Speedway is coming home for Ray Wilson. The Leicester Lions return to the city next year for the first time since 1983 in a purpose-built £1.2 million stadium at Beaumont Leys.

Nobody is relishing the prospect more than Ray, who was brought up and educated in Beaumont Leys before enjoying a sparkling career as a rider, nine years of which were spent with the Lions.

"I'm so excited speedway is coming back to the city," said Ray, now 63 and living in Bagworth. "It has been a dream for so long, so for it to be a reality is fantastic.

"It is the culmination of years of hard work and it was absolutely brilliant when I got an email from David (Hemsley, the promoter) saying the lease had been finally signed.

"I've given it my full support. Whatever I've been asked to do, I've been happy to do, with enthusiasm. Like all the rest of us in the campaign I wanted speedway back in the city.

"The council have also played their part. They've been willing to look at it and support us and that has made it far easier for us to achieve our aim.

"We should get some exciting racing next season because of the size and shape of the track. If we can get a fairly established side that can produce, we should be able to attract plenty of fans."

Ray has had speedway in his blood from quite early in life. His father, Ron, was a rider and then manager so it seemed only natural that Ray would progress down this avenue.

"My first competitive ride was at Coventry," he said. "But they were in what you might call the elite league at the time and I felt it was too much of a jump for me to make at the time so I signed for Long Eaton.

"That was in 1963 and I progressed well, becoming their No.1 rider and going to Australia in the winter to gain extra experience.

"It paid off and I made my first World Cup final in 1967 at the age of 20, the youngest Englishman to do so."

Ray became a Lion in 1968 when the Long Eaton promotion transferred their licence to Leicester and so began an amazing period of his life.

"I had nine fantastic seasons there, I loved it to bits," said Ray. "Although I wasn't born in the city, I always regarded Leicester as my home town and I was very proud to ride for them."

Domestically, Ray was a star, amassing a record 4,004 points. "The track at Blackbird Road was a racers' track and I enjoyed racing there," he said. "But it meant opposing riders could also enjoy it. There were some superb meetings, fast and frenetic.

"The 4,004 points, well, you don't appreciate what you're doing at the time. It is only when you get to later in life that you are able to look back and realise you might have been all right."

All right? Well modest Ray was also a four-time world team champion, a world pairs winner with Terry Betts and the British champion in 1973.

Ray also helped the Lions to second in the British League in 1971. "That was amazing," he said. "We rode with the same seven throughout the season, there was great camaraderie and spirit with people like John Boulger, Malcolm Brown and Alan Cowling."

Ray left the Lions after the 1976 season. "I broke my left femur for the second time, had my own business to look after and a young family to bring up," he said.

"By then I'd had 12 good years in the sport and thought that was it. But, after being off the bike for a couple of weeks, I started to miss it, I thought there was a bit more left.

"I was disappointed to leave but felt I had done as much as I could have done with the Lions."

Ray joined the Birmingham Brummies and enjoyed three more seasons before injury finally caught up with him again. "I remember my last ride," he said. "Two riders crashed in front of me and I ran wide to avoid them. I clattered into the fence – there were no air fences in those days.

"I was out for a couple of minutes and suffered a badly dislocated right shoulder, which took a long time to heal. It still gives me pain to this day.

"I thought it was time to put things in perspective. I was only 32 so to retire at that sort of age was pretty early. But I'd had 15 years of really top-class speedway, got the business, got the family, and felt it was time to call it a day."

Ray quit in 1979, leaving speedway fans with many marvellous memories. Now he is looking forward to the rebirth of the Lions and watching others create even more memories.