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Neath Welsh Dragons

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Neath Welsh Dragons
Club information
Track addressNeath Abbey Stadium
Monastery Road
Neath Abbey
Neath
CountryWales
Founded1962
Closed1962
LeagueProvincial League
Club facts
Track size375 yards (343 m)

The Neath Welsh Dragons were a short-lived speedway team who operated from Neath Abbey Stadium, in Neath in 1962.[1][2]

History

[edit]

There were members of the Provincial League for one season and finished runners-up in the 1962 Provincial Speedway League.[3][4] The feat of finishing second was described as achieving the impossible.[5]

The description 'stadium' is misleading because the venue was literally an oval with a cinder track with banking for spectators. The west side of the Neath Abbey was so close to the banking that the Abbey ruins looked as though they formed part of the stadium. Monastery Road at the time was situated slightly different to where it is today (it now bends to the West instead of the East). The stadium was opened to Stock car racing as early as 1954.[6]

The speedway circuit was opened by Trevor Redmond but crowds were poor and several home meetings were staged at St Austell Gulls' Cornish Stadium due to lack of floodlighting. [7]

Season summary

[edit]
Year and league Position Notes
1962 Provincial Speedway League 2nd

References

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  1. ^ "Neath Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Speedway Dragons second in P.L. Championship". Porthcawl Guardian. 19 October 1962. Retrieved 16 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Neath Abbey". Stoxnet. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  7. ^ "NEATH WELSH DRAGONS SPEEDWAY". www.greyhoundderby.com.