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Sunderland Stars
Sunderland Stars Speedway Badge
Club information
Track address	Sunderland Greyhound Stadium Newcastle Road East Boldon Durham
Country	England
Founded	1971
Closed	1974
Club facts
Colours	Red, white and gold
Track size	310 yards (280 m)

The Sunderland Stars were a motorcycle speedway team who raced at the Sunderland Greyhound Stadium from 1971 until 1974 in the Britrish League Division Two when Len Silver acted as promoter on behalf of Allied Presentations Ltd.

History

Speedway was operational at the venue for part of one season when eight meetings were staged in 1964 under the "Saints" nickname. The Saints introduced Aussies Jim Airey and Gordon Guasco to British Speedway during 1964.

The inaugural season of league speedway took place during the 1971 British League Division Two season but unfortunately the team finished 17th out of 17. This was followed by two seasons with 12th and 11th place finishes.

In 1974, the club came under new ownership and were nicknamed the "Gladiators". It was also their final season before closure. In November 1974, Ian Thomas bought the defunct Sunderland licence and transferred it to re-form the Newcastle Diamonds.

Season summary

Notable riders

• Jim Airey
• George Barclay
• Russ Dent
• Gordon Guasco
• Brian Havelock
• Vic Harding
• Jack Millen

References

1. Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
2. "Sunderland Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
3. "Jim Airey". wwosbackup. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
4. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
5. "British League Tables - British League Era (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
6. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
7. "Ian Thomas buys out Sunderland". Hull Daily Mail. 28 November 1974. Retrieved 4 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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