Wolves 2023

[noaksey]

Is Hednesford raceway still there? Any chance of fitting a speedway track in there? Any housing nearby?

[IainB]

Petition to sign here:

https://chng.it/dXKJYnjdnD

[poole keith]

1 hour ago, Skidder1 said:

As greyhound racing has apparently 'evolved since covid' maybe that message could be filtered down to Gaming International at Poole so that they could reintroduce it as part of their lease agreement  with the Council who own Poole  Stadium?

Would never be enough greyhounds available to reintroduce racing skids,also it was previously the worst run greyhound track in the country and the major betting companies would be very wary of getting involved with poole dogs again

[mikebv]

50 minutes ago, Littleze said:

The reduction of fans is the Sport’s/Promoters fault. For a sport/race  that is over in a minute/15 of racing… they sure make it complicated.

let’s be honest, you need to put a dirt track in a muddy field…. No one is looking to build a *Wembley..  I know access is needed & hoops to jump through… but still.

If you can’t make a noisy, dirty, fast, dangerous, colourful Sport a relative success, then I’d say there is little hope. I mean Darts for gods sake!!

Plus, until they sort the covering of tracks, who in their right mind will travel long or even short distances to attend when it is at the mercy of the weather and riders.

 

 

There is no dount that if every track had just 5,000 (out of sometimes millions of people on their doorstep), and took circa £100,000 a match, 20 times a season, then they could pay a couple of hundred grand to the landlords per season which I am sure would be seen as something worthwhile to continue by said landlords..

The reality is that collectively the custodians have simply not been fit for purpose in putting the sport first before any self interest, and have never marketed the sport in any way shape or form professionally enough. Instead they have seen standing in a foyer of a supermarket with a table, or leaflet dropping car windscreens in car parks, as "promotion"..

Yet they have spent literally tens of millions on riders over the past couple of decades in particular...

And all to have what we have today...

Mind boggling..

Best wishes to Wolves fans..

Who is next? 

[Piotr Pyszny]

37 minutes ago, noaksey said:

Is Hednesford raceway still there? Any chance of fitting a speedway track in there? Any housing nearby?

It is still there. Been a few years since I went but a memory-refreshing glance at Google's satellite map indicates there isn't space for a speedway track. Houses nearby, as well, to the south and to the east.

[noaksey]

3 minutes ago, Piotr Pyszny said:

It is still there. Been a few years since I went but a memory-refreshing glance at Google's satellite map indicates there isn't space for a speedway track. Houses nearby, as well, to the south and to the east.

Cheers. I recall it being a tarmac track but nothing else 

[M.D]

You've got to feel for Wolves fans, management and UK speedway.

My club Eastbourne is currently gone with the only hope to find an area to build a new stadium/track to race in..

The sport and many clubs are finding really hard times for various reasons, the only hope I have is the sport is so on its knees that we may see a massive reset..

We all live in hope because fundamentally it could be a good product.

[emilali]

Another sad day for the sport in this country. Fingers crossed a new stadium can be found and Wolves aren’t another lost club.

[25yearfan]

Surely Wolverhampton Council can make strong representations on this matter?

[bellevueace]

Terrible news but with greyhounds also in decline and most bets being online now instead of punters going to the track could this be to sell off the site for commercial use? I really hope this doesnt happen, if this goes ahead with Peterborough also under threat i think the sports had it in this country.

[SteveLyric2]

4 hours ago, poole keith said:

Would never be enough greyhounds available to reintroduce racing skids,also it was previously the worst run greyhound track in the country and the major betting companies would be very wary of getting involved with poole dogs again

At the time the GI statement said that Poole dogs and trainers would be going to Swindon where they are still operating under GI (presumably successfully) despite the drawn out saga of whether speedway could still operate?!

[JoeW436]

After receiving the news today I hope your team don’t put the white flag up on track like mine has tonight for the rest of the year 

[rjsj9803]

8 hours ago, HGould said:

Wolverhampton race track has Housing that surrounds it. 

Better chance may be old Chasewater site or old Norton Canes dog track site but they may be developed now too. 

Norton Canes is now flat having been a small garden center, dozen or so houses on one side, never any parking even before though, Chasewater just 1/4 mile from there would have been an option, but 50 years of living here its just a shell of what it was.

Chasewater circa 1977 had a go kart track, Scramble track, regularly held European power boating events, amusements, cafes, 2 boating pools and visited by 1000s every weekend. 

Hours spent riding old slackheaps on crossers after school.

Chasewater 2023 everything above gone replaced by a few craft shops and the unused M6 toll road.

There was a one off Longtrack meeting in 1977 on the mile trotting oval there, that was demolished 30 years back but the oval is still on google  unused, massive area, easily park for 1000s but it was never done.

3 councils border it and dispute rights, years of fighting and neglect nothing ever got done until M6 money rolled in by the bucket.

 

 

[poole keith]

8 hours ago, Skidder1 said:

At the time the GI statement said that Poole dogs and trainers would be going to Swindon where they are still operating under GI (presumably successfully) despite the drawn out saga of whether speedway could still operate?!

Not quite skids,at the time poole trainers were invited to apply to race at Swindon only a few ended up there,of those, 2 reasonable size ones are left and few small ones,3 race at Oxford  and a couple at Brighton, point im making is that all these ex poole trainers between them  would only have around 150 dogs,these days with tracks running up to 6 meetings per wk to meet live streaming contracts (if poole would ever get one) an absolute minimum of 400 dogs is reqd,so i dont believe greyhounds will ever return to run alongside speedway and make the stadium viable 

 

 

 

[HGould]

8 hours ago, rjsj9803 said:

Norton Canes is now flat having been a small garden center, dozen or so houses on one side, never any parking even before though, Chasewater just 1/4 mile from there would have been an option, but 50 years of living here its just a shell of what it was.

Chasewater circa 1977 had a go kart track, Scramble track, regularly held European power boating events, amusements, cafes, 2 boating pools and visited by 1000s every weekend. 

Hours spent riding old slackheaps on crossers after school.

Chasewater 2023 everything above gone replaced by a few craft shops and the unused M6 toll road.

There was a one off Longtrack meeting in 1977 on the mile trotting oval there, that was demolished 30 years back but the oval is still on google  unused, massive area, easily park for 1000s but it was never done.

3 councils border it and dispute rights, years of fighting and neglect nothing ever got done until M6 money rolled in by the bucket.

 

 

Thanks for the update.

I have driven down A5 past there many times and its accessibility to Motorway Network always intrigued me.

I remember the Long Track at Chasewater and Norton Canes was mentioned a few times as an option when the Dogs ran there and as you say they are either side of the A5, I guess may be Brownhills is the nearest sizable  Town or is it closer to Cannock?

I suppose you could say its 30 mins away from some decent population areas but also 15 mins away from nowwhere and in the middle of nowhere in terms of the Local Councils (guessing Cannock / Walsall / Lichfield ??)

 

 

[SteveLyric2]

59 minutes ago, poole keith said:

Not quite skids,at the time poole trainers were invited to apply to race at Swindon only a few ended up there,of those, 2 reasonable size ones are left and few small ones,3 race at Oxford  and a couple at Brighton, point im making is that all these ex poole trainers between them  would only have around 150 dogs,these days with tracks running up to 6 meetings per wk to meet live streaming contracts (if poole would ever get one) an absolute minimum of 400 dogs is reqd,so i dont believe greyhounds will ever return to run alongside speedway and make the stadium viable 

 

 

 

OK I take the point. Your greyhound knowledge is far greater than mine. My point was that Swindon dogs is still run by GI who ran Poole and who you said were the worst operators!

Edited April 18, 2023 by Skidder1

[heathen52]

9 hours ago, rjsj9803 said:

Norton Canes is now flat having been a small garden center, dozen or so houses on one side, never any parking even before though, Chasewater just 1/4 mile from there would have been an option, but 50 years of living here its just a shell of what it was.

Chasewater circa 1977 had a go kart track, Scramble track, regularly held European power boating events, amusements, cafes, 2 boating pools and visited by 1000s every weekend. 

Hours spent riding old slackheaps on crossers after school.

Chasewater 2023 everything above gone replaced by a few craft shops and the unused M6 toll road.

There was a one off Longtrack meeting in 1977 on the mile trotting oval there, that was demolished 30 years back but the oval is still on google  unused, massive area, easily park for 1000s but it was never done.

3 councils border it and dispute rights, years of fighting and neglect nothing ever got done until M6 money rolled in by the bucket.

 

 

A pretty good summary of what was and where we are now, except I think the old Norton Cannes greyhound stadium has been pretty much built all over, I think the biggest stumbling block has always been who actually owns the Chasewater site ?, and secondly on the borders of three different Councils, I actually think Chasewater could be a goer if ownership could be established.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chasewater+Railway+-+(Brownhills+West,+Station)/@52.6585993,-1.938304,549m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x4870a0f593bb74c7:0x4362b64655aeadec!8m2!3d52.6627769!4d-1.9528404!16zL20vMDNiem5w

 

 Thats the outline of the old Trotting Track, Long Track that was held there years ago, and I can still see the outline of the Greyhound Track, which gives you an idea of how big the whole site is.

Edited April 18, 2023 by heathen52

[poole keith]

1 hour ago, Skidder1 said:

OK I take the point. Your greyhound knowledge is far greater than mine. My point was that Swindon dogs is still run by GI who ran Poole and who you said were the worst operators!

No i said poole was the worst run dog track.In the interest of other forum members sanity im imposing  a 28 day ban on myself from posting about the dogs

[False dawn]

1 minute ago, poole keith said:

.....In the interest of other forum members sanity I'm imposing  a 28 day ban on myself from posting about the dogs

So "You've gone to the dogs" then? 

[hammer1969]

Just signed, hope this petition can get to 10,000 signatures, or more, its heartbreaking how many clubs are closing down.

https://www.change.org/p/save-wolverhampton-speedway?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_36020737_en-GB%3A10&recruited_by_id=5cc79e10-dd33-11ed-9a3a-4bf3bc3917f9&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=share_for_starters_page&share_bandit_exp=initial-36020737-en-GB