Odsal Boomerangs

About Odsal Boomerangs

The Bradford Dukes were a British motorcycle speedway team which operated primarily from the Odsal Stadium in Odsal, Bradford until their closure in 1997. The Bradford speedway team previously raced at Odsal Stadium under various other names Odsal Boomerangs, Odsal Tudors, Bradford Tudors, Bradford Panthers, Bradford Northern, Bradford Barons and finally Bradford Dukes.

Overview

Odsal Boomerangs were a motorcycle speedway team based at Odsal Stadium, Rooley Lane, Odsal, Bradford, West Yorkshire, from 1945 to 1950. The team became the Odsal Tudors during the 1950 season. History During 1939, Bradford Northern Rugby league club's Harry Hornby and the local MP H Hepworth investigated the possibility of introducing speedway racing in Odsal, but the outbreak of World War II put an end to their plans. In 1945, with victory in Europe within sight, Harry Hornby joined together with the man who always claimed to have invented the sport, Johnnie S Hoskins, to reactive the plans. On 23 June 1945 before a crowd of over 20,000 the Lord Mayor, Alderman Cecil Barnett, officially opened the track. The first season was a series of open and challenge meetings, as speedway, along with other professional sports, recovered from the war years. In 1946 league racing was introduced and Odsal joined the six strong National League, the highest league, which apart from Belle Vue consisted of London-based tracks. All tracks, with the exception of Odsal, had staged speedway in the pre-war years. Odsal featured on 2 April 1946 in the first post war league meeting, when they won 45-39 at Wimbledon. The teams' nickname was 'Boomerangs', a name giving the nod to the sports Australian roots. The first season was marred when on 6 July 1946, a crowd of 34,0000 at Odsal Stadium witnessed the Boomerangs lose to Belle Vue Aces. During the match promising Huddersfield born junior Albert 'Aussie' Rosenfeld, son of Albert Rosenfeld hit the fence and was taken to St Luke's Hospital, Bradford, with a suspected fractured skull. He died 10 days later, on 16 July 1946. This accident was followed a week later by a further crash which ended the career of the veteran rider Colin Watson. It resulted in the sports governing body, the Speedway Control Board, issuing an ultimatum that the Odsal track shape be changed or its licence would be withdrawn. This resulted in the square corners disappearing and a more typical oval shape emerging.

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