Hyde Road (speedway)

Last updated

Hyde Road Stadium, in Manchester, England, often referred to as Belle Vue was the home of the Belle Vue Aces speedway team. The stadium's capacity was 40,000 and it was built in 1928 and used until demolished in 1987. It was claimed, incorrectly, to have been the first purpose-built speedway track in Britain. [1]

Contents

Belle Vue Aces in 1963 BelleVueSpeedway.jpg
Belle Vue Aces in 1963

History

Part of the complex of buildings and attractions that formed Belle Vue Zoological Gardens the Hyde Road stadium was originally constructed in 1886, as an athletics ground. It was named after Hyde Road, a road which begins at the east end of Ardwick Green South in Ardwick and runs east towards Hyde. At the boundary between Gorton and Denton it continues as Manchester Road. [2]

In 1928, the owners of the gardens decided to convert the stadium for use as a speedway venue. It was already used at that time as a football ground for the Manchester Central F.C. [3] The opening speedway meeting here was staged on 23 March 1929, when Arthur Franklyn won the Golden Helmet. Following the announcement that Stuart Bamforth had sold the stadium for redevelopment, the last speedway meeting was staged on 1 November 1987, when a double header took place. Firstly, Belle Vue defeated the Coventry Bees in a replay of the League Cup before losing to the Cradley Heath Heathens in the final league match ever raced at Hyde Road. [4] Speedway returned to Belle Vue Greyhound stadium and remained there.

Some of the more famous riders who rode at Hyde Road, either for international meetings, as a Belle Vue Ace, or as a visiting team rider include Speedway World Champions Jack Young, Peter Craven, Ronnie Moore, Ove Fundin, Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger, Ole Olsen, Peter Collins, Anders Michanek, Egon Müller, Michael Lee, Bruce Penhall, Erik Gundersen, and Hans Nielsen.

The speedway at Hyde Road was 382 metres (418 yards) in length.

The site of the old Hyde Road stadium is now the site of the British Car Auctions Ltd.

Speedway World Finals

Hyde Road hosted the Final of the World Pairs Championship in 1974 and 1977.

World Pairs Championship

Other sports use

Several other sports used the ground including amateur soccer club, Manchester Central F.C., baseball, [5] and the rugby league where Broughton Rangers crossed from Salford to play at Belle Vue from 1933 until the club's demise in 1955 having renamed as Belle Vue Rangers in 1946. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belle Vue Aces</span> British motorcycle speedway team

The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 13 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, with home matches usually taking place on Monday evenings. They also run a second team in the National Development League, known as the Belle Vue Colts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Collins (speedway rider)</span> British world champion motorcycle speedway rider

Peter Spencer Collins MBE is a former speedway rider who spent his whole career (1971–1986) with the Belle Vue Aces, the team he supported as a child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Morton</span> English motorcycle speedway rider (born 1956)

Christopher John Morton, MBE is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned 115 international caps for the England national speedway team and 7 caps for the Great Britain team, making him the third most capped England & British rider of all-time.

The Belle Vue Colts are the junior youth development team of the Belle Vue Aces, one of the World's most famous motorcycle speedway team, based in Manchester in the northwest of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Craven</span>

Peter Theodore Craven was an English motorcycle racer. He was a finalist in each FIM Speedway World Championship from 1954 to 1963 and he won the title twice. He was British Champion in 1962 and 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Mauger</span> New Zealand speedway rider (1939–2018)

Ivan Gerald Mauger was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships (Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Championships by Tony Rickardsson of Sweden who won one World Final and five GP Championships. Mauger rode for several British teams – Wimbledon Dons, Newcastle Diamonds, Belle Vue Aces, Exeter Falcons and the Hull Vikings. In 2010, Mauger was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Crump</span> Australian speedway rider

Philip John Crump in Mildura, Victoria is a former Motorcycle speedway rider from Australia who attained third place in the 1976 World Championship. He also won the 1976 Speedway World Team Cup with Australia in the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anders Michanek</span> Swedish speedway rider

Anders Michanek is a Speedway rider. In 1974 he won the Speedway World Championship in his Swedish homeland with a maximum score of 15 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sören Sjösten</span> Swedish speedway rider

Sören Willy Ernfrid Sjösten was a motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden.

The 1970 British League season was the 36th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the sixth season known as the British League.

The 1971 British League season was the 37th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the seventh season known as the British League.

The 1972 British League season was the 38th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the eighth season of the British League.

The 1973 British League season was the 39th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the ninth season of the British League.

The 1975 Gulf Oil British League season was the 41st season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 11th season known as the British League.

The 1936 National League Division One was the eighth season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

The 1946 National League was the 12th season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain and the first post-war season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernt Persson</span> Swedish speedway rider (1946–2020)

Bernt Eveart Persson was a Swedish international motorcycle speedway rider.

The 1982 British League season was the 48th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 18th known as the British League.

The 1963 National League was the 29th season and the eighteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

The 1974 Speedway World Pairs Championship was the fifth official FIM Speedway World Pairs Championship. The final took place at the Hyde Road Speedway in Belle Vue, Manchester, England. The championship was won by Sweden from Australia and New Zealand. Host nation England, represented by Peter Collins and Dave Jessup, finished 4th with 21 points.

References

  1. ↑ Huggins, Mike; Williams, Jack (2005). Sport and the English, 1918-1939 . Routledge. p.  67. ISBN   978-0415331845.
  2. ↑ Geographia Manchester Colour Map. London: Geographia, 1986 ISBN   0-09-218190-2
  3. ↑ "Belle Vue's Big Coup" . Athletic News. 25 March 1929. Retrieved 14 April 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "History Hyde Road". Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  5. ↑ Huggins, Mike; Williams, Jack (2005). Sport and the English, 1918-1939 . Routledge. p.  64. ISBN   978-0415331845.
  6. ↑ Cronin, Jill; Rhodes, Frank (1999). Belle Vue. Tempus. p. 120. ISBN   0-7524-1571-9.

53°27′50″N2°11′41″W / 53.46389°N 2.19472°W / 53.46389; -2.19472

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.