Hyde Road Stadium, in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

, often referred to as Belle Vue was the home of the

Belle Vue Aces 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 ...

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. BelleVueSpeedway

History

Part of the complex of buildings and attractions that formed

Belle Vue Zoological Gardens Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was a large zoo, amusement park, exhibition hall complex and speedway stadium in Belle Vue, Manchester, England, opened in 1836. The brainchild of John Jennison, the gardens were initially intended to be an entert ...

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 Ardwick is a district of Manchester in North West England, one mile south east of the city centre. The population of the Ardwick Ward at the 2011 census was 19,250. Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth century Ardwick had grown f ...

and runs east towards Hyde. At the boundary between Gorton and Denton it continues as Manchester Road. In 1928 the owners of the gardens decided to convert the stadium for use as a speedway venue. 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 Coventry Bees were a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon near Coventry, England. History A Coventry team was first formed in 1928 and competed in the inaugural season of the Souther ...

in a replay of the League Cup before losing to the

Cradley Heath Heathens Cradley Heathens was a motorcycle speedway team from Dudley, England. The team was founded in 1947 and competed at the top level of British speedway until its closure in 1995. It was revived as Dudley Heathens in 2010, competing in the National L ...

in the final league match ever raced at Hyde Road. 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 Peter Theodore Craven
, fansite biography by Jim Blanchard. (accessed 12 July 2006). (21 June 1934 – 2 ...

Ronnie Moore Ronald David Moore (born 29 January 1953) is an English football manager and former player. He has taken charge of several clubs including Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United. He played for many different clubs in a car ...

, Ove Fundin,

Barry Briggs Barry Briggs (born 30 December 1934) is a New Zealand former speedway rider. Career He won the World Individual Championship title four times – in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedw ...

Ivan Mauger Ivan Gerald Mauger (4 October 1939 – 16 April 2018) 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 o ...

, Ole Olsen, Peter Collins, Anders Michanek,

Egon Müller Egon Müller (born 26 November 1948 in Kiel, Germany) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider and was winner of the Speedway World Championship in 1983, winning the title in his homeland with a maximum score of 15 points. Career M ...

, Michael Lee,

Bruce Penhall Bruce Lee Penhall (born May 10, 1957) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway racer who later starred in television and in film. He was the World Speedway Champion in 1981 and 1982 and rode for the successful Cradley Heath Heath ...

, Erik Gundersen, and

Hans Nielsen Hans Nielsen may refer to: * Hans Nielsen (American football) (born 1952), Denmark football player * Hans Nielsen (composer) (1580–1626), Danish madrigal composer at the court of Christian IV * Hans Nielsen (actor) (1911–1965), German actor * H ...

. The speedway at Hyde Road was 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

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

- Sweden ( Anders Michanek /

Sören Sjösten Sören Willy Ernfrid Sjösten (born 12 December 1938, Krylbo, Sweden, died 1999) was a motorcycle speedway rider. He won the world pairs championship in 1974 with Anders Michanek and became world team champion three times representing Swede ...

) - 28pts *

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

( Peter Collins / Malcolm Simmons) - 28pts

Other sports use

Several other sports used the ground including amateur soccer club, Manchester Central F.C.,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

, and the

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

where

Broughton Rangers Broughton Rangers were one of the twenty-one rugby clubs which met at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, in 1895 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. They were originally based in Broughton, Salford, but in 1933 moved to Gorton, Manchester ...

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.

References

External links

Bellevue Stadium
{{Coord, 53, 27, 50, N, 2, 11, 41, W, region:GB-LND_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Defunct sports venues in Manchester Defunct speedway venues in England Demolished buildings and structures in Manchester Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom Sports venues completed in 1928 Sports venues demolished in 1987 1928 establishments in England 1987 disestablishments in England