Liverpool Chads

Liverpool Chads are a defunct British motorcycle speedway team who were based at the Stanley Stadium in Liverpool, England.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). "Homes of British Speedway". Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-2210-3]

History

Liverpool Chads were eastablished the late 1920s. The team's nickname referred to a popular piece of cartoon graffiti at the time known as a "Chad". League racing first took place in 1929 with the formation of the English Dirt Track League, effectively a Northern League, which ran along side the Southern League. [cite web | title = Exeter 1929 | work = Exeter Speedway | date = 2004 | url = http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speedwayyears/1929.html | accessdate = 2008-05-10] The Chads were attached to the Belle Vue Aces promotion during this time but midway through 1937 the club folded and the riders moved to Belle Vue.

They opened again in 1949 and competed 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 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.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). "Homes of British Speedway". Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-2210-3]

Notable riders

*Ginger Lees (rode in the first ever Speedway World Championship final in 1936) [Jacobs, N & Lipscombe, P (2005). "Wembley Speedway : The Pre-War Years". Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-3750-X]
*Peter Craven (World Champion) [Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). "A History of the World Speedway Championship". Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5]

References