Soar Magazine met with Alan Jones, PR and Press Officer for Leicester Lions Speedway and Steve Chilton from the club’s supporters group, to hear the story of the 26-year campaign to bring speedway back to Leicester…

The city has lost a number of sporting venues over the years with the roller skating rink and the Leicester Riders’ basketball court disappearing when Granby Halls closed in 1998, along with Saffron Lane velodrome being demolished.

But, following the recent approval of a new £4.5m purpose built sports and leisure complex in Beaumont Leys, not only will Leicester Lions have a new home, the community will be able make the most of some top class sporting facilities.

Leicester has been without a speedway team for over a quarter of a century since the Lions’ track at Blackbird Road was closed in 1983 and sold off to property developers. Homeless, the Lions were an endangered species and simply couldn’t continue to compete.

Steve Chilton revealed the impact it had on the fans. “It really pulled the rug from under the club. A lot of Leicester fans were suddenly bereft of a speedway team and were lost to the sport completely. Some fans went to watch teams in Coventry and Long Eaton and it was a disaster for speedway in Leicester.”

Despite this crushing blow, the supporters’ club were not prepared to give up on their dream of speedway in Leicester, as Steve explained. “There was always this nucleus of people that kept the name going by forming the supporters club. They maintained the spirit of the club with great social functions and kept campaigning to try and find a new site.”

Their campaign has spanned the last three decades and overcome several barriers along the way. Throughout the nineties the council had a pretty stringent policy against any plans for another track and some momentum was lost.

In 2000, a new initiative was set up with Chairman of the Supporters Club, Ken Naylor at the forefront, as the Lions considered potential sites around Leicestershire.

A chance meeting between Ken and David Hemsley, who knew each other from their cycle speedway days, changed the course of the Lions’ future as Steve explained.

“David works for S&P Architecture Design Interiors who specialise in sporting facilities and were responsible for Braunstone Leisure Centre. Having his company on board gave the project extra credibility, as the council already knew they could deliver.”

“They came up with this concept of a sports village and I think that was key. If they just tried to sell a motor sport venue then we probably wouldn’t have been successful. David used his cycling background to get British Cycling involved and engage other sports.”

Other facilities, including a cycling velodrome, a BMX track and a football academy, have been key to their proposals and Steve sees the discovery of the Beaumont Park site as vital.

“In early 2007, Ken found the site at Beaumont Park and it seemed absolutely perfect. It’s far enough away from residential housing, it’s a large field with good access and it’s within the city boundaries, which we felt was really important.”

Alan Jones is excited by the development of the sports village. “When the complex is built there will be facilities that the community can enjoy and it’s not just about speedway. Cycling is really popular and to have an Olympic standard velodrome and a BMX track available will add another dimension.”

Even after the plans were drawn up by the Beaumont Sports Complex Limited group, the supporters’ club didn’t stop there, as Steve revealed.

“Our goal was to engage the public. If there’s resistance from the community then things don’t happen. We held public consultation events and had days at Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre with petitions, leaflets and the bikes on display. Everybody around Beaumont Leys has been supportive and keen to get it on.”

Alan agreed: “The positive feedback was great. It wasn’t just about the emotive stuff and remembering the good times, but also looking forward to the future.”

This publicity resulted in a new drive for membership as the supporters’ club went from a group of 25 to well over 200 in the space of six months and Steve explained how the supporters continued to work hard behind the scenes.

“There was this snowball effect and we started getting so many hits and good luck messages on the website. We held a management committee meeting every month, organised reunion events, where ex-riders attended and the petitions helped support the initial planning application.”

“It was a situation that we couldn’t afford to fail so we put so much background work and research into it. We made sure every issue was addressed so that there wouldn’t be any horrible objections and we’re really proud of that.”

“It took two and a half years for the finalised planning application to go in but we were confident because of all the work that had been done. We were more like a proactive campaign group than a supporters club. We feel we’ve done our bit and it’s now in the hands of Alan and the club to take things forward.”

Steve revealed how the support of local councillors was crucial. “The extra support from a number of councillors gave the application a serious amount of credibility. Paul Edwards, Head of Sports Services and Andy Connelly, Head of Culture & Leisure at the City Council were really helpful and we’re extremely grateful to them and the Beaumont Leys Ward councillors Vi Dempster, Keith Lloyd-Harris and Paul Westley for all their support.”

“The council had a very positive attitude and were very important. We knew we needed that political support to get anywhere with the project.”

Alan agreed that the support of councillors was vital and believes that speedway will again prove popular in Leicester.

“Speedway is a family sport and fans can stand side by side, irrespective of teams. There’s good natured banter between rival fans and no need for segregation. It can be a real family event and the riders are always really accessible.”

Exploratory digging has already started at the site and it is expected that the facilities will be in place for the new Speedway season, starting in March.

The British Speedway Promoters Association have approved the application from Leicester Speedway Limited to enter a team for next season and Alan described the competition in more detail.

“The British Premier League is 14 clubs strong. There are three tiers in speedway and we’ll be starting at the second level. It’s all geared for the start of the season, which runs from March until October when Leicester will take part in the league, trophy and knock-out cup competitions.”

Steve added: “It’ll be great if we can get back to having regular events on a Saturday night, which is a good time from a social point of view and hopefully that won’t be the peak time for the other activities at the stadium.”

Alan also spoke about the vision for the sports complex.

“The building plans are going to be implemented in gradual phases. The speedway and football will be first, with the velodrome and BMX following afterwards. Within eighteen months all four sports will be up and running and people will be able to enjoy all the facilities.”

“There is the potential to develop the site as a national academy for people to learn about riding a speedway bike and we plan to make the stadium facilities available to the community for educational programmes and corporate events.”

It may have taken a long time but the Lions have come a long way and the supporters’ club should be extremely proud of their achievements, as Alan explained.

“The dream never died in 26 years. There have been lots of different groups prepared to work hard to bring speedway back to Leicester. No other club in the history of speedway, since the war, has come back from such a long period without competition and that’s testament to people like Steve and the supporters’ club.”

“Leicester Speedway Limited have really appreciated their support and I’d like to think that the two organisations can continue to work closely together in the future.”

For more information visit www.leicester-speedway.co.uk