A SPEEDWAY fan who has been following the sport for 70 years has written a book to raise funds to resurrect his favourite club.
Tony Watson from Alcester was taken to his first race meeting in the late 1940s by his dad. That was in Birmingham and ever since he’s been a firm devotee of the sport, enjoying all the thrills and spills of the race meetings.
Now aged 78, the Evesham Street resident can still be found trackside at venues up and down the country, however he is desperate to see his beloved Coventry Bees back in action.
Tony said: “The season ended last October and there’s been some controversy over their stadium at Brandon.
“The club though they had a deal to carry on until 2020 but that fell through and with the stadium the club had to close.”
But following talks with Coventry City Council, Tony believes a patch of suitable land has been found and hopes are high for a return to action next season.
Tony added: “It’s such a great sport – it’s the adrenaline rush of seeing four people going round a track, skidding, and trying to beat each other, it’s such a skill.
Coventry Bees were in the National Premiership and the nearest other club, Birmingham, is in the National League, essentially a ‘division 3’.
Despite this Tony still gets his speedway fix, travelling up to Wolverhampton to see action from the Premiership or heading down to the Millennium Stadium where 40,000 recently marvelled at a race meeting.
His book, ‘The Last Lap’, is in an A4 magazine style and is lavishly illustrated with photographs kindly donated by speedway professional photographer Jeff Davies.
It costs £5 plus £1.50 p+p. email [email protected] to order a copy.
