Alfred Smoczyk Stadium
Stadium in Leszno, Poland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Smok (Dragon) | |
 Aerial photograph with the stadium in the middle | |
 | |
| Location | Leszno, Poland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°49′57″N 16°35′8″E |
| Owner | City of Leszno |
| Operator | Unia Leszno |
| Capacity | 16,700 |
| Surface | Shale (speedway) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 19 April 1953 |
| Expanded | 11 September 1977 |
| Tenants | |
| Unia Leszno | |
The stadium is located on ulica Strzelecka 7.
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]
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) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Date | Rider | Club | Meeting |
| 80.0 | 19.04.1953 |  Stanisław Glapiak | Leszno | friendly: Leszno - Ostrów Wlkp. |
| 77.7 | 05.07.1953 | Marian Kuśnierek | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Łódź |
| 77.1 | 16.08.1953 | Edward Kupczyński | Wrocław | 1st League: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 76.7 | 16.08.1953 | Józef Olejniczak | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 76.4 | 16.08.1953 | Józef Olejniczak | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 76.0 | 13.09.1953 | Florian Kapała | Rawicz | III Alfred Smoczyk Memorial |
| 76.0 | 13.06.1954 | Andrzej Krzesiński | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 75.3 | 21.08.1955 | Edward Kupczyński | Wrocław | V Alfred Smoczyk Memorial |
| ??.? | 11.04.1960 | Kazimierz Bentke | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Częstochowa |
| 74.8 | before 22.05.1960 |  Ove Fundin | - | ? |
| 74.0 | 16.10.1960 |  Peter Craven | - | Poland - England |
| 73.9 | 21.05.1961 | Henryk Żyto | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Częstochowa |
| 73.8 | 14.04.1963 | Henryk Żyto | Leszno | Polish Motor Union Cup |
| 73.2 | 08.10.1967 | Henryk Gluecklich | Bydgoszcz | Poland - Soviet Union |
| 73.1 | 24.10.1971 | Zdzisław Dobrucki | Leszno | XXI Aldred Smoczyk Memorial |
| 354 m (1975–1979) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Date | Rider | Club | Meeting |
| 76.4 | 23.03.1975 | Kazimierz Adamczak | Leszno | friendly: Leszno - Guestrow |
| 76.0 | 13.04.1975 | Jerzy Kowalski | Leszno | Individual Meeting |
| 76.0 | 20.04.1975 | Piotr Bruzda | Wrocław | 1st League: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 75.4 | 20.04.1975 | Zygfryd Kostka | Wrocław | 1st League: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 75.4 | 20.04.1975 | Zbigniew Jąder | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 74.5 | 01.05.1975 | Henryk Gluecklich | Bydgoszcz | 1st League: Leszno - Bydgoszcz |
| 74.5 | 01.05.1975 | Jerzy Kowalski | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Bydgoszcz |
| 73.4 | 05.06.1975 | Bogusław Nowak | Gorzów Wlkp. | Golden Helmet |
| 73.0 | 28.06.1975 | Zdzisław Dobrucki | Leszno | Pairs Meeting |
| 71.6 | 29.08.1976 | Bernard Jąder | Leszno | Alfred Smoczyk Memorial |
| 71.4 | 26.06.1977 | Roman Jankowski | Leszno | U-23 Polish Motor Union Cup |
| 71.4 | 03.07.1977 | Bernard Jąder | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Opole |
| 71.3 | 24.07.1977 | Zdzisław Dobrucki | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Lublin |
| 70.6 | 31.07.1977 | Józef Jarmuła | Częstochowa | 1st League: Leszno - Częstochowa |
| 70.0 | 28.08.1977 | Zenon Plech | Gdańsk | 1st League: Leszno - Gdańsk |
| 70.0 | 21.05.1978 | Bernard Jąder | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Rybnik |
| 70.0 | 21.05.1978 | Mariusz Okoniewski | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Rybnik |
| 69.2 | 04.06.1978 | Malcolm Simmons | - | International Individual Meeting |
| 69.0 | 04.06.1978 | Bernard Jąder | Leszno | International Individual Meeting |
| 68.0 | 28.06.1978 | Bernard Jąder | Leszno | Individual Meeting |
| 347 m (1979–1987) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Date | Rider | Club | Meeting |
| 70.1 | 12.04.1979 | Eugeniusz Miastkowski | Toruń | Individual Polish Championship Quarter-Final |
| 68.6 | 22.04.1979 | Piotr Pyszny | Rybnik | 1st League: Leszno - Rybnik |
| 68.1 | 29.04.1979 | Mariusz Okoniewski | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 68.1 | 29.04.1979 | Mariusz Okoniewski | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 67.4 | 19.08.1979 | Ryszard Buśkiewicz | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Gdańsk |
| 67.4 | 22.07.1980 | Bogusław Nowak | Gorzów | Individual Polish Championship Final |
| 66.2 | 22.07.1980 | Edward Jancarz | Gorzów | Individual Polish Championship Final |
| 65.0 | 14.06.1981 | Edward Jancarz | Gorzów | Individual World Championship Continental Semi-Final |
| 342 m (since 1987) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Date | Rider | Club | Meeting |
| 65.8 | 08.04.1987 | Zenon Kasprzak | Leszno | Poland - Sweden |
| 65.8 | 14.04.1987 | Zenon Kasprzak | Leszno | 1st League: Leszno - Gorzów Wlkp. |
| 63.51 | 13.06.1987 |  Zoltan Adorjan | - | Individual World Championship Continental Semi-Final |
| 63.35 | 06.08.1988 | Zenon Kasprzak | Leszno | Individual World Championship Continental Final |
| 63.0 | 25.09.1988 | Zenon Kasprzak | Leszno | Individual Polish Championship Final |
| 62.6 | 05.08.1989 |  Erik Gundersen | - | World Pairs Championship Final |
| 62.6 | 1993 | Roman Jankowski | Leszno | FSO Individual Meeting |
| 62.6 | 21.05.1994 | Roman Jankowski | Leszno | 2nd League: Leszno - Lublin |
| 62.4 | 21.05.1994 | Roman Jankowski | Leszno | 2nd League: Leszno - Lublin |
| 62.2 | 15.07.1995 | Tomasz Gollob | Bydgoszcz | XLV Alfred Smoczyk Memorial |
| 61.6 | 16.06.1996 | Roman Jankowski | Leszno | 2nd League: Leszno - Łódź |
| 60.5 | 16.06.1996 |  Leigh Adams | Leszno | 2nd League: Leszno - Łódź |
| 60.2 | 28.05.2000 | Leigh Adams | Leszno | Ekstraliga: Leszno - Gdańsk |
| 60.2 | 21.04.2002 | Rafał Okoniewski | Leszno | Ekstraliga: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 60.0 | 21.04.2002 | Krzysztof Kasprzak | Leszno | Ekstraliga: Leszno - Wrocław |
| 59.0 | 03.05.2002 | Leigh Adams | Leszno | Ekstraliga: Leszno - Częstochowa |
| 58.4 | 03.05.2007 | Krzysztof Kasprzak | Leszno | Ekstraliga: Leszno - Zielona Góra |
| 58.1 | 09.05.2010 | Janusz Kołodziej | Leszno | ? |
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