11 evocative images of Cradley Heathen, 30 years after the closure of the Dudley Wood Stadium
There was not a lot riding on the result, pun not intended. The 48-all draw between a Greg Hancock select team and a Billy Hamill select team seemed almost beyond the point.
A bumper crowd of more than 7,000 people turned out to watch the action on October 28, 1995, not because the result was particularly important. But because it was the last speedway meeting to be held at he Dudley Wood Stadium.
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The home of Cradley Heathens since 1947, the former football ground had seen some of the most memorable nights in speedway history.
In their heyday, Cradley were one of the top teams in the country, winning the British Championship in 1981 and 1983. Today, a sign declaring the red-brick housing development as Stadium Drive is the only real clue to this illustrious past.
To mark the anniversary, we have found 11 evocative pictures showing the club during their heyday,. the ground in the months after it closed, and the later attempts to revive the club, albeit without a home to call their own.
While Cradley Heath speedway club was formed in 1947, the stadium dates back 30 years earlier, after Cradley Heath St Lukes Football Club constructed a rudimentary football ground on farmland off Dudley Wood Road in 1917.
The upkeep of the ground contributed to financial pressures which led to the creation of Cradley Sports Enterprise, and the construction of speedway and greyhound tracks around the pitch.
Riding as the Cradley Heath Cubs they competed in their first match away to Hanley Potters on May 8, 1947, in National League Division Three. The first race at Dudley Wood came on June 21, 1947 against Wombwell Colliers. Wombwell Colliers[6]
The Cubs finished runners up in their inaugural league season, narrowly pipped to the post by Eastbourne Eagles.
[7]They finished runners up again in 1948, and the following year, having secured promotion, they adopted the nickname Cradley Heathens.
Financial pressures forced the Heathens to disband in 1952, but in 1960 they were able to enter the newly formed Provincial League under the promotion of Morris Jephcott.
The club won their first major silverware in 1961, winning the Provincial League Knockout Cup. About 10,000 fans packed out Dudley Wood to watch them beat Edinburgh Monarchs in the home leg of a two-legged final in September,. with Ivor Brown and Harry Bastable stealing the show.
They won the title a second time in 1963, beating Newcastle Diamonds in the final.
In 1965 they became founders of the British League, the highest level in British speedway. The club initially struggled to compete, managing a best placed finish of 7th in 1969. The club was also hit by tragedy in 1966 when star rider Ivor Hughes was involved in a crash with Bob Paulson and Jack Kitchen at Dudley Wood on August 20. He suffered a serious head injury and died three days later in hospital.
From 1973 to 1976 they rode under the name Cradley United, but the name was dropped. For the 1977 season the Heathens signed former world champion Anders Michanek, and the following year added Bruce Penhall and Alan Grahame. The impact was immediate and in 1978 the club won their first top level silverware, the British League Pairs Championship.
The golden years came during the 1980s when, along with Oxford Cheetahs and Coventry Bees, they became one of the 'big three' which dominated British speedway. They won league titles in 1981 and 1983, as well as a further seven knockout cups.
A horrific accident on September 17, 1989 left Gunderson partially paralysed, but the club responded by signing future world champion Greg Hancock, followed by Billy Hamill in 1990. The 1990s would prove a difficult time for the club, with Pederson forced to retire early due to a back injury, and mounting pressure from developers who wanted to develop the stadium's land.
Barratt Homes submitted a planning application for the site, and the club were evicted at the end of the 1995 season.
For the 1996 season, the club competed at the Loomer Road Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent. Hopes of a return rose when Dudley Council rejected the Barratt Homes plan, but these were quickly scotched by owner Noel Bridgewater who said he would sooner keep the site vacant, blaming personal abuse he had received from angry fans.
Supporters' group Cradley Raising Aid Saving Heathens (Crash) submitted plans for a site between Cradley and Lye in 2007, but they provoked a furious backlash from neighbours.
The team returned in 2010 as the Dudley Heathens, competing in the third tier Naitonal League, with home meetings initially shared between Wolverhampton's Monmore Green and Perry Bar in Birmingham.
The new Heathens experienced considerable success as a third tier team, winning the league and cup double in both 2013 and 2014, but the search for a new stadium would prove elusive.
Les Jones, a long-serving councillor, said environmental issues – particularly relating to noise - meant it was always difficult to find a site.
“Since the Heathens left Dudley Wood, there have been huge changes in regulation with the priority on protecting people’s right to peace and quiet,” he said.
“It is the same legislation which sees pubs and factories get shut down when houses get built next to them.
“Dudley borough has a lot of green space, but almost all of it has housing nearby. Certainly during my time in the cabinet I was keen to do all I could to help the Heathens, but it was always going to be a big ask.
“Wherever you chose as a site, the public objection was always going to be massive.”
The team's final season came in 2019, when Heathens finished fourth in the National Leauge.
