What has happened at Abbey Stadium owner's other tracks and stadiums?

Yahoo

23-02-2025

Abbey Stadium in north Swindon hosted speedway and greyhound racing until the end of the 2019 speedway season – which happens to have been won by the Swindon Robins.
It still hosts greyhound racing, but Speedway officially left the venue in November 2022.
Speedway looks unlikely to return to the stadium with a new company Swindon Motorsports, a joint venture between those behind Swindon Speedway and the owner of Abbey Stadium, Gaming International, proposing to build a new track on the edge of the borough at Studley Grange.
Gaming International, which is also known as Stadia UK, was given planning permission to build a new stadium at the Blundson site, which is funded by significant levels of housing being built around it.
Although partly built, the stadium is not ready to accept spectators, or indeed host speedway
An investigation by Swindon Borough Council said that Gaming International said the company has completed "The minimums required through the granted planning permission to date, but nothing more' in terms of ensuring the houses being built were not in breach of requirements.
But with recent survey work being carried out at Abbey Stadium and some staff members alleging they were told it was set to become housing, we have taken a look at some of Gaming International's other stadiums and what has happened to them.
Poole
(Image: Richard Crease)
Gaming International also operates the council-owned Poole Stadium in the Dorset town.
Like Swindon, it hosted both speedway and greyhound racing until recently.
It is still the home of the Poole Pirates speedway team, but greyhound racing was discontinued at Poole in 2020 and has not returned.
Milton Keynes
(Image: Buck Free Press)
Gaming International used to own the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, sometimes known as the Milton Keynes Bowl.
Well-known as an outdoor concert venue, the bowl was operated by Gaming International from 1998 and in 2006 the company was part of a consortium which had significant development proposals for the bowl, including increasing the capacity, a new pavilion, a new skateboard park and a greyhound stadium right next door to the bowl
Those plans never came off, and Gaming International handed back the bowl to the city council's development partnership in 2010.
The 65,000-capacity outdoor amphitheatre fell into disuse for several years after 2016 but has recently started hosting events again.
Gaming International still has a link to its, defunct, website for the bowl on its homepage.
Gaming International's predecessor company BS Group also used to own the Milton Keynes Greyhound Stadium in Ashland in the city, buying it in the 1990s.
Renamed as Gaming International, the company bought the Milton Keynes Bowl and made plans to move the dog track there in a proposed development of the concert venue site.
The plans came to nothing and the stadium closed on Boxing Day in 2005.
It became derelict and then suffered a major fire which resulted in the demolition of the site in 2006 before a housing estate replaced it in 2014.
Bristol
Gaming International's predecessor company BS Group was, it seems, named for the Bristol Stadium it owned in Eastville.
Built in 1897, it was home to Bristol Rovers FC and also hosted speedway for two seasons in the mid-1970s as well as dog racing.
The company now known as the BS Group sold Eastville for development, plans were announced for a new Bristol greyhound stadium but never came to fruition.
The stadium closed on 27 October 1997 with the entire greyhound operation moving to the sister track Swindon.
The site became an IKEA superstore.
Reading
(Image: Reading Chronicle)
Opened in 1974 Reading Smallmead Stadium hosted both greyhound and speedway racing until 2008.
It had been bought by Gaming International in 2002, and racing continued for six years until the local council refused to extend the lease, with the site being eyed up for redevelopment.
At the time of the last races in October 2008 Gaming International was quoted in the local press as being keen on finding a new venue in the town.
An application was even made with Reading Borough Council approving plans for the proposed new stadium in Island Road. The initial cost was said to be £8million.
Thus far, that has not come to pass.
Oxford
(Image: Oxford Mail)
The Bristol Stadium company also operated the dog track at Oxford between 1952 and 1975. The track was sold to Oxford City Council for housing in 1975, and the stadium was closed at the end of the year.
There was significant local opposition to its closure and it re-opened in March 1976.
It continues to host both speedway and greyhound racing to this day.
Torquay
(Image: TUFC)
In a departure from its normal sporting interests Gaming International took over struggling Torquay United in the 2016-17 season, when the club was in the National league, the fifth tier of English senior football.
Relegation followed, then promotion, and the Gulls were close to regaining league status, losing out on penalties against Hartlepool Utd in the play-off final in 2021.
Sadly, Torquay was relegated back to the sixth tier two years later.
Throughout this time the club had ambitions to move from its Plainmoor ground in central Torquay to a new ground in the area, but a site was never decided.
In early 2024 club chairman Clarke Osborne, who is also the chief executive of Gaming International, announced he could no longer financially support the club, and it went into administration.
It is now out of administration and still playing at its Plainmoor ground.