| New Cross Rangers | |||||
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| Club information | |||||
| Track address | New Cross Stadium Hornshay Street Old Kent Road London | ||||
| Country | England | ||||
| Founded | 1934 | ||||
| Closed | 1963 | ||||
| Club facts | |||||
| Colours | Orange and black | ||||
| Track size | 262 yards (240 m) (1934-53) 278 yards (254 m) (1959-63) | ||||
| Major team honours | |||||
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The New Cross Rangers were a motorcycle speedway team which operated from 1934 until their closure in 1953. They also rode as the New Cross Lambs from 1934 to 1935 and then the New Cross Tamers in 1936. [1] [2] The team were League Champions in 1938 and 1948. [3] [4]
The team started when promoter Fred Mockford relocated his Crystal Palace team at the end of the 1933 season. Originally known as the New Cross Lambs from 1934 to 1935 and then the New Cross Tamers in 1936. [5] In 1935 Tom Farndon was killed after crashing at the stadium [6] [7] and in 1937, New Cross Rangers rider Jack Milne from America won the second ever Speedway World Championship.
New Cross Stadium was used as a film set for some of the action and crowd scenes for the 1949 film "Once a Jolly Swagman" which starred Dirk Bogarde.
Before The track reopened in 1959 under Johnnie Hoskins for a series of open meetings and then in 1960 and 1961 operated in the National League. After closing at the end of the 1961 season they re-opened again under Pete Lansdale and Wally Mawdsley in the Provincial League in 1963, but had to close down before completing the season. . [5] [8] The track was often referred to as 'The Frying Pan'. It was built inside the greyhound track and had banking all the way round. [9]
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Roger Frogley was a pioneering British motorcycle speedway rider. He earned three international caps for the England national speedway team and was the 1929 Star Riders' Champion.
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New Cross Stadium, Hornshay Street, Old Kent Road, in South East London was opened in the early 1900s as an athletic stadium but was mainly used for greyhound racing and speedway. The ground was adjacent to The Old Den, the then home of Millwall F.C. and was used as a training ground by the club when they did not have facilities of their own. The track was often referred to as 'The Frying Pan'. It was built inside the greyhound track and had banking all the way round. At the time of its closure in 1969 the stadium had a capacity of 26,000. The stadium was demolished in 1975.
William Mowbray Longley was an Australian international speedway rider who began his British career with the New Cross Rangers in 1937, where he remained until the outbreak of World War II, winning the National League Championship in 1938.
The 1935 National League Division One was the seventh season of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.
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Geoffrey Pymar was an international motorcycle speedway rider who rode in the World Championship final in 1938. He earned 12 international caps for the England national speedway team.
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The 1935 Star Riders' Championship was decided over twenty heats, and the rider with the highest total score was crowned as champion. Tom Farndon and Ron Johnson did not take part after crashing the night before at the New Cross Stadium, an accident that cost Farndon his life the day after the final. Geoff Pymar and Norman Parker replaced them.
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Colin Watson was a successful British motorcycle speedway rider from the sport's early years in the late 1920s and 1930s. He earned nine international caps for the England national speedway team.
Norman Evans was an international motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned one international cap for the England national speedway team.
