Syston Sports Stadium also known as Syston Greyhound Stadium was a
greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...
and
Motorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...
track located at Central Avenue and East Avenue, off the Melton Road in
Syston
Syston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. The population was 11,508 at the 2001 census, rising to 12,804 at the 2011 census.
Overview
There has been a settlement on the site for over 1,000 ...
,
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
.
Origins
The stadium was built in 1929 in just five weeks for the Leicester Super Speedway, on farm land surrounding Lodge Farm. It was located on the east side of East Avenue and the north side of Central Avenue (found at the far eastern end of Mostyn Avenue) which in turn was located off the main road called Melton Road. It should not be confused with the Syston Sports Ground which was located just yards to the north and also ran alongside East Avenue.
Speedway
The stadium was originally built for
speedway
Speedway may refer to:
Racing Race tracks
*Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida.
*Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta.
*Indianapolis Motor Spe ...
which was held in 1930 & 1931.
Greyhound Racing
The stadium opened to greyhound racing during 1931 and the racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the
National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom
Greyhound racing is a sport in the United Kingdom. The industry uses a parimutuel betting tote system with on-course and off-course be ...
).
Racing was held on Thursday and Saturday evenings with trial days on Tuesday afternoons.
Other uses
The venue was used for
trotting by the Morton Grange Sporting Club during 1958.
Closure
The stadium closed during the 1960s, replaced by housing on Mowbray Drive. The Sports ground located on the north side of the stadium also closed and became the housing on Belvoir Road.
References
{{Motorcycle speedway tracks
Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom
Defunct speedway venues in England
Defunct sports venues in Leicestershire