Brandon Stadium
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Coventry_Stadium_-_geograph.org.uk_-_37694.jpg/300px-Coventry_Stadium_-_geograph.org.uk_-_37694.jpg)
Brandon Stadium,also known asCoventry Stadium,is located 6 miles east of Coventry inBrandon,Warwickshire,England.[1]It was the home of theCoventry Beesmotorcycle speedwayteam.[2]It also hostedBriSCA F1 Stock Car Racingon the 1st Saturday of the month from April through to November.[3]From 1978 until early 2016 it intermittently hostedgreyhound racing.As of 2023, it is closed and has become dilapidated after several fires, including an arson attack in 2022.[4][5]
Speedway
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Brandon-Coventry_Stadium_-_geograph.org.uk_-_791731.jpg/220px-Brandon-Coventry_Stadium_-_geograph.org.uk_-_791731.jpg)
History
[edit]Brandon Stadium's first speedway meeting took place on 29 September 1928. The track was owned by Midland Sports Stadiums (who also owned Leicester Speedway) and Charles Ochiltree promoted the Speedway and Stock Car Racing until his death in 1998. His son Martin then carried on promoting duties until the stadium was sold to Avtar Sandhu in 2003. The stadium's capacity is approximately 12,500. The record attendance for Brandon stands at 24,000, and was set during a speedway meeting, the Brandonapolis of 1954 on a Thursday night, where they locked the gates and were turning away buses.[citation needed]
The shale speedway track, which is inside the dog track is 301 metres (329 yards) in length while the greyhound track is 409 metres (447 yards) in length.
Brandon Stadium has been a popular stop for many high-profile speedway events in its lifetime. Under the old format of theSpeedway World Championshipevents including theBritish Speedway Championship,the Commonwealth and Overseas finals as well as hosting the1998,1999and2000Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain.The 'Brandonapolis' was an annual event at which featured some of the world's best speedway riders. It was postponed in 2011, due to a dispute with the BSPA.[citation needed]
In1991,Brandon Stadium staged theUnder-21 World Championshipfinal which was won by Denmark'sBrian Andersen.The stadium also hosted the lastSpeedway World Team CupFinal in2000(won bySweden) after having previously held the final in1993won by theUnited States.
Speedway World Finals
[edit]World Team Cup
[edit]- 1993–
United States(Sam Ermolenko/Billy Hamill/Greg Hancock/Josh Larsen/Bobby Ott) – 40pts
- 2000–
Sweden(Tony Rickardsson/Peter Karlsson/Henrik Gustafsson/Mikael Karlsson/Niklas Klingberg) – 40pts
Individual Under-21 World Championship
[edit]- 1991–
Brian Andersen– 14+3pts
Speedway Grand Prix
[edit]- 1998 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain–
Jason Crump
- 1999 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain–
Tony Rickardsson
- 2000 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain–
Martin Dugard
Sidecar speedway
[edit]Sidecar speedway was a regular feature at Brandon Stadium with both team and individual meetings taking place. The most prestigious meeting was the Gold Trophy, Sidecars World Cup in 2010 and the British Open Championship from 1996 to 1999.[citation needed]
Gold Trophy
[edit]British Open Championship
[edit]- 1996 British Open Championship –
Roger Measor & Shane Lapham
- 1997 British Open Championship –
Roger Measor & Shane Lapham
- 1998 British Open Championship –
Paul Pinfold & Lisa Pinfold
- 1997 British Open Championship –
John Halsey & Jason Glenie
Stock car racing
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Brandon_Stadium_Coventry_Heritage_Stock_Cars_2014.jpg/300px-Brandon_Stadium_Coventry_Heritage_Stock_Cars_2014.jpg)
The speedway track was also used forBriSCA F1 Stock Cars,having raced here continuously since 1954. The first meeting was held on 30 June, the first heat being won by Percy 'Hellcat' Brine, he also won the meeting Final. TheBriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars World Championshiphas been held here many times since 1960. The track was also used forBriSCA Formula 2 Stock Cars,V8 Hotstox,and various other forms of oval Motorsport including Bangers, Saloon Stock Cars, Ministox and Sprint Cars.[citation needed]
Greyhound racing
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Coventry_Brandon_greyhound_track_c.1980.png/220px-Coventry_Brandon_greyhound_track_c.1980.png)
Origins
[edit]The Sanderson family had the majority shareholding in Midland Sports since the end of thewar.Charles Ochiltree was installed as the Managing Director of Coventry Stadium Ltd at Brandon despite only having a minor shareholding in the company. Alan Sanderson died in November 1968 resulting in Ochiltree becoming the dominant decision maker for the track and fourteen years after the closure ofLythalls Lane Stadiumgreyhound racing returned to Coventry in 1978.[6]
History
[edit]The racing arrived shortly after a failed Barratts Homes bid for sister trackLeicester Stadiumfuelling speculation that it was to be a replacement for Leicester. The first meeting took place on 19 September 1978 and facilities included a restaurant, a modern computerised tote and bars. The circuit was all sand and the hare was an 'Outside McGee' and Ron Day was installed as General Manager with Geoff Hammond as Racing Manager. A competition called theEclipsereturned to its traditional Coventry roots one year later.[7]
Leading trainers Geoff DeMulder, Barbara Tompkins and Natalie Savva all became attached to the track and DeMulder went on to win theTrainer of the Year.During 1980 Iskagh Ruler (Tompkins) reached theEnglish Greyhound Derbyfinal.[8]General Manager Ron Day died whilst in South Africa in 1981 and Sean Doyle (son of trainer Paddy Doyle) the young Racing Manager who had joined Coventry at the end of 1980 fromCradley Heathlost a battle with cancer.Mick Wheblethe Racing Manager at sister track Leicester was brought in as Racing and Operations Manager. Barbara Tompkins won the1983 English Greyhound Derbyfor Coventry when Im Slippy was victorious atWhite City Stadium.[9]
First closure
[edit]Midland Sports finally sold sister track Leicester in 1984 to Barratts Homes and another Derby final appearance by a Tompkins trained runner (Murlens Slippy) was overshadowed by the imminent closure of the stadium to greyhound racing. It finished on 24 October 1986 but Ochiltree remained the Speedway promoter.[10][11]
Re-Opening
[edit]Greyhounds returned in 2004, Simon Harris theWimbledonRacing Manager was recruited at the end of 2003,the track was relaid in time for an April 2004 start.[12]New kennels were built for the racing schedule of Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening racing. The track received more good news when it was awarded the 2004Trainers championship.[13]Matt Dartnall trained two hounds through to the2009 English Greyhound Derbyfinal.
Subsequent closures and re-opening
[edit]After Boxing Day 2009 the company went into liquidation and closed. Just three years later the well-known professional gambler and owner Harry Findlay re-opened Coventry until 2014 when it shut once again. Independent racing (unaffiliated to a governing body) then took place until January 2016.
Track records
[edit]Extended content
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Since closure
[edit]In May 2022, the stadium caught fire, causing substantial damage to the grounds, with firefighters taking four hours to extinguish the fire. The cause was revealed as arson.[5]Several months before the incident, an anonymous urban explorer had noted security concerns at the site that left it vulnerable to attack,[15]and Brandon Estates had been previously accused of failing to keep the site secure.[16]
On 12 May 2023, the owners Brandon Estates appealed against the decision of the local council refusing planning permission for 124 houses and a 3G football pitch on the site.[17]In January 2024, Brandon Estates appeal for planning application to redevelop the site was dismissed by the Inspector.[18]
References
[edit]- ^"Coventry Stadium".Google Maps.
- ^"Coventry Speedway".Coventry Bees. Archived fromthe originalon 13 October 2016.Retrieved16 October2016.
- ^"Coventry Stadium info".F1 Stock Cars.com.
- ^Layton, Josh (17 April 2020)."'Absolutely gutted' – campaigners react to major blaze at Brandon Stadium ".Coventry Live.Retrieved16 March2021.
- ^abMullen-COV, Enda (17 May 2022)."More details on suspected arson attack at Brandon Stadium".CoventryLive.Retrieved28 June2022.
- ^Genders, Roy (1981).The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing.Pelham Books Ltd. p. 45.ISBN07207-1106-1.
- ^Genders, Roy (1990).NGRC book of Greyhound Racing.Pelham Books Ltd. pp. 62–63.ISBN0-7207-1804-X.
- ^Dack, Barrie (1990).Greyhound Derby, the first 60 years.Ringpress Books. pp. 170–172.ISBN0-948955-36-8.
- ^Dack, Barrie (1990).Greyhound Derby, the first 60 years.Ringpress Books. pp. 178–182.ISBN0-948955-36-8.
- ^Barnes, Julia (1988).Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File.Ringpress Books. p. 413.ISBN0-948955-15-5.
- ^"Closures and openings over the past 10 years, July 1993, page 18".Greyhound Star.1993.
- ^Hobbs, Jonathan (2004).Greyhound Annual 2005.Raceform.ISBN1-904317-58-8.
- ^Hobbs, Jonathan (2007).Greyhound Annual 2008.Raceform.ISBN978-1-905153-53-4.
- ^"Coventry track records".Greyhound Data.
- ^Fair, Thomas (13 November 2021)."Engines roar no more – the current state of Coventry Stadium".CoventryLive.Retrieved28 June2022.
- ^Layton, Josh (16 September 2020)."Brandon Stadium owners face court hearing for allegedly failing to secure site".CoventryLive.Retrieved28 June2022.
- ^"Appeal hearing".Speedway Star.10 June 2023. p. 4.
- ^"Coventry Planning Appeal Dismissed".British Speedway.Retrieved23 January2024.