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Liverpool Chads are a defunct motorcycle speedway team who were based at the Stanley Stadium in Prescot Road, Fairfield, Liverpool, England.

History

Liverpool Speedway's team was established the late 1920s. League racing first took place in 1929 with the formation of the English Dirt Track League, effectively a Northern League, which ran alongside the Southern League. In 1930, the team competed in the Northern League. They were known during this time as Liverpool Merseysiders.

In 1937, the Liverpool promotion dropped out of the league in mid-July due to financial problems and was replaced by the Belle Vue Aces promotion led by Mr E. C. Spence, Belle Vue also had a team in the National League so at this point the Provincial League team were renamed the Belle Vue Merseysiders.

When the sport was revived in 1949 the team were known as Liverpool Chads. The team's nickname referred to a popular piece of cartoon graffiti at the time known as a Chad. They opened again in the National League Division Three and were again based at Stanley Stadium, Liverpool. The team moved up to National League Division Two for the 1951 season and operated there until 1953 when the track closed, again in mid season. A new side now called Liverpool Eagles were created in 1957 but closed after a few meetings. A few open meetings were staged in 1959 and the club, now racing as the Liverpool Pirates, competed in the 1960 Provincial League.

The club again closed at the end of the year and the Stanley Stadium was demolished and a fruit market was constructed on the site.

Speedway was also staged in Liverpool in the 1930s at Seaforth Greyhound Stadium.

Notable riders

• Peter Craven (World Champion)
• Oliver Hart
• Ginger Lees (rode in the first ever Speedway World Championship final in 1936)
• Tommy Price

Season summary

References

1. ^ Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
2. "Exeter 1929". Exeter Speedway. 2004. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
3. "Belle Vue take over Liverpool". Weekly Dispatch (London). 11 July 1937. Retrieved 11 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
5. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
6. "Speedway again in Liverpool". Liverpool Echo. 18 July 1959. Retrieved 25 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
8. Bam ford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
9. Jacobs, N & Lipscombe, P (2005). Wembley Speedway : The Pre-War Years. Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-3750-X

• Defunct speedway teams in the United Kingdom
• Sport in Liverpool