THE time is 6.34am, Sunday, December 30, literally the day after the night before.
I write this letter on behalf of the people of Oxford who have supported the Oxford Stadium and who miss this iconic venue. A venue where friendships are formed, where families get together and special occasions are celebrated.
But because of faceless moneymen, it is to be no more.
From the motorcycle training school, the children’s dance school, the Baptist church, the waitresses, the management, the track staff, the speedway fans, the greyhound fraternity, the ‘teach-me-to-drive’ in the car park dads (of which I was one) and the 2,000 people who attended the last greyhound meeting, we ask whoever we can to help.
The truth is that most of the above are just normal working class people, who these multinational companies know will go away over time, but my memories stretch over 40 years, from the first jumper I sold on the market, sneaking in to watch speedway and in later years working at the dogs.
If we let this stadium go, what will the people of our great city have left to do? We need a recreational venue. Words are cheap, let’s keep this venue for our children and our children’s children.
DAVID ‘MATTY’ MATZEN
High Street
Standlake
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