Being a Manchester lad it has been very nostalgic to be able to look at wrestling on the local coast. Morecambe , Fleetwood , Blackpool , Liverpool , New Brighton , Rhyl , Colwyn Bay , Llandudno, Isle of Man and others. All very familiar places to me. In the early 1970's when I got a car I used to pick up the Manchester Evening news and see where I could get to to see some wrestling. One place that eluded me was Southport. Just on the odd occasion The Floral Hall advertised , but I never quite spotted a bill that would get me out there. I do know Southport , but it just seems a little different to all the other places. I think it was because I never saw the sea come in.
Certainly the Lancashire coastal towns seem to have had pre war grappling , but I must say , I have never seen any evidence that Southport had early stuff.
In the early 1960's they put wresting on at the Grand Cinema so I am not so sure when The Floral Hall took over. I have bills from 1967.
Maybe MM or Ost can help with their collections.
What I have unearthed though is a story of wrestling in Southport getting going after the war.
There had been a print works on Tulketh Street which was at the side of the station. In the war it was seconded for storage. At the end of the war it became available for sale. In 1947 It was bought up by a guy name Mawdesley and he obtained a license for Music and Dance. His intention was a skating rink and also Hockey and Netball.
In winter the plan was for Tennis , Badminton and possibly boxing with seats for 400 spectators. The name was to be The Grosvenor Sports Arena.
I never did find boxing , but at the end of October 1947 there was wrestling. For a couple of weeks no advertising in the paper I have been trawling through.
After that I found winter wrestling into 1950.
Unfortunately I just can't track down a picture of this place to really give us the feel for it.. Some great bills and about 75 shows promoted before the owner sold the place which left the promoter high and dry.
When I looked at Ardwick Stadium , I felt sure the promoter was Wryton , only to be proved wrong. Not one single bill mentions the promoter , but for example Bartelli was on so often. It had to be Wryton... didn't it.
No more galleries for the moment so let me put on some highlights for you and at the end....The promoter.
So it was Wryton all along.
Was this the start of wrestling here or was it on somewhere before the war.
No worries at all, Poolstead. Just a bit of fun. Just objectively noting the anomaly of a minor seaside resort on a par with Bexhill getting the tv gig, when so many other major venues missed out.
Ian's cables comment is a real eye-opener, hadn't thought of that at all, thank you, sir!
Could also be, and quite possibly were, all sorts of other reasons to do with nepotism and back-handers.