Alfred Smoczyk Stadium

Alfred Smoczyk Stadium (Polish: Stadion im. Alfreda Smoczyka) is a stadium in Leszno, Poland. It is currently used for speedway matches and is the home stadium of Unia Leszno. The stadium has a capacity of 16,700 people.

Stadion im. Alfreda Smoczyka
Smok (Dragon)
Aerial photograph with the stadium in the middle
LocationLeszno, Poland
Coordinates51°49′57″N 16°35′8″E
OwnerCity of Leszno
OperatorUnia Leszno
Capacity16,700
SurfaceShale (speedway)
Construction
Opened19 April 1953
Expanded11 September 1977
Tenants
Unia Leszno

The stadium is located on ulica Strzelecka 7.

History

Alfred Smoczyk (1928–1950) was the first Polish speedway superstar. He successfully competed on Dutch tracks in the late 1940s, but died in a road accident in October 1950.[1] He was the first Individual Polish Champion after World War II (in 1949). The year after his death in 1951, the Alfred Smoczyk Memorial event was first held and shortly afterwards in April 1952, plans were put into action to build a new speedway stadium.[2]

The opening of the new stadium took place on 19 April 1953. In 1960, the stadium hosted a qualifying round of the Speedway World Championship.[3][4]

In 1974/75 the track was replaced and the stands were expanded to increase the capacity to 40,000. In 1977, as part of the national harvest celebrations and the visit of Edward Gierek to Leszno, the stadium underwent a major renovation and modernisation, opening on 11 September 1977.

In 1984, the stadium held the first of four World Cup finals, the first being the 1984 edition followed by 2007, 2009 and 2017.[5] In-between, it also hosted the final of the 1989 Speedway World Pairs Championship.[6][7]

The stadium has hosted the Speedway Grand Prix of Europe (a round of the world championship) for five consecutive years from 2008 to 2012.[8]

Track details

The track is 330 metres (360 yards) long and has a syenite surface. The track record was made by Janusz Kołodziej (58.12 sec on 9 May 2010).

Records
383 m (1953–1975)
TimeDateRiderClubMeeting
80.019.04.1953 Stanisław GlapiakLesznofriendly: Leszno - Ostrów Wlkp.
77.705.07.1953 Marian KuśnierekLeszno1st League: Leszno - Łódź
77.116.08.1953 Edward KupczyńskiWrocław1st League: Leszno - Wrocław
76.716.08.1953 Józef OlejniczakLeszno1st League: Leszno - Wrocław
76.416.08.1953 Józef OlejniczakLeszno1st League: Leszno - Wrocław
76.013.09.1953 Florian KapałaRawiczIII Alfred Smoczyk Memorial
76.013.06.1954 Andrzej KrzesińskiLeszno1st League: Leszno - Wrocław
75.321.08.1955 Edward KupczyńskiWrocławV Alfred Smoczyk Memorial
??.?11.04.1960 Kazimierz BentkeLeszno1st League: Leszno - Częstochowa
74.8before 22.05.1960 Ove Fundin-?
74.016.10.1960 Peter Craven-Poland - England
73.921.05.1961 Henryk ŻytoLeszno1st League: Leszno - Częstochowa
73.814.04.1963 Henryk ŻytoLesznoPolish Motor Union Cup
73.208.10.1967 Henryk GluecklichBydgoszczPoland - Soviet Union
73.124.10.1971 Zdzisław DobruckiLesznoXXI Aldred Smoczyk Memorial
354 m (1975–1979)
TimeDateRiderClubMeeting
76.423.03.1975 Kazimierz AdamczakLesznofriendly: Leszno - Guestrow
76.013.04.1975 Jerzy KowalskiLesznoIndividual Meeting
76.020.04.1975 Piotr BruzdaWrocław1st League: Leszno - Wrocław
75.420.04.1975 Zygfryd KostkaWrocław1st League: Leszno - Wrocław
75.420.04.1975 Zbigniew JąderLeszno1st League: Leszno - Wrocław
74.501.05.1975 Henryk GluecklichBydgoszcz1st League: Leszno - Bydgoszcz
74.501.05.1975 Jerzy KowalskiLeszno1st League: Leszno - Bydgoszcz
73.405.06.1975 Bogusław NowakGorzów Wlkp.Golden Helmet
73.028.06.1975 Zdzisław DobruckiLesznoPairs Meeting
71.629.08.1976 Bernard JąderLesznoAlfred Smoczyk Memorial
71.426.06.1977 Roman JankowskiLesznoU-23 Polish Motor Union Cup
71.403.07.1977 Bernard JąderLeszno1st League: Leszno - Opole
71.324.07.1977 Zdzisław DobruckiLeszno1st League: Leszno - Lublin
70.631.07.1977 Józef JarmułaCzęstochowa1st League: Leszno - Częstochowa
70.028.08.1977 Zenon PlechGdańsk1st League: Leszno - Gdańsk
70.021.05.1978 Bernard JąderLeszno1st League: Leszno - Rybnik
70.021.05.1978 Mariusz OkoniewskiLeszno1st League: Leszno - Rybnik
69.204.06.1978 Malcolm Simmons-International Individual Meeting
69.004.06.1978 Bernard JąderLesznoInternational Individual Meeting
68.028.06.1978 Bernard JąderLesznoIndividual Meeting
347 m (1979–1987)
TimeDateRiderClubMeeting
70.112.04.1979 Eugeniusz MiastkowskiToruńIndividual Polish Championship Quarter-Final
68.622.04.1979 Piotr PysznyRybnik1st League: Leszno - Rybnik
68.129.04.1979 Mariusz OkoniewskiLeszno1st League: Leszno - Wrocław
68.129.04.1979 Mariusz OkoniewskiLeszno1st League: Leszno - Wrocław
67.419.08.1979 Ryszard BuśkiewiczLeszno1st League: Leszno - Gdańsk
67.422.07.1980 Bogusław NowakGorzówIndividual Polish Championship Final
66.222.07.1980 Edward JancarzGorzówIndividual Polish Championship Final
65.014.06.1981 Edward JancarzGorzówIndividual World Championship Continental Semi-Final
342 m (since 1987)
TimeDateRiderClubMeeting
65.808.04.1987 Zenon KasprzakLesznoPoland - Sweden
65.814.04.1987 Zenon KasprzakLeszno1st League: Leszno - Gorzów Wlkp.
63.5113.06.1987 Zoltan Adorjan-Individual World Championship Continental Semi-Final
63.3506.08.1988 Zenon KasprzakLesznoIndividual World Championship Continental Final
63.025.09.1988 Zenon KasprzakLesznoIndividual Polish Championship Final
62.605.08.1989 Erik Gundersen-World Pairs Championship Final
62.61993 Roman JankowskiLesznoFSO Individual Meeting
62.621.05.1994 Roman JankowskiLeszno2nd League: Leszno - Lublin
62.421.05.1994 Roman JankowskiLeszno2nd League: Leszno - Lublin
62.215.07.1995 Tomasz GollobBydgoszczXLV Alfred Smoczyk Memorial
61.616.06.1996 Roman JankowskiLeszno2nd League: Leszno - Łódź
60.516.06.1996 Leigh AdamsLeszno2nd League: Leszno - Łódź
60.228.05.2000 Leigh AdamsLesznoEkstraliga: Leszno - Gdańsk
60.221.04.2002 Rafał OkoniewskiLesznoEkstraliga: Leszno - Wrocław
60.021.04.2002 Krzysztof KasprzakLesznoEkstraliga: Leszno - Wrocław
59.003.05.2002 Leigh AdamsLesznoEkstraliga: Leszno - Częstochowa
58.403.05.2007 Krzysztof KasprzakLesznoEkstraliga: Leszno - Zielona Góra
58.109.05.2010 Janusz KołodziejLeszno?

See also

References
  1. "Alfred Smoczyk". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  2. "Stadion Alfreda Smoczyka – stadium description". Stadium Database. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  3. "1960 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  4. "1960 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  5. "World Team Cup & World Cup". International Speedway. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  6. Oakes, Peter (1978). 1978 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ISBN 978-0904584509.
  7. "History Speedway and Longtrack". Speedway.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  8. "HISTORYCZNE ZESTAWIENIE WYNIKÓW 1995-2016". Historia Sportu Zuzlowego. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
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