'Nobby' and came to prominence in 1929 when signing for the Wembley Lions. During the 1931 season, ...

* Billy Lamont *

Cliff Parkinson George Clifford Parkinson (1 February 1907 – 4 May 1993) was a motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned 17 international caps for the England national speedway team and 7 caps for the Great Britain team. Career Parkinson began h ...

Tommy Price Thomas Price (2 December 1911 – 26 December 1997) was a British speedway rider. In 1949 he won the first Speedway World Championship to be held after the Second World War.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Ch ...

Fred Strecker Frederick Strecker (1906–1976) was an international speedway rider from England. Speedway career In 1930, when riding for Nottingham Strecker represented England against Australia. In 1936, during the 1936 Provincial Speedway League seaso ...

Season summary

References

{{Reflist Defunct speedway teams in the United Kingdom Sport in Nottingham

History

Notable riders

Season summary

See also

References