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Great Yarmouth/norfolk


Richspeedway

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I was thinking last night back from when I was a kid and used to go to Great Yarmouth on holiday. We used to go to the stadium their and see the banger racing or sometimes the greyhound racing. Back then I did not know what speedway racing was let alone that it was staged their years ago.

 

I wondered if efforts have been done to try and get the sport back in Yarmouth or around the local area as the holiday season would help boost the crowds and also possible Norwich fans would have a team to cheer on again?

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More than a few prospective persons have looked at the Caister road stadium in Great Yarmouth which last staged speedway in 1961.

 

The main problem with speedway returning to the stadium is that the stock cars are run by the spedeworth promotion who don't like running cars on shale tracks. The Franklin family who have ran and owned stadium since it started just after the war are not against speedway returning but stock cars attract very good crowds. An example of how highly the Franklin family regard speedway is that when the new restaurant/executive suite opened former Yarmouth Bloaters rider and Norwich Stars legend Billy Bales was invited to the opening ceremony!

 

Personnally as someone who witnessed speedway at Great Yarmouth, I think that in modern times National League racing could attract viable crowds to Yarmouth but fixtures would have to be planned carefully because it was always a struggle to attract crowds out of the holiday period much in the same way as IOW speedway get good crowds in the summer seasons but very poor ones outside of the holiday period.

 

I think the only chance of speedway coming to Yarmouth is if someone would build a track in the large North car park at the stadium or on some of the spare land on Yarmouth racecourse just down the road!

Edited by 25yearfan
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  • 7 years later...
On 6/10/2012 at 10:33 PM, 25yearfan said:

More than a few prospective persons have looked at the Caister road stadium in Great Yarmouth which last staged speedway in 1961.

 

The main problem with speedway returning to the stadium is that the stock cars are run by the spedeworth promotion who don't like running cars on shale tracks. The Franklin family who have ran and owned stadium since it started just after the war are not against speedway returning but stock cars attract very good crowds. An example of how highly the Franklin family regard speedway is that when the new restaurant/executive suite opened former Yarmouth Bloaters rider and Norwich Stars legend Billy Bales was invited to the opening ceremony!

 

Personnally as someone who witnessed speedway at Great Yarmouth, I think that in modern times National League racing could attract viable crowds to Yarmouth but fixtures would have to be cared carefully because it was always a struggle to attract crowds out of the holiday period much in the same way as IOW speedway get good crowd in the summer seasons but very poor ones outside of the holiday period.

 

I think the only chance of speedway coming to Yarmouth is if someone would build a track in the large North car park at the stadium or on some of the spare land on Yarmouth racecourse just down the road!

I think Spedeworth attitudes to shale trackshave changed after the years since the quote was posted. They have converted the Brafield/Norttampton track to shale in recent years - SO I HAVE BEEN ADVISED.

Edited by Guest
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  • 3 weeks later...

Yes you are correct, Brafield raceway near Northampton (which last staged speedway in the late 60's) was converted to shale last season.

 

Could a Northampton Rhinos speedway team be a viable propersition at Brafield?

 

As for Yarmouth stadium, its still going strong up to date including reopening during this virus lockdown spell for behind closed doors greyhound meetings. I still maintain that speedway in Yarmouth during the months of June to early September could be viable cause stock car racing draws decent crowds to the venue during the summer months even though the number of entrants can be low due to the midweek nature of the racenights.  

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On 5/25/2020 at 10:18 PM, gustix said:

I think Spedeworth attitudes to shale trackshave changed after the years since the quote was posted. They have converted the Bradfield/Norttampton track to shale in recent years - SO I HAVE BEEN ADVISED.

Incar decided to shale the track.

 

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Running a reopened Great Yarmouth speedway in the National League would be the only way to have any chance of the venture being financially viable cause holiday makers would boost attendances if the meetings were advertised and relying on an area that hasn't staged speedway since 1961 to provide a reasonable hardcore of regular fans would be optimistic to say the least.

 

This is considering that when Yarmouth last staged speedway from the late 40's to 1961 they struggled for crowds outside of the holiday period in an era when crowds were much larger than those of modern times!

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On 6/28/2020 at 11:20 PM, stevehone said:

needs to be run very much along the lines of IOW and the holiday makers they target

Ironic that they got kicked out league prior to the 1954 season because they only wanted to run during the holiday season. Went there for my first ever meeting in 1961, their last season, while on holiday.  I remember there was a big crowd watching. I'm sure it would be viable if they could ever get the stadium owners to agree.

E

 

Edited by HertsRacer
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World class riders like Craven, Briggs and Fundin used to race at Yarmouth mainly in the open licence years and produced good racing.

 

Likewise Lakeside, Armadale and Newcastle are three of the more awkward shaped tracks of recent years and all have produced good racing!

 

Indeed the awkward shape of the Great Yarmouth track would be beneficial at National League level cause the requirement to turn sharp into the corners would help to improve up and coming riders skill levels much in the same way as Buxton did for many years!   

 

 

Edited by 25yearfan
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On 7/5/2020 at 12:38 PM, BangerBoy said:

based on that theory all clubs within greyhounds are doomed 

Thats not a theory its a fact.. Peterborough greyhounds closed, Belle Vue greyhounds closed, Poole greyhounds yet to resume since the start back, thats all within the last month, Yarmouth are existing on i believe 2 streamed meetings per week at reduced fees, Towcester just re-opened 1 or maybe 2 meetings per week, how long can Greyhound Trainers and Owners exist on reduced income ?, so when you say theory no its facts.. Bookie owned tracks such as Monmore, Romford, Hove, Crayford are doing fine, its a few others such as who i mentioned that are really struggling big time.. luckily i think those that stage Speedway are not amongst them except for Poole.. 

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