As the revival of speedway racing in Britain gathered pace in the 1960s, two experienced promoters introduced the sport to Wearside for the first time.  The Sunderland Saints speedway team was only on track for 50 days in 1964, from a wet opening night on Tuesday, 21st April, until a controversial closure was announced to a stunned crowd during the meeting on Tuesday, 9th June. 

This is an account of life in Sunderland at the time, with a focus on the short existence of the speedway team.  The authors examine the reasons for closure and how it ultimately benefitted two other teams in the league which were under the same ownership and management as the Sunderland Saints.

The book encompasses other sports in the town and reflects on the social and political landscape of the era as well as taking an in-depth look at speedway politics in the early 1960s.

What they say:

“This book focuses on the new Provincial League years from 1960 to 1964, when I was heavily involved in running tracks, initially in partnership at Stoke, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Wolverhampton and Newcastle, then on my own account at Stoke, Middlesbrough and Long Eaton.  ’50 Days of Speedway, Sunderland in 1964’ gave me an insight into some facts that I was unaware of and indeed refreshed my memory of times long ago.”  Reg Fearman, former rider, promoter, international team manager, past-President of the BSPA and WSRA.

“Sport does not exist in a vacuum.  It is constantly influenced by events and social trends outside the stadia.  Recognition that this is the case underpins this fascinating book by Keith Corns and Georgia Smithson.  Speedway historians and authors (including on occasion myself) have in the past incorporated material on the influence social factors have exerted on the sport but never, to my knowledge, with the degree of authority evident in this work.  The period covered by this book, chronicling in detail the first introduction of speedway in Sunderland, may have been of tragically-short duration. But it takes an intriguing aspect of speedway history and matches it to changes in society, in an impressively researched and immensely readable way.”  Philip Dalling, speedway journalist and author.

“Speedway in Sunderland occupies only a small corner of the sport’s history, and an even smaller one in that of the city itself.  Yet the town – as it was in the 1960s – was certainly big enough to have sustained a team longer than just a few weeks.  And the reasons for the abrupt end have never really been examined. Until now.”  Jeff Brown, BBC Look North.

“Few speedway books offer such a detailed look at the promoters of the day and offer some thoughts on what they were doing or not doing as the case may be.  It also looks long and hard at the men who established the venue, ran it and, ultimately, closed it.”  Jim Henry, speedway researcher and author. 

“This is like no other speedway book I’ve ever read, and I loved it.  It’s a fascinating story which examines the politics of speedway and how life was in 1964.”  Matt Jackson, speedway researcher and author.