| READING SPEEDWAY
This site is not an official website for the track shown here and is neither approved or endorsed by the speedway team. |
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Speedway has taken place in the Reading area in at least 4 venues with the first being the Reading Greyhound Stadium on Oxford Road in 1968. That first meeting was attended by a crowd in excess of 5000 on 17th June of that year, and resulted in a maiden win for the home team against Nelson by 41-37. Racing continued at this venue for a further 5 years, the final meet taking place on 8th October 1973. By 1975 the team had moved to Smallmead Stadium and their opening encounter was a victorious one against Hull by 48-30. They gradually rose through the league structure and made the Premiership by 1995 and the Elite League in 2006. |  |
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| View an early programme | |||||
| The team has won the Knockout Cup on two occasions in 1990 and 1998, and were League Champions in 1980, 1990, 1992 and 1997. Throughout their time the team has been known as the Racers, the Rockets, the Ravens and the M4 Raven Sprockets. | |||||
| Greyhound racing initially took place in this area on the Oxford Road track but that closed on 1st January 1974. The new track opened in Bennett Road in 1975 and witnessed some classy races including the Hunt Cup and the Berkshire Cup. The circuit finally closed its doors in 2008. | |||||
| This section gives a comprehensive picture of
the badges produced for the team throughout the ages, but only provides the briefest of
glimpses of its history. For those wishing to undertake further research we can recommend
a visit to
and for those wishing to read more widely we recommend a visit to http://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwgreyhoundd-21 especially Complete History of the British
League:
by
Peter Oakes ISBN-10: 0948882077
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| To view a complete collection of badges choose the relevant link below: 1968 - 2020 | |||||
More detailed information is available from "Homes of British Speedway' by Robert Bamford & John Jarvis A further great source of information is provided on John Skinner's excellent website on Defunct Speedway tracks, with a link given below. For all Speedway enthusiasts, John Somerville’s website should always be your first port of call:-https://www.skidmarks1928.com/v/photos/john-somerville-collection |
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