Leicester Lions (speedway)
| Leicester Lions | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Club information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Track address | Beaumont Sports Complex, 1 The Lions, Beaumont Leys, Leicester, LE4 1DZ |
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| Country | England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1968, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Team manager | Simon Stead | ||||||||||||||||||
| Team captain | Danny King | ||||||||||||||||||
| League | SGB Premiership | ||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www |
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| Colours | Red and Yellow | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track size | 300 metres (330 yd) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track record time | 60.81s | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track record date | 17 June 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track record holder | Kim Nilsson | ||||||||||||||||||
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Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983. The club returned to speedway for the 2011 Premier League season, moving up to the Elite League for the 2014 season.
Speedway started at Leicester in 1928 with the Leicester Stadium team entering the English Dirt Track League in 1929 finishing 5th but by 1931 the track, beset with problems, closed. Speedway was also staged at a track known as Leicester Super off Melton Road. After World War II, speedway returned in 1948. The team were nicknamed the Leicester Hunters and ran under that name until closure in 1962. In 1949 the team started in the National League Division Three and moved up over the years operating in the top flight for some time until the end of 1961.
Speedway returned to Leicester Stadium in 1968, with the formation of the Lions, when Reg Fearman and Ron Wilson moved in the Long Eaton team who had lost their home in 1967. The team competed in the British League, the top division of British speedway at the time. In 1977 Vic White took over from Wilson, the two acting as co-promoters until 1980 when Martin Rogers took over. Speedway continued until 1983 when the stadium was suddenly sold for housing development leaving the Lions homeless. Notable riders from the first Lions era include Ray Wilson, Anders Michanek, Graham Plant, Alan Cowland, Malcolm Brown, John Boulger, Dave Jessup, Ila Teromaa, John Titman, Les Collins, Neil Collins, Rolf Gramstad, and Mark Courtney,
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