History

Scunthorpe Speedway Club History

Speedway first took place in Scunthorpe on May 3rd 1971. Despite a host of problems ran continuously, albeit at two locations, Quibell Park and Ashby Ville, until May 13th 1985. Then on 27th March 2005 league racing returned to the town on what is now known as the Eddie Wright Raceway.

It is hoped this section will continue to evolve. Anyone who has information that ought to be included can e-mail: scunthorperaceway@virginmedia.com

Photos: if you took any of the photos in this section, please let us know so that either we can credit you, or remove the photo if you so wish.

1971 stats are from challenge matches. Stats from 1972 include league and cup matches only.

Text: Richard Hollingsworth.
Averages & league tables: John Eyre.
Photos supplied by: Andrew Skeels & Richard Hollingsworth.
Compiled by: Rob Peasley.

The Quibell Park Years

From 1971 until 1978 operated out of Scunthorpe’s main athletics and cycling stadium, Quibell Park, on Brumby Wood Lane.

Two hundred ton of shale was laid on the top of the 400 metre running track on a weekly basis and the first meeting took place on May 3rd 1971 when up to 4000 paying customers saw the Saints defeat the Hull Vikings 39-38 in a challenge match.

The promoters were former riders Vic White and Ivor Brown and they ran twelve home challenge matches and one at Boston that season with the Saints winning eight and drawing three of the meetings whilst using riders who were loaned from other clubs.

19-year old Geoff Bouchard, who normally rode for Long Eaton rode in all meetings (as did Roger Mills, Stuart Jay and Phil Whitaker) claimed five maximums and was the holder of the track record after the opening night with a winning time in heat 6 of 79.6 seconds.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Geoff Bouchard	13	54	131	4	10.00	135
2	Roger Mills	13	56	132	6	9.86	138
3	Steve Bass	2	8	12	3	7.50	15
4	Stuart Jay	13	50	75	8	6.64	83
5	Peter Wrathall	11	43	59	6	6.05	65
6	Peter Gay	2	6	5	2	4.67	7
7	Garth Coleman	12	41	35	10	4.39	45
8	Phil Whittaker	13	45	41	5	4.09	46
9	Charlie Hogarth	5	15	13	2	4.00	15
10	Rod Haynes	2	5	3	0	2.40	3
11	Barry Holdsworth	1	2	0	0	0.00	0
12	Peter Jarvis	2	4	0	0	0.00	0

1972

1972 saw the Saints move into the British League Division Two but they failed to produce a competitive side, finishing 13 points adrift at the bottom of the seventeen team league with just five wins.

With plenty of changes to the line-up Phil Bass was the only rider to reach 200 points for the side whilst Brian Maxted and Terry Kelly were the only two to get their averages up to the six mark. On the management side Brian Osborne quit as a rider to join the promotion team mid-season.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Jim Irvine	1	2	2	2	8.00	4
2	Chris Emery	1	5	8	1	7.20	9
3	Brian Maxted	25	100	148	11	6.36	159
4	Terry Kelly	10	46	66	3	6.00	69
5	Phil Bass	33	139	192	9	5.78	201
6	Ray Watkins	20	90	118.5	10	5.71	128.5
7	Doug Underwood	19	74	79	15	5.08	94
8	Ian Wilson	33	120	139	13	5.07	152
9	Rod Haynes	20	76	83	8	4.79	91
10	Brian Osborn	18	58	55	5	4.14	60
11	Alan Bellham	10	40	33	4	3.70	37
12	Rex Garrod	7	26	20	4	3.69	24
13	John Bowerman	14	48	35	9	3.67	44
14	Pete Taylor	9	34	19	5	2.82	24
15	Phil Whittaker	3	10	6	1	2.80	7
16	Barry Holdsworth	5	11	4	0	1.45	4
17	Chris Doyle	1	3	1	0	1.33	1
18	Dave Perks	1	2	0	0	0.00	0
19	Dave Johnson	1	2	0	0	0.00	0
20	Mike Ryan	1	2	0	0	0.00	0

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Crewe Kings	32	22	1	9	45
2	Boston Barracudas	32	21	1	10	43
3	Peterborough Panthers	32	21	0	11	42
4	Rayleigh Rockets	32	17	4	11	38
5	Eastbourne Eagles	32	18	2	12	38
6	Birmingham Brummies	32	18	1	13	37
7	Workington Comets	32	18	0	14	36
8	Hull Vikings	32	16	0	16	32
9	Barrow Happy Faces	32	15	1	16	31
10	Teesside Tigers	32	14	3	15	31
11	Bradford Northern	32	15	0	17	30
12	Sunderland Stars	32	13	2	17	28
13	Canterbury Crusaders	32	13	1	18	27
14	Berwick Bandits	32	12	3	17	27
15	Ellesmere Port Gunners	32	12	0	20	24
16	Long Eaton Invaders	32	11	2	19	24
17	Scunthorpe Saints	32	5	1	26	11

PHOTO: 1972 Scunthorpe Scorpions

1973

1973 started with six thrashings for the Saints in their first seven meetings after Ray Watkins smashed his thigh the night before the season was due to open.

Another woeful season looked on the cards but the club signed former World Finalist Ken McKinley, Ian Hindle and Dingle Brown. The trio helped lead the club off the bottom to finish above both Rayleigh and Berwick in the eighteen team league.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Ken McKinlay	31	111	254	15	9.69	269
2	Ian Hindle	31	129	251	15	8.25	266
3	Dingle Brown	26	99	142	11	6.18	153
4	Rod Haynes	33	135	175	23	5.87	198
5	Jack Bywater	33	125	148	18	5.31	166
6	Doug Underwood	27	99	102	14	4.69	116
7	Rex Garrod	31	123	134	7	4.59	141
8	Chris Emery	20	67	47	10	3.40	57
9	John Bowerman	4	14	11	0	3.14	11
10	Roger Pascall	2	10	6	1	2.80	7
11	Ian Wilson	2	3	1	1	2.67	2
12	Rob Homer	1	3	1	1	2.67	2
13	Ken Stafford	3	6	3	0	2.00	3
14	Ray Watkins	5	13	5	1	1.85	6
15	Cliff Hindle	2	5	1	0	0.80	1

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Boston Barracudas	33	29	0	4	58
2	Workington Comets	34	21	2	11	44
3	Eastbourne Eagles	34	19	2	13	40
4	Peterborough Panthers	34	19	1	14	39
5	Birmingham Brummies	34	19	0	15	38
6	Teesside Tigers	34	19	0	15	38
7	Bradford Northern	34	18	0	16	36
8	Crewe Kings	34	17	1	16	35
9	Long Eaton Invaders	33	16	1	16	33
10	Barrow Bombers	34	15	2	17	32
11	Sunderland Stars	34	15	2	17	32
12	Hull Vikings	34	13	5	16	31
13	Chesterton Potters	34	14	1	19	29
14	Ellesmere Port Gunners	34	14	0	20	28
15	Canterbury Crusaders	34	13	2	19	28
16	Scunthorpe Saints	34	12	1	21	25
17	Berwick Bandits	34	11	1	22	23
18	Rayleigh Rockets	34	9	3	22	21

PHOTO: Ken McKinlay

1974

1974 once again saw a grim start to the season for the Saints as Hindle left to join parent club Belle Vue and Rod Haynes also moved up to the British League with his parent club, Sheffield.

McKinley, now aged 46, dropped a point-and-a-half from his average but still led the team with an eight-point plus average until the late season addition of Tony Childs saw the club climb above Weymouth and Sunderland at the bottom of the table.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Tony Childs	10	44	92	5	8.82	97
2	Ken McKinlay	33	121	242	9	8.30	251
3	Andy Sims	37	152	214	36	6.58	250
4	Doug Underwood	38	150	219	27	6.56	246
5	Dingle Brown	38	148	205	21	6.11	226
6	Chris Emery	18	65	84	15	6.09	99
7	Keith Evans	30	112	151	18	6.04	169
8	Jack Bywater	21	80	102	10	5.60	112
9	Tim Swales	8	24	23	4	4.50	27
10	Chris Doyle	9	28	24	5	4.14	29
11	Rex Garrod	1	1	1	0	4.00	1
12	Ray Watkins	2	6	4	1	3.33	5
13	Roger Pascall	9	27	17	3	2.96	20
14	Andy Hines	7	24	12	2	2.33	14

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Birmingham Brummies	35	26	3	6	55
2	Eastbourne Eagles	36	24	3	9	51
3	Boston Barracudas	36	23	2	11	48
4	Workington Comets	36	22	3	11	47
5	Crewe Kings	36	22	0	14	44
6	Teesside Tigers	36	19	1	16	39
7	Bradford Barons	36	19	1	16	39
8	Peterborough Panthers	34	18	1	15	37
9	Coatbridge Tigers	36	18	0	18	36
10	Canterbury Crusaders	36	18	0	18	36
11	Berwick Bandits	36	16	1	19	33
12	Barrow Bombers	36	15	2	19	32
13	Stoke Potters	36	16	0	20	32
14	Ellesmere Port Gunners	35	14	3	18	31
15	Long Eaton Invaders	36	14	2	20	30
16	Rye House Rockets	36	13	0	23	26
17	Scunthorpe Saints	36	10	2	24	22
18	Sunderland Gladiators	36	11	0	25	22
19	Weymouth Wildcats	36	10	0	26	20

PHOTO: Tony Childs

1975

The Saints future looked bleak when the council refused permission for them to race on Sundays instead of Mondays and also declined to assist the club financially after substantial losses in the previous two seasons.

Incredibly there was a modicum of success on track as the Saints climbed to 13th out of 20 in the league and recorded their first ‘on-track’ win away from home in 53 attempts in the league (1974 had seen a win awarded after a result was changed after the season had ended).

Childs once again led the averages but Keith Evans had a breakthrough year whilst Andy Hines and Colin Cook performed superbly in their first full seasons. One sour note was when McKinley left the club mid-meeting after protesting about the state of the Quibell Park track.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Tony Childs	35	150	302	11	8.35	313
2	Keith Evans	36	152	272.5	15	7.55	287.5
3	Ken McKinlay	26	86	131	8	6.47	139
4	Andy Hines	40	160	211	29	6.00	240
5	Colin Cook	23	90	113	21	5.96	134
6	Tony Gillias	16	49	56	12	5.55	68
7	Andy Sims	39	146	171	25	5.37	196
8	Ray Watkins	28	100	92	13	4.20	105
9	Chris Emery	25	93	85	11	4.13	96
10	Ian Silk	8	23	10	2	2.09	12

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Birmingham Brummies	38	29	1	8	59
2	Newcastle Diamonds	38	27	0	11	54
3	Stoke Potters	38	26	0	12	52
4	Eastbourne Eagles	38	25	0	13	50
5	Boston Barracudas	38	24	3	12	50
6	Workington Comets	38	23	3	13	48
7	Berwick Bandits	38	21	3	14	45
8	Crayford Kestrels	38	20	2	16	42
9	Ellesmere Port Gunners	38	19	1	18	39
10	Canterbury Crusaders	38	19	0	19	38
11	Bradford Barons	38	17	2	19	36
12	Coatbridge Tigers	38	17	1	20	35
13	Scunthorpe Saints	38	17	0	21	34
14	Rye House Rockets	38	13	2	23	28
15	Paisley Lions	38	14	0	24	28
16	Crewe Kings	37	14	0	24	28
17	Teesside Tigers	38	13	0	25	26
18	Peterborough Panthers	37	13	0	24	26
19	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	38	11	1	26	23
20	Weymouth Wildcats	38	8	2	28	18

1976

A early season fallout between the promotion and Tony Childs saw the rider leave the club but it did lead to Keith Evans finally agreeing terms. However, whilst Evans had an excellent season, the club were missing a strong second heat-leader. Andy Hines had another good season but Colin Cook went backwards and the club could only finish one off the bottom.

RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
Keith Evans	32	148	331	12	9.27	343
Andy Hines	35	158	249	20	6.81	269
Tony Boyle	15	60	80	9	5.93	89
Phil Kynman	28	109	139	17	5.72	156
Colin Cook	29	126	145	25	5.40	170
Ray Watkins	33	110	117	20	4.98	137
Sid Sheldrick	17	58	65	7	4.97	72
Tony Gillias	20	64	66	10	4.75	76
Danny Boyle	7	18	11	1	2.67	12
Ian Jeffcoate	5	18	10	1	2.44	11
Dick Partridge	2	8	1	0	0.50	1
Ian Silk	2	3	0	0	0.00	0

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Newcastle Diamonds	34	30	1	3	61
2	Ellesmere Port Gunners	34	24	1	9	49
3	Workington Comets	34	20	1	13	41
4	Canterbury Crusaders	34	20	0	14	40
5	Rye House Rockets	34	17	2	15	36
6	Crayford Kestrels	34	17	1	16	35
7	Coatbridge Tigers	34	17	1	16	35
8	Eastbourne Eagles	34	17	0	17	34
9	Peterborough Panthers	34	16	2	16	34
10	Berwick Bandits	34	17	0	17	34
11	Stoke Potters	34	15	1	18	31
12	Boston Barracudas	34	15	1	18	31
13	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	34	15	1	18	31
14	Oxford Cheetahs	34	14	1	19	29
15	Weymouth Wildcats	34	11	2	21	24
16	Paisley Lions	34	12	0	22	24
17	Scunthorpe Saints	34	11	1	22	23
18	Teesside Tigers	34	10	0	24	20

1977

Another season of relative success as 5 teams finished below the Saints in the 19-team National League.

For the first time the Saints had three riders finish with an average over seven as Nicky Allott, Arthur Browning and John McNeill led the team from the bottom of the table after the side picked up just two points from their first eleven league meetings.

The last meeting of the season was set to be the last ever at Quibell Park before a move to a new purpose-built track at Ashby Ville. The damage to the athletics track had led to it losing its ‘prestigious’ rating and the only way to regain it would be for the Saints to leave the parkland arena.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Nicky Allott	36	163	324	14	8.29	338
2	Arthur Browning	25	103	180	18	7.69	198
3	John McNeill	24	102	178	6	7.22	184
4	Sid Sheldrick	37	142	178	30	5.86	208
5	Dave Baugh	38	143	178	28	5.76	206
6	Trevor Whiting	24	84	91	16	5.10	107
7	Paul Cooper	13	50	47	13	4.80	60
8	Phil White	27	106	106	20	4.75	126
9	Danny Young	28	77	66	15	4.21	81
10	Ray Watkins	6	21	15	0	2.86	15
11	Mick Sheldrick	1	1	0	0	0.00	0

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Eastbourne Eagles	36	29	0	7	58
2	Rye House Rockets	36	24	3	9	51
3	Ellesmere Port Gunners	36	22	2	12	46
4	Canterbury Crusaders	36	23	0	13	46
5	Peterborough Panthers	36	22	0	14	44
6	Newcastle Diamonds	36	21	1	14	42
7	Boston Barracudas	36	20	0	16	40
8	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	36	16	4	16	36
9	Teesside Tigers	36	17	1	18	35
10	Crayford Kestrels	36	17	0	19	34
11	Glasgow Tigers	36	16	0	20	32
12	Newport Wasps	36	16	0	20	32
13	Oxford Cheetahs	36	15	1	20	31
14	Scunthorpe Saints	36	15	1	20	31
15	Edinburgh Monarchs	36	15	0	21	30
16	Workington Comets	36	14	1	21	29
17	Weymouth Wildcats	36	11	3	22	25
18	Berwick Bandits	36	11	1	24	23
19	Stoke Potters	36	9	0	27	18

PHOTO: Nicky Allott

1978

With the £100,000 Ashby Ville stadium not ready for the new season the Saints were allowed to stay at Quibell Park for one more year.

Off track Ted Hornsby and Jim Street joined Brian Osborn as promoters whilst on track the team struggled to replace John McNeill. McNeill returned after a while but by this time Arthur Browning was injured and when ‘Big Arthur’ returned his form was inconsistent at best. The Saints finished second bottom, just above Barrow.

RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
Nicky Allott	40	186	416	4	9.03	420
John McNeill	22	100	188	11	7.96	199
Arthur Browning	20	77	107	9	6.03	116
Phil White	40	177	219	30	5.63	249
Mick Handley	14	55	52	7	4.29	59
Danny Boyle	18	49	40	9	4.00	49
Trevor Whiting	37	140	122	18	4.00	140
Danny Young	23	75	59	6	3.47	65
Kevin Teager	3	10	5	2	2.80	7
Paul Cooper	23	62	40	3	2.77	43
Rob Woffinden	4	9	5	1	2.67	6
John Priest	14	41	20	3	2.24	23
Doug Poole	6	12	3	2	1.67	5

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Canterbury Crusaders	38	30	0	8	60
2	Newcastle Diamonds	38	29	2	7	60
3	Rye House Rockets	38	27	0	11	54
4	Eastbourne Eagles	38	25	1	12	51
5	Ellesmere Port Gunners	38	24	0	14	48
6	Oxford Cheetahs	38	20	4	14	44
7	Peterborough Panthers	38	22	1	15	43
8	Stoke Potters	38	21	1	16	43
9	Glasgow Tigers	38	19	1	18	39
10	Crayford Kestrels	38	16	2	20	34
11	Berwick Bandits	38	17	0	21	34
12	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	38	16	1	21	33
13	Weymouth Wildcats	38	16	0	22	32
14	Workington Comets	38	16	0	22	32
15	Edinburgh Monarchs	38	15	1	22	31
16	Milton Keynes Knights	38	12	6	20	30
17	Boston Barracudas	38	13	2	23	28
18	Teesside Tigers	38	12	0	26	24
19	Scunthorpe Saints	38	9	2	27	20
20	Barrow Bombers	38	8	2	28	18

PHOTO: John McNeill

The Ashby Ville Years

1979

Yet another winter of uncertainty with the strained relationship between Brian Osborn and Scunthorpe Borough Council seemingly at breaking point. After just three meetings at Ashby Ville the Speedway Control Board closed the track until the end of August whilst improvements were made.

It meant running a number of double headers to complete the newly named Stags fixtures whilst on track the side were dismal and finished ten points adrift in the National League. One major factor was new heat leader Arthur Price’s ability to nearly halve his starting average.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Phil White	37	167	311	8	7.64	319
2	Arthur Browning	28	123	214	9	7.25	223
3	Robert Maxfield	10	39	65	1	6.77	66
4	Arthur Price	28	104	106	17	4.73	123
5	Kevin Teager	34	136	119	23	4.18	142
6	Trevor Whiting	38	144	111	25	3.78	136
7	Stuart Cope	16	64	48	4	3.25	52
8	John Priest	5	10	6	2	3.20	8
9	Ian Jeffcoate	18	64	46	5	3.19	51
10	Phil Cain	7	23	14	2	2.78	16
11	Rob Woffinden	14	48	27	3	2.50	30
12	David Coles	6	16	8	1	2.25	9
13	Graham Tattersall	7	17	5	1	1.41	6
14	Peter Wordingham	2	3	0	0	0.00	0

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	36	30	0	6	60
2	Rye House Rockets	36	29	1	6	59
3	Oxford Cheetahs	36	24	1	11	49
4	Berwick Bandits	36	21	3	12	45
5	Milton Keynes Knights	36	21	0	15	42
6	Newcastle Diamonds	36	20	0	16	40
7	Glasgow Tigers	36	19	0	17	38
8	Peterborough Panthers	36	18	2	16	38
9	Ellesmere Port Gunners	36	18	1	17	37
10	Canterbury Crusaders	36	17	2	17	36
11	Middlesbrough Bears	36	17	1	18	35
12	Crayford Kestrels	36	16	0	20	32
13	Stoke Potters	36	15	2	19	32
14	Nottingham Outlaws	36	14	1	21	29
15	Workington Comets	36	14	1	21	29
16	Boston Barracudas	36	13	2	21	28
17	Edinburgh Monarchs	36	13	1	22	27
18	Weymouth Wildcats	36	9	1	26	19
19	Scunthorpe Stags	36	4	1	31	9

1980

1980 saw Richard Judge join as a co-promoter and the Stags improved to 13th out of 20. Phil White, in his fourth season with the club, took his average over nine whilst Arthur Browning and Nicky Allott gave the club three genuine heat leaders again.

Kevin Teager, Rob Woffinden and Ian Westwell were also regulars but the team really needed another decent second-string to allow Woffinden to ride at reserve.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Phil White	35	152	330	17	9.13	347
2	Arthur Browning	34	142	287	18	8.59	305
3	Nicky Allott	37	157	266	12	7.08	278
4	Kevin Teager	35	143	169	21	5.31	190
5	Rob Woffinden	40	146	128	19	4.03	147
6	John Priest	8	20	18	2	4.00	20
7	Ian Jeffcoate	38	137	116	19	3.94	135
8	Ian Westwell	13	34	26	7	3.88	33
9	Kevin Paxton	5	16	8	5	3.25	13
10	Mark Stokes	4	9	6	1	3.11	7
11	Graham Mortimer	9	23	12	5	2.96	17
12	Mike Beaumont	7	17	10	2	2.82	12
13	Steve Bryenton	1	2	1	0	2.00	1
14	Andy Sims	1	2	1	0	2.00	1
15	Robert Craven	2	4	1	0	1.00	1
16	Graham Barker	2	6	0	0	0.00	0
17	Phil Vance	1	2	0	0	0.00	0

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Rye House Rockets	38	31	0	7	62
2	Newcastle Diamonds	38	30	1	7	61
3	Middlesbrough Bears	38	27	2	9	56
4	Berwick Bandits	38	24	1	13	49
5	Boston Barracudas	38	23	2	13	48
6	Edinburgh Monarchs	38	23	2	13	48
7	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	38	21	2	15	44
8	Peterborough Panthers	38	21	0	17	42
9	Crayford Kestrels	37	20	1	16	41
10	Ellesmere Port Gunners	38	20	1	17	41
11	Glasgow Tigers	38	19	2	17	40
12	Exeter Falcons	38	17	1	20	35
13	Scunthorpe Stags	38	15	1	22	31
14	Nottingham Outlaws	38	14	2	22	30
15	Oxford Cheetahs	38	14	1	23	29
16	Stoke Potters	38	14	0	24	28
17	Weymouth Wildcats	37	13	1	23	27
18	Canterbury Crusaders	38	10	4	24	24
19	Milton Keynes Knights	38	8	2	28	18
20	Workington Comets	38	2	0	36	4

PHOTO: Arthur Browning.

1981

Phil White and Arthur Browning moved on and with the country in recession the team that took to the track was lacking a number one.

Kevin Teager added over two points to his average but with Mark DeKok as third heat-leader the club were cast adrift with Workington and Milton Keynes at the bottom of the league table.

Just six wins and a draw did see them finish third bottom but a whopping fifteen points adrift of Stoke who finished two places above them in 15th.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Kevin Teager	37	173	310	17	7.56	327
2	Nicky Allott	22	99	179	7	7.52	186
3	Mark Dekok	33	136	171	23	5.71	194
4	Tony Featherstone	37	156	175	33	5.33	208
5	Rob Woffinden	36	154	183	17	5.19	200
6	Tony Childs	10	42	35	3	3.62	38
7	Graeme Beardsley	24	66	46	11	3.45	57
8	Julian Parr	27	71	40	13	2.99	53
9	Phil Kynman	12	41	24	4	2.73	28
10	Mark Fiora	5	17	8	3	2.59	11
11	Paul Thorp	4	13	8	0	2.46	8
12	Graham Mortimer	1	2	1	0	2.00	1
13	Peter Framingham	7	20	8	1	1.80	9
14	Guy Wilson	2	5	1	0	0.80	1
15	Kevin Paxton	2	6	1	0	0.67	1

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Middlesbrough Bears	36	30	1	5	61
2	Weymouth Wildcats	36	26	1	9	53
3	Newcastle Diamonds	36	25	1	10	51
4	Edinburgh Monarchs	36	25	0	11	50
5	Glasgow Tigers	36	24	0	12	48
6	Boston Barracudas	36	22	0	14	44
7	Exeter Falcons	36	22	0	14	44
8	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	36	20	0	16	40
9	Peterborough Panthers	36	19	1	16	39
10	Crayford Kestrels	36	19	0	17	38
11	Ellesmere Port Gunners	36	18	1	17	37
12	Oxford Cheetahs	36	18	1	17	37
13	Wolverhampton Wolves	36	14	1	21	29
14	Canterbury Crusaders	36	14	1	21	29
15	Stoke Potters	36	14	0	22	28
16	Rye House Rockets	36	11	0	25	22
17	Scunthorpe Stags	36	6	1	29	13
18	Workington Comets	36	6	1	29	13
19	Milton Keynes Knights	36	4	0	32	8

1982

The Stags were third bottom again but nearly doubled their previous seasons’ points tally and were just five points behind Milton Keynes who finished five places above them in 12th.

Wholesale improvements to the line-up saw Mike Wilding, Nigel Crabtree and Derek Richardson sign whilst Rob Woffinden, Julian Parr and Ian Gibson made significant improvements on their starting averages. As was often the case the team started slowly but five wins on the trot (including at Oxford and Edinburgh) saw a marked improvement towards the end of the season.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Mike Wilding	31	172	311	27	7.86	338
2	Kevin Teager	38	209	339	36	7.18	375
3	Nigel Crabtree	37	185	287	40	7.07	327
4	Rob Woffinden	14	71	97	9	5.97	106
5	Derek Richardson	31	142	171	29	5.63	200
6	Julian Parr	35	143	161	34	5.45	195
7	Terry Kelly	26	112	134	10	5.14	144
8	Ian Gibson	20	63	55	10	4.13	65
9	Mark Dekok	24	93	78	17	4.09	95
10	Nicky Allott	6	29	21	3	3.31	24

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Newcastle Diamonds	36	30	0	6	60
2	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	36	26	1	9	53
3	Ellesmere Port Gunners	36	25	0	11	50
4	Middlesbrough Bears	36	24	1	11	49
5	Weymouth Wildcats	36	23	1	13	45
6	Rye House Rockets	36	22	0	14	44
7	Long Eaton Invaders	36	20	1	15	41
8	Boston Barracudas	36	19	1	16	39
9	Berwick Bandits	36	18	1	17	37
10	Exeter Falcons	36	17	0	19	34
11	Glasgow Tigers	36	16	0	20	32
12	Milton Keynes Knights	36	14	1	21	29
13	Peterborough Panthers	36	13	2	21	28
14	Edinburgh Monarchs	36	14	0	22	28
15	Crayford Kestrels	36	13	0	23	26
16	Canterbury Crusaders	36	12	1	23	25
17	Scunthorpe Stags	36	11	2	23	24
18	Stoke Potters	36	11	1	24	23
19	Oxford Cheetahs	36	7	3	26	17

1983

By far the best season during the 1971-85 era as the Stags were unbeaten at home in the league and finished fifth despite Wilding, Teager and Woffinden moving on. In came Andy Fisher and Rob Hollingworth whilst Mark DeKok was effectively replaced by 16-year old Winterton lad Kevin Armitage mid-season.

Most riders made significant progress whilst seventh in the averages at the end of the season was Armitage on 5.29, a figure that would have been third heat leader in many of the previous seasons. However, with Britain in the midst of a recession crowds didn’t increase and there was still wrangling with the council over unpaid rent.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Nigel Crabtree	35	186	403	20	9.10	423
2	Andy Fisher	30	146	258	19	7.59	277
3	Rob Hollingworth	34	169	275	28	7.17	303
4	Craig Pendlebury	12	55	85	10	6.91	95
5	Julian Parr	34	168	234	40	6.52	274
6	Derek Richardson	31	150	203	31	6.24	234
7	Ian Gibson	32	126	152	27	5.68	179
8	Kevin Armitage	16	51	58.5	9	5.29	67.5
9	Mark Dekok	21	85	71	14	4.00	85
10	Jamie Hildreth	6	17	7	3	2.35	10

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Newcastle Diamonds	34	25	1	8	51
2	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	34	23	2	9	48
3	Crayford Kestrels	34	23	0	11	46
4	Weymouth Wildcats	34	19	2	13	40
5	Scunthorpe Stags	34	19	2	13	40
6	Milton Keynes Knights	34	19	1	14	39
7	Middlesbrough Bears	34	18	3	13	39
8	Berwick Bandits	34	17	0	17	34
9	Edinburgh Monarchs	34	16	1	17	33
10	Exeter Falcons	34	16	0	18	32
11	Rye House Rockets	34	15	1	18	31
12	Peterborough Panthers	34	14	2	18	30
13	Glasgow Tigers	34	14	1	19	29
14	Oxford Cheetahs	34	14	1	19	29
15	Canterbury Crusaders	34	12	2	20	26
16	Boston Barracudas	34	12	1	21	25
17	Stoke Potters	34	10	1	23	21
18	Long Eaton Invaders	34	9	1	24	19

1984

With continuing financial problems Tony Nicholls joined Richard Judge at the helm of the club whilst number one, Nigel Crabtree, moved to Stoke. The Stags welcomed back Rob Woffinden and he joined Julian Parr, Andy Buck and Derek Richardson in averaging over 7.50.

Despite Paul Evitts leaving the club, after being withdrawn from a race, Mark Burrows stepped in to join Kevin Armitage and Ian Gibson at the bottom end of the side and, whilst the season didn’t match the previous one, a tenth place finish was the second best by a Scunthorpe side.

Sadly in the December former Promoter and sponsor Ted Hornsby died.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Julian Parr	18	70	133	9	8.11	142
2	Andy Buck	32	139	246	25	7.80	271
3	Rob Woffinden	32	139	247	19	7.65	266
4	Derek Richardson	29	120	192	33	7.50	225
5	Paul Evitts	12	43	64	9	6.79	73
6	Mike Wilding	8	33	46	4	6.06	50
7	Kevin Armitage	31	117	140	22	5.54	162
8	Ian Gibson	18	60	60	11	4.73	71
9	Kenny Young	2	4	3	1	4.00	4
10	Mark Burrows	23	71	56	14	3.94	70
11	Nicky Allott	5	15	12	1	3.47	13
12	Richie Owen	8	23	13	1	2.43	14

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Long Eaton Invaders	30	21	1	8	43
2	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	30	19	4	7	42
3	Stoke Potters	30	17	3	10	37
4	Hackney Kestrels	30	16	0	14	32
5	Berwick Bandits	30	15	1	14	31
6	Boston Barracudas	30	15	1	14	31
7	Milton Keynes Knights	30	14	1	15	29
8	Rye House Rockets	30	14	0	16	28
9	Middlesbrough Bears	30	13	2	15	28
10	Scunthorpe Stags	30	13	2	15	28
11	Glasgow Tigers	30	13	2	15	28
12	Canterbury Crusaders	30	13	1	16	27
13	Weymouth Wildcats	30	13	0	17	26
14	Arena Essex Hammers	30	11	3	16	25
15	Peterborough Panthers	30	12	0	18	24
16	Edinburgh Monarchs	30	10	1	19	21

1985

Tony Nicholls took over the sole running of the club and the outlook for the club had never looked brighter. There was a large stretch of spectator cover on turn one, a stock car fence was installed and Eric Boocock had been employed as Team Manager.

The side retained the top four from the previous year and Steve Finch dropped out of the top flight to create a strong top five. Sadly, on track the team struggled to fire on all cylinders at once whilst the club was also losing money at an alarming rate.

When the meeting on 20th May didn’t take place the writing was on the wall and two days later there was an announcement that the club would have to withdraw from the league.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Andy Buck	9	39	88	6	9.64	94
2	Rob Woffinden	6	26	46	3	7.54	49
3	Steve Finch	9	40	67	8	7.50	75
4	Derek Richardson	9	36	47	5	5.78	52
5	Julian Parr	9	35	38	2	4.57	40
6	Mark Burrows	9	30	27	6	4.40	33
7	Peter McNamara	9	27	12	1	1.93	13
8	Kenny Young	2	3	0	0	0.00	0

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	Total
1	Ellesmere Port Gunners	36	25	2	9	52
2	Poole Pirates	36	25	1	10	51
3	Middlesbrough Bears	36	25	1	10	51
4	Wimbledon Dons	36	23	1	12	47
5	Hackney Hawks	36	22	0	14	44
6	Arena Essex Hammers	36	20	2	14	42
7	Peterborough Panthers	36	19	2	15	40
8	Stoke Potters	36	20	0	16	40
9	Berwick Bandits	36	19	1	16	39
10	Eastbourne Eagles	36	18	2	16	38
11	Milton Keynes Knights	36	16	1	19	33
12	Exeter Falcons	36	16	0	20	32
13	Rye House Rockets	36	15	0	21	30
14	Birmingham Brummies	36	14	1	21	29
15	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	36	14	0	22	28
16	Canterbury Crusaders	36	14	0	22	28
17	Glasgow Tigers	36	10	2	24	22
18	Long Eaton Invaders	36	9	2	25	20
19	Edinburgh	36	9	0	27	18

† Barrow withdrew from the league after three matches.
† Scunthorpe withdrew from the league after nine matches.

2002

Former speedway mechanic Rob Godfrey visited the Trelawny track whilst on holiday in Cornwall. He soon formulated plans for speedway to return to Scunthorpe at the now under-used Quibell Park but the council rejected the plans and a search was started for a new site.

2003

A Scorpions’ team was entered into the second-half East Riding Cup at Hull. They raced 10 meetings and eventually won the league using riders like Rob Hollingworth, Ben Wilson, Richard Hall, Benji Compton and Richie Dennis.

The side also competed in a junior four team tournament at Hull, finishing 2nd and raced a Conference League Challenge match at King’s Lynn. They lost 54-35 to the Malcolm Vasey-led Boston Barracudas with Chris Collins scoring 14+1 for the Scorpions.

The Normanby Road Years

2004

The search for a new home was over as North Lincolnshire Council offer a 10-acre plot of land on Normanby Road. A long lease was signed and at the end of May Rob Godfrey and his co-promoter, Norman Beeney, started to build the track.

Once the track was complete it was then a case of building the pits, all of the fencing, installing toilets, a track shop, a bar and gravelling the car park and pits. The track opened with a practice session on Sunday September 19th and the sessions carried on throughout the winter.

2005

Easter Sunday, 27th March, saw over 1500 people brave the Arctic conditions to see the Scunthorpe Telegraph Trophy won by Danny Norton. The crowds kept coming back as the Scorpions finished a creditable eighth out of twelve in the Conference League, just six points behind third-place Weymouth.

Norton was joined by Wayne Carter, Richie Dennis, Benji Compton, Byron Bekker, Ashley Johnson and Grant Hayes as the mainstays of the team. Late in the season the British Under-15 Champion Josh Auty joined the side.

The summer saw two stands built. They at least provided shelter until they could be terraced.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Richie Dennis	18	88	200	13	9.68	7	220
2	Josh Auty	2	9	20	1	9.33	0	21
3	Wayne Carter	30	154	335	17	9.14	4	356
4	Benji Compton	29	131	212	30	7.39	1	243
5	Danny Norton	22	102	167	10	6.94	2	179
6	Byron Bekker	22	103	132	24	6.06	0	156
7	Paul Burnett	6	25	33	3	5.76	0	36
8	Ricky Scarboro	4	20	22	3	5.00	0	25
9	Ashley Johnson	24	102	96	18	4.47	2	116
10	Grant Hayes	22	91	62	14	3.34	0	76
11	David Speight	1	4	2	1	3.00	0	3
12	Scott Richardson	8	35	22	1	2.63	0	23
13	Chris Widman	3	11	2	0	0.73	0	2

CONFERENCE LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Pts	Bonus Pts	Total
1	Oxford Silver Machine Academy	22	15	3	4	1091	909	182	33	9	42
2	Wimbledon Dons	22	15	0	7	1106	932	174	30	11	41
3	Weymouth Wildcats	22	13	0	9	1075	956	119	26	7	33
4	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	22	12	1	9	1067	968	99	25	8	33
5	Armadale Dale Devils	22	12	0	10	1025	986	39	24	7	31
6	Rye House Raiders	22	12	0	10	1046.5	987.5	59	24	5	29
7	Stoke Spitfires	22	12	0	10	1031	982	49	24	5	29
8	Scunthorpe Scorpions	22	11	0	11	1012	1000	12	22	5	27
9	Boston Barracuda-Braves	22	11	0	11	982.5	1055.5	-73	22	4	26
10	Newport Mavericks	22	9	0	13	968	1051	-83	18	3	21
11	Buxton Hitmen	22	6	1	15	890	1112	-222	13	1	14
12	Sittingbourne Crusaders	22	1	1	20	823	1178	-355	3	1	4

CONFERENCE TROPHY (NORTH):

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Pts	Bonus Pts	Total	To S-Final
1	Armadale Dale Devils	6	3	1	2	306	260	46	7	3	10	Qualified
2	Stoke Spitfires	6	3	0	3	284	281	3	6	2	8	Qualified
3	Scunthorpe Scorpions	6	2	1	3	272	286	-14	5	1	6
4	Buxton Hitmen	6	3	0	3	259	294	-35	6	0	6

PHOTO: The 2005 Scunthorpe Scorpions

PHOTO: The crowd at Normanby Road in 2005.

PHOTO: 15-year-old Josh Auty on the night of his debut for the Scorpions

2006

Wayne Carter, Richie Dennis, Benji Compton, Byron Bekker, Josh Auty and Scott Richardson returned. Andrew Tully and Tai Woffinden joined them and the team swept all before them.

Woffinden and Auty set the league on fire with ten point averages in their first full seasons whilst Carter and Dennis would be number ones in many teams and Tully rapidly developed into a heat leader standard rider.

With the league title decided by playoffs for the first time the Scorpions won the quadruple of league, cup, Trophy and Shield whilst Compton and Paul Cooper (coming in for the injured Carter) won the CL Pairs.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Josh Auty	30	156	359	35	10.10	3	397
2	Tai Woffinden	35	169	377	45	9.99	0	422
4	Paul R Cooper	13	55	122	5	9.24	0	127
3	Wayne Carter	17	73	156	12	9.21	4	172
5	Richie Dennis	35	168	356	26	9.10	0	382
6	Benji Compton	30	135	228	45	8.09	0	273
7	Andrew Tully	38	173	292	49	7.88	0	341
8	Byron Bekker	40	176	234	59	6.66	0	293
9	Scott Richardson	13	54	58	12	5.19	0	70

CONFERENCE LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Pts	Bonus Pts	Total
1	Plymouth Devils	14	11	0	3	719	561	158	22	7	29
2	Scunthorpe Scorpions	14	11	0	3	756	521	235	22	6	28
3	Rye House Raiders	14	9	0	5	705	581	124	18	5	23
4	Stoke Spitfires	14	7	1	6	599	657	-58	15	3	18
5	Boston Barracuda-Braves	14	7	0	7	666	616	50	14	3	17
6	Buxton Hitmen	14	5	0	9	639	655	-16	10	3	13
7	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	14	4	1	9	562	722	-160	9	1	10
8	Newport Mavericks	14	1	0	13	460	793	-333	2	0	2

Conference League Play-Offs

Semi-Final

1st Leg: Rye House 38 Scunthorpe 52
2nd Leg: Scunthorpe 62 Rye House 32 (On Agg: Scunthorpe won 114 – 70)

FINAL

1st Leg: Scunthorpe 67 Plymouth 25
2nd Leg: Plymouth 36 Scunthorpe 58 (On Agg: Scunthorpe won 125 – 61)

CONFERENCE TROPHY (EAST):

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Pts	Bonus Pts	Total	To S-Final
1	Scunthorpe Scorpions	4	4	0	0	226	144	82	8	2	10	Qualified
2	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	4	2	0	2	168	198	-30	4	1	5
3	Boston Barracuda-Braves	4	0	0	4	156	208	-52	0	0	0

CONFERENCE SHIELD:

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Pts	Bonus Pts	Total
1	Scunthorpe Scorpions	10	10	0	0	569	341	228	20	5	25
2	Buxton Hitmen	10	7	0	3	526	398	128	14	4	18
3	Stoke Spitfires	10	6	0	4	489	428	61	12	3	15
4	Weymouth Wildcats	10	3	0	7	429	493	-64	6	2	8
5	Cleveland Bays	10	2	0	8	398	515	-117	4	1	5
6	Sittingbourne Crusaders	10	2	0	8	337	573	-236	4	0	4

Mtg
No	Date	H/A	Opponents	Result	Score	Comp
1	07-Apr	A	Boston	W	47-42	EC
2	17-Apr	H	Boston	W	53-40	EC
3	23-Apr	H	USA Dream Team	W	62-33	CH
4	01-May	H	Plymouth	L	44-46	CL
5	29-May	H	Newport	W	75-15	CL
6	04-Jun	H	Boston	W	52-40	CL
7	12-Jun	H	Buxton	W	54-39	CL
8	18-Jun	H	Stoke	W	64-28	CL
9	25-Jun	A	Mildenhall	W	52-41	CL
10	26-Jun	H	Mildenhall	W	59-34	CL
11	30-Jun	A	Boston	W	53-40	CL
12	02-Jul	A	Newport	W	55-39	CL
13	03-Jul	H	Cleveland	W	53-43	CH
14	05-Jul	A	Stoke	W	45-31	CL
15	14-Jul	A	Plymouth	L	38-56	CL
16	16-Jul	H	Rye House	W	67-24	CL
17	23-Jul	H	Stoke	W	59-36	KOC
18	26-Jul	A	Stoke	W	47-46	KOC
19	30-Jul	A	Mildenhall	W	57-36	CT
20	31-Jul	H	Mildenhall	W	60-33	CT
21	06-Aug	A	Buxton	W	52-41	CL
22	07-Aug	H	Boston	W	57-37	CT
23	19-Aug	A	Rye House	L	46-47	CL
24	21-Aug	H	Buxton	W	67-25	CS
25	24-Aug	A	Cleveland	W	46-45	CS
26	01-Sep	A	Weymouth	W	52-41	CS
27	04-Sep	H	Rye House	W	52-36	KOC
28	08-Sep	A	Plymouth	W	51-39	CTF
29	10-Sep	H	Stoke	W	48-42	CS
30	17-Sep	H	Sittingbourne	W	64-24	CS
31	23-Sep	A	Rye House	D	45-45	KOC
32	24-Sep	A	Buxton	W	48-42	CS
33	25-Sep	H	Cleveland	W	63-31	CS
34	01-Oct	H	Weymouth	W	70-20	CS
35	07-Oct	A	Sittingbourne	W	63-27	CS
36	07-Oct	A	Rye House	W	52-38	POSF
37	08-Oct	H	Rye House	W	62-32	POSF
38	13-Oct	A	Plymouth	W	51-42	KOCF
39	14-Oct	A	Stoke	W	48-44	CS
40	15-Oct	H	Plymouth	W	67-25	POF
41	22-Oct	H	Plymouth	W	48-24	KOCF
42	23-Oct	A	Boston	W	52-38	CT
43	27-Oct	A	Plymouth	W	58-36	POF
44	29-Oct	H	Plymouth	W	59-36	CTF

2007

The club needed another year in the Conference League, as the stadium needed further investment, before applying to enter the Premier League.

With Auty, Woffinden and Tully joining Compton as doubling up riders the ten-man squad system was fully utilised. British U-15 Champion Joe Haines came in for Carter who had to retire through injury but the remainder of the side was retained and once again they swept all before them.

They won all three major titles and claimed the Fours title from Plymouth on their own track. In fairness it was perhaps one year too many in the Conference League as the side regularly thumped opponents at the newly-named Eddie Wright Raceway.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Tai Woffinden	20	106	288	10	11.25	3	301
2	Andrew Tully	15	67	163	19	10.87	0	182
3	Josh Auty	27	135	321	31	10.43	2	354
4	Joe Haines	36	175	333	42	8.57	0	375
7	Benji Compton	17	75	140	17	8.37	0	157
5	Richie Dennis	27	124	225	32	8.29	3	260
6	Byron Bekker	36	168	299	43	8.14	0	342
8	James Cockle	12	51	70	14	6.59	0	84
9	Scott Richardson	35	145	152	52	5.63	0	204
10	Scott Anderson	7	27	13	5	2.67	0	18

CONFERENCE LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Pts	Bonus Pts	Total
1	Scunthorpe Scorpions	18	16	0	2	993	637	356	32	9	41
2	Oxford Cheetahs	18	13	1	4	921	729	192	27	8	35
3	Plymouth Devils	18	11	0	7	872	769	103	22	6	28
4	Boston Barracuda-Braves	18	10	1	7	842	801	41	21	5	26
5	Weymouth Wildcats	18	9	1	8	841	801	40	19	5	24
6	Rye House Raiders	18	8	0	10	844	794	50	16	6	22
7	Buxton Hitmen	18	8	0	10	762	887	-125	16	1	17
8	Stoke Spitfires	18	7	1	10	758	898	-140	15	2	17
9	Cleveland Bays	18	3	1	14	719	910	-191	7	3	10
10	Sittingbourne Crusaders	18	2	1	15	653	979	-326	5	0	5

Conference League Play-Offs

Semi-Finals

1st Leg: Scunthorpe 63 Boston 30
2nd Leg: Boston 36 Scunthorpe 56 (On Agg: Scunthorpe won 119 – 66)

FINAL

1st Leg: Oxford 42 Scunthorpe 47
2nd Leg: Scunthorpe 61 Oxford 31 (On Agg: Scunthorpe won 108 – 73)

CONFERENCE TROPHY (NORTH):

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Pts	Bonus Pts	Total	To S-Final
1	Scunthorpe Scorpions	6	6	0	0	353	197	156	12	3	15	Qualified
2	Buxton Hitmen	6	3	0	3	247	301	-54	6	1	7
3	Boston Barracuda-Braves	6	2	0	4	275	278	-3	4	2	6
4	Stoke Spitfires	6	1	0	5	224	323	-99	2	0	2

No	Date	H/A	Opponents	Result	Score	Comp
1	25-Mar	H	Boston	W	55-41	LC
2	06-Apr	A	Boston	W	54-41	LC
3	08-Apr	H	USA Dream Team	W	62-31	CH
4	29-Apr	H	Boston	W	58-35	CT
5	04-May	A	Boston	W	52-40	CT
6	06-May	A	Buxton	W	52-37	CT
7	07-May	H	Buxton	W	64-28	CT
8	19-May	A	Weymouth	W	48-44	CL
9	20-May	H	Stoke	W	69-21	CT
10	23-May	A	Stoke	W	58-36	CT
11	01-Jun	A	Plymouth	W	46-43	CL
12	10-Jun	H	Rye House	W	59-31	KOC
13	16-Jun	A	Rye House	L	41-52	KOC
14	17-Jun	A	Sittingbourne	W	68-24	CL
15	24-Jun	H	Sittingbourne	W	60-29	CL
16	08-Jul	H	Stoke	W	67-23	CL
17	27-Jul	A	Rye House	W	48-43	CL
18	29-Jul	H	Weymouth	W	54-37	CL
19	02-Aug	A	Cleveland	W	57-34	CL
20	05-Aug	H	Boston	W	50-31	CL
21	12-Aug	H	Rye House	W	61-28	CL
22	17-Aug	A	Boston	L	43-46	CL
23	24-Aug	A	Plymouth	W	59-33	CTF
24	26-Aug	A	Buxton	W	54-38	CL
25	27-Aug	H	Buxton	W	58-35	CL
26	29-Aug	A	Stoke	W	60-32	CL
27	02-Sep	H	Plymouth	W	65-28	CTF
28	09-Sep	H	Cleveland	W	64-28	CL
29	14-Sep	A	Oxford	L	45-47	CL
30	16-Sep	H	Plymouth	W	52-40	CL
31	24-Sep	H	Oxford	W	58-35	CL
32	30-Sep	H	Boston	W	51-45	KOC
33	05-Oct	A	Boston	W	62-30*	KOC
34	07-Oct	H	Boston	W	63-30	POSF
35	12-Oct	A	Boston	W	56-36	POSF
36	19-Oct	A	Oxford	W	47-42	POF
37	21-Oct	H	Oxford	W	61-31	POF
38	26-Oct	A	Plymouth	L	44-49	KOCF
39	28-Oct	H	Plymouth	W	58-35	KOCF
40	30-Oct	H	Sheffield	L	44-45	HT

2008

Promoter Rob Godfrey, with Kenny Smith (who replaced Norman Beeney as co-Promoter the previous season), changed the race day from Sunday afternoon to Friday night (because of the number of Sunday tracks) and were accepted into the Premier League.

From the off the racing produced was undoubtedly some of the best in the country. The team won 15 and lost 15 in their first league season to finish a creditable 10th out of 16. They finished fourth in the PL Fours at Workington and lost in the Quarter-final of the Young Shield.

A very impressive first season back in the second tier of British speedway. Away from league racing January 2008 saw the very first amateur meeting at Scunthorpe. In the years to come the meetings would become highly successful and one of the back-bones of Scunthorpe and British speedway.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Magnus Karlsson	41	197	368	21	7.90	9	398
2	Richard Hall	40	193	333	13	7.17	15	361
3	Andrew Moore	21	90	145	16	7.16	0	161
4	Carl Wilkinson	42	187	293	31	6.93	4	328
5	Viktor Bergstrom	38	160	221	42	6.58	0	263
6	Emiliano Sanchez	20	81	107	22	6.37	0	129
7	Ben Powell	22	94	111	18	5.49	0	129
8	Byron Bekker	39	156	143	37	4.62	0	180
9	Benji Compton	17	67	48	11	3.52	0	59

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Edinburgh Monarchs	30	15	0	0	7	2	6	1562	1161	401	53
2	Somerset Rebels	30	15	0	0	6	0	9	1517	1223	294	48
3	King’s Lynn Stars	30	14	1	0	4	4	7	1624	1111	513	45
4	Rye House Rockets	30	15	0	0	4	0	11	1500	1232	268	42
5	Workington Comets	30	12	2	1	5	0	10	1435.5	1300.5	135	41
6	Berwick Bandits	30	13	2	0	3	0	12	1428	1316	112	37
7	Redcar Bears	30	12	0	3	4	1	10	1369	1374	-5	37
8	Sheffield Tigers	30	12	1	2	3	1	11	1381	1345	36	35
9	Reading Racers	30	12	1	2	3	0	12	1350	1405	-55	34
10	Scunthorpe Scorpions	30	12	0	3	3	0	12	1309	1434	-125	33
11	Isle of Wight Islanders	30	14	0	1	1	0	14	1359	1390	-31	31
12	Birmingham Brummies	30	9	0	6	4	0	11	1317.5	1401.5	-84	30
13	Stoke Potters	30	9	1	5	2	0	13	1307	1441	-134	25
14	Newcastle Diamonds	30	8	0	7	2	0	13	1220	1501	-281	22
15	Glasgow Tigers	30	8	0	7	1	0	14	1297	1469	-172	19
16	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	30	0	0	15	0	0	15	932	1804	-872	0

PREMIER TROPHY (GROUP B):

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total	To S-Final
1	Sheffield Tigers	8	4	0	0	2	0	2	386	345	41	14	Qualified
2	Redcar Bears	8	3	1	0	0	1	3	362	360	2	8
3	Scunthorpe Scorpions	8	2	1	1	1	0	3	345	380	-35	8
4	Newcastle Diamonds	8	3	0	1	0	1	3	364	367	-3	8
5	Stoke Potters	8	3	0	1	0	0	4	363	368	-5	6

No	Date	H/A	Opponents	Result	Score	Comp
1	20-Mar	A	Sheffield	L	36-57	PT
2	21-Mar	H	Sheffield	L	41-48	PT
3	30-Mar	H	Redcar	D	45-45	PT
4	04-Apr	H	Newcastle	W	55-38	PT
5	09-Apr	A	Birmingham	L	37-53	PL
6	10-Apr	A	Sheffield	L	36-55	KOC
7	11-Apr	H	Sheffield	L	44-48	KOC
8	18-Apr	H	Stoke	W	47-43	PT
9	19-Apr	A	Stoke	L	39-51	PT
10	21-Apr	A	Newcastle	W	47-43	PT
11	02-May	A	Somerset	L	29-63	PL
12	03-May	A	Redcar	L	35-55	PT
13	05-May	H	Somerset	W	51-39	PL
14	09-May	H	Workington	W	47-43	PL
15	16-May	H	Newcastle	W	56-36	PL
16	17-May	A	Workington	L	39-54	PL
17	18-May	A	Glasgow	L	44-46	PL
18	23-May	A	Edinburgh	L	22-68	PL
19	24-May	A	Berwick	L	42-48	PL
20	26-May	H	Edinburgh	L	39-53	PL
21	06-Jun	H	Redcar	W	52-41	PL
22	07-Jun	A	Stoke	W	47-43	PL
23	20-Jun	H	Mildenhall	W	48-42	PL
24	21-Jun	A	Rye House	L	38-54	PL
25	22-Jun	A	Mildenhall	W	53-40	PL
26	03-Jul	A	Redcar	L	40-50	PL
27	04-Jul	H	Berwick	W	52-41	PL
28	08-Jul	A	Isle of Wight	L	32-60	PL
29	18-Jul	H	King’s Lynn	W	46-43	PL
30	23-Jul	A	King’s Lynn	L	28-63	PL
31	25-Jul	H	Birmingham	W	49-44	PL
32	08-Aug	H	Isle of Wight	W	53-40	PL
33	15-Aug	H	Sheffield	L	43-47	PL
34	25-Aug	H	Glasgow	W	54-39	PL
35	29-Aug	H	Stoke	W	46-44	PL
36	01-Sep	A	Reading	L	44-49	PL
37	18-Sep	A	Sheffield	L	38-52	PL
38	19-Sep	H	Rye House	L	40-53	PL
39	26-Sep	H	Reading	W	53-40	PL
40	03-Oct	H	Workington	W	51-39	YS
41	05-Oct	A	Workington	L	35-58	YS
42	12-Oct	A	Newcastle	W	47-46	PL

SCUNTHORPE SAINTS’ CONFERENCE LEAGUE AVERAGES:

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Benji Compton	3	13	27	1	8.62	0	28
2	Byron Bekker	16	83	171	7	8.58	12	190
3	James Birkinshaw	1	5	8	2	8.00	0	10
4	Jamie Robertson	1	4	7	1	8.00	0	8
5	Jonathan Bethell	11	46	75	12	7.57	0	87
6	Sam Martin	5	21	30	7	7.05	0	37
7	Scott Richardson	18	94	153	11	6.98	0	164
8	Gary Irving	18	85	122	23	6.82	2	147
9	Stuart Parnaby	9	39	50	15	6.67	2	67
10	Mike Pickering	10	37	43	10	5.73	0	53
11	Ben Hopwood	8	33	38	7	5.45	0	45
12	Scott Anderson	7	20	21	5	5.20	0	26
13	Ricky Scarboro	5	24	25	3	4.67	0	28
14	Adam Wrathall	7	28	22	7	4.14	0	29
15	Craig Cook	1	3	1	1	2.67	0	2

CONFERENCE LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Plymouth Devils	14	7	0	0	2	0	5	709	569	140	20
2	Boston Barracuda-Braves	14	6	1	0	2	0	5	713	565	148	19
3	Redcar Cubs	14	7	0	0	1	1	5	657	614	43	18
4	Weymouth Wildcats	14	7	0	0	1	0	6	688	588	100	17
6	Scunthorpe Saints	14	7	0	0	1	0	6	637	629	8	17
6	Buxton Hitmen	14	6	0	1	1	0	6	605	669	-64	15
7	Rye House Raiders	14	6	0	1	0	0	7	614	663	-49	12
8	Sittingbourne Crusaders	14	1	0	6	0	0	7	472	798	-326	2

2009

The club captured Wolverhampton’s GB international David Howe, Jerran Hart and Simon Lambert to replace Richard Hall, Emiliano Sanchez and Ben Powell but after a bright start in the Premier Trophy form started to elude several riders. In the end Byron Bekker was replaced and after two further changes the club ultimately settled on Ritchie Hawkins. From that point the Scorpions’ season improved and they finished the season strongly. Although they were once again 10th they were just five points behind 5th, having won 13 and lost 13 of their league fixtures.

Three semi-final appearances (Trophy, Knockout Cup and Young Shield) set a new bar for the club whilst the Saints side did well in the newly-named National League with a very young side. There was a fantastic advert for the club and the quality of racing on offer at the Eddie Wright Raceway with an outstanding meeting, against Sheffield, shown on Sky Sports TV but the season will ultimately be remembered for the sad loss of ‘King’ Kenny Smith, the club’s co-promoter and team manager, on Monday 13th July, just two days after he bravely led his side out for one last time. He, and his contribution to Scunthorpe Speedway, will always be remembered.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	David Howe	49	231	499	30	9.16	23	552
2	Magnus Karlsson	44	209	430	23	8.67	20	473
3	Carl Wilkinson	50	225	379	17	7.04	11	407
5	Simon Lambert	48	215	262	48	5.80	2	312
4	Viktor Bergstrom	39	151	184	30	5.67	0	214
6	Ritchie Hawkins	21	89	95	18	5.08	0	113
7	Jerran Hart	50	228	239	39	4.88	3	281
8	Byron Bekker	21	83	58	15	3.52	0	73
10	Adam Allott	3	11	8	1	3.27	0	9
9	Nick Simmons	5	22	14	3	3.09	0	17

PREMIER LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	King’s Lynn Stars	26	13	0	0	0	4	2	0	3	4	1378	1013	365	64
2	Edinburgh Monarchs	26	11	2	0	0	2	1	1	1	8	1215	1122	93	51
3	Newcastle Diamonds	26	12	1	0	0	1	1	1	2	8	1241	1139	102	49
4	Birmingham Brummies	26	9	2	0	2	1	3	0	5	4	1232	1139	93	49
5	Redcar Bears	26	10	1	1	1	0	2	0	5	6	1174	1197	-23	44
6	Somerset Rebels	26	9	4	0	0	0	1	0	4	8	1199	1177	22	42
7	Workington Comets	26	7	4	1	1	1	1	1	2	8	1170	1215	-45	41
8	Sheffield Tigers	26	10	0	1	2	1	0	0	4	8	1192	1179	13	39
9	Rye House Rockets	26	9	3	0	1	0	0	0	4	9	1211	1174	37	37
10	Scunthorpe Scorpions	26	8	4	0	1	0	1	0	2	10	1195	1199	-4	37
11	Stoke Potters	26	7	5	0	1	0	0	1	1	11	1096	1275	-179	34
12	Berwick Bandits	26	6	3	1	3	0	2	0	0	11	1128	1257	-129	31
13	Glasgow Tigers	26	3	4	0	6	0	1	0	2	10	1122	1238	-116	22
14	Newport Wasps	26	2	3	1	7	0	0	1	1	11	1074	1303	-229	16

PREMIER TROPHY (GROUP B):

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total	To S-Final
1	King’s Lynn Stars	12	6	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	0	665	439	226	33	Qualified
2	Scunthorpe Scorpions	12	5	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	3	534	574	-40	21	Qualified
3	Rye House Rockets	12	5	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	5	590	519	71	20
4	Somerset Rebels	12	5	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	545	555	-10	20
5	Stoke Potters	12	2	3	0	1	1	0	1	0	4	517	576	-59	18
6	Newport Wasps	12	2	1	1	2	0	1	0	0	5	504	596	-92	12
7	Birmingham Brummies	12	1	1	1	3	0	0	0	1	5	503	599	-96	7

No	Date	H/A	Opponents	Result	Score	Comp
1	20-Mar	H	Sheffield	W	60-32	CH
2	22-Mar	A	Sheffield	L	40-50	CH
3	27-Mar	H	Stoke	W	57-37	PT
4	03-Apr	H	Birmingham	W	53-40	PT
5	05-Apr	A	Newport	L	46-49	PT
6	08-Apr	A	King’s Lynn	L	31-62	PT
7	10-Apr	A	Somerset	L	38-56	PT
8	13-Apr	H	Somerset	W	53-40	PT
9	15-Apr	A	Birmingham	W	48-41	PT
10	17-Apr	H	Rye House	W	52-43	PT
11	18-Apr	A	Rye House	L	25-67	PT
12	24-Apr	H	King’s Lynn	L	38-54	PT
13	25-Apr	A	Stoke	L	41-54	PT
14	05-May	H	Sheffield	W	57-38	PL
15	08-May	H	Newcastle	W	65-25	KOC
16	10-May	A	Newcastle	L	42-48	KOC
17	16-May	A	Workington	L	40-50	PL
18	22-May	A	Edinburgh	L	40-51	PL
19	23-May	A	Berwick	L	43-47	PL
20	25-May	H	Edinburgh	W	49-44	PL
21	29-May	H	Newport	W	52-38	PT
22	03-Jun	A	Birmingham	L	38-57	PL
23	05-Jun	H	Somerset	W	47-43	PL
24	12-Jun	H	Birmingham	L	45-48	PL
25	13-Jun	A	Stoke	L	37-56	PL
26	17-Jun	A	King’s Lynn	L	37-56	PL
27	18-Jun	A	Redcar	L	40-50	PL
28	19-Jun	H	Redcar	W	49-44	PL
29	25-Jun	A	Sheffield	L	38-52	PL
30	03-Jul	H	Workington	W	51-39	PL
31	11-Jul	H	Edinburgh	L	44-46	PTSF
32	16-Jul	A	Redcar	Ab	22-32	KOC
33	18-Jul	A	Rye House	L	39-53	PL
34	24-Jul	A	Edinburgh	L	43-52	PTSF
35	26-Jul	A	Glasgow	L	43-49	PL
36	31-Jul	H	Redcar	W	50-39	KOC
37	02-Aug	A	Newcastle	L	43-52	PL
38	07-Aug	H	Newcastle	W	51-45	PL
39	13-Aug	A	Redcar	L	44-46	KOC
40	14-Aug	H	Rye House	W	49-41	PL
41	21-Aug	H	Glasgow	W	50-40	PL
42	23-Aug	A	Newport	W	46-44	PL
43	28-Aug	H	Newport	W	56-39	PL
44	31-Aug	H	King’s Lynn	W	57-35	PL
45	04-Sep	H	Berwick	W	51-42	PL
46	11-Sep	A	Somerset	L	40-53	PL
47	18-Sep	H	Stoke	W	59-31	PL
48	01-Oct	A	Redcar	L	43-49	YS
49	02-Oct	H	Redcar	W	56-34	YS
50	06-Oct	A	King’s Lynn	L	20-70	KOCSF
51	09-Oct	H	King’s Lynn	W	45-27	KOCSF
52	16-Oct	H	Rye House	W	51-42	YSSF
53	17-Oct	A	Rye House	L	40-50	YSSF
54	23-Oct	H	Smithy’s Seven	L	44-46	CH

SCUNTHORPE SAINTS’ AVERAGES:

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Simon Lambert	10	51	132	3	10.59	11	146
2	Byron Bekker	10	48	101	5	8.83	8	114
3	Gary Irving	4	18	31	2	7.33	0	33
4	Sean Stoddart	3	12	19	1	6.67	2	22
5	Ashley Morris	15	63	76	13	5.65	0	89
6	Scott Richardson	15	66	86	7	5.64	9	102
7	Richard Franklin	14	62	79	8	5.61	7	94
8	Ricky Scarboro	1	5	6	1	5.60	0	7
9	James Birkinshaw	1	4	4	1	5.00	0	5
10	James Sarjeant	15	63	61	15	4.83	0	76
11	Adam Wrathall	19	87	87	17	4.78	0	104
12	Kyle Howarth	19	79	74	16	4.56	0	90
13	John MacPhail	3	9	4	0	1.78	0	4
14	Jordan Tyrer	1	4	1	0	1.00	0	1
15	Jack Hirst	1	3	0	0	0.00	0	0

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Bournemouth Buccaneers	18	9	0	0	0	4	2	1	1	1	952	716	236	52
2	Weymouth Wildcats	18	8	0	0	1	2	0	1	1	5	893	770	123	35
3	Plymouth Devils	18	7	1	1	0	0	1	2	2	4	885	774	111	33
4	Buxton Hitmen	18	7	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	6	825	820	5	30
5	Isle of Wight Islanders	18	7	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	7	817	825	-8	29
6	Scunthorpe Saints	18	3	2	2	2	1	1	0	1	6	783	886	-103	23
7	Newport Hornets	18	3	2	0	4	1	0	2	1	5	791	840	-49	22
8	King’s Lynn Barracudas	18	5	1	1	2	0	1	0	1	7	792	869	-77	22
9	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	18	4	0	1	4	2	0	0	0	7	790	873	-83	21
10	Rye House Cobras	18	2	3	0	4	0	1	0	1	7	760	895	-135	16

2010

There was just one change to the team over the winter with Joel Parsons replacing Ritchie Hawkins and the season started reasonably well with a second place finish in their Premier Trophy group, behind the invincible Birmingham side, just failing to net them a semi-final spot. Sadly Parson’s Scunthorpe career only lasted a month though because he tangled with Berwick’s Paul Clews on 23rd April and’ broke’ his back. Ultimately this would end his career. Then, the following night, Victor Bergstrom, badly burned his leg on his exhaust whilst trapped under the Stoke air fence and ended up missing a large number of meetings. Tero Aarnio came in and proved a crowd favourite but the three home losses in the league weren’t quite cancelled out by the win at Glasgow and draw at Rye House. It meant the Scorpions finished in ninth place but just four points away from fifth spot.

With Richard Hollingsworth taking over the Scorpions Team Managing duties it was Stuart Parnaby who took control of the National League Saints side when Malcolm Vasey moved to Stoke to manage in the Premier League. Parnaby only had Scott Richardson and Adam Wrathall from the previous season’s team but with the addition of raw teenagers Ashley Birks and Steve Worrall at reserve, plus Gary Irving, the team put a lot of emphasis on developing new riders. They finished 8th out of 10 in the league but once again the real benefits would been seen in future seasons.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Magnus Karlsson	40	187	353	24	8.47	19	396
2	David Howe	40	177	361	10	8.38	19	390
3	Carl Wilkinson	40	187	321	33	7.57	0	354
4	Tero Aarnio	28	128	196	25	6.91	5	226
5	Joel Parsons	8	33	49	8	6.91	0	57
6	Viktor Bergstrom	25	102	116	26	5.57	0	142
7	Jerran Hart	30	150	168	26	5.17	0	194
8	Jan Graversen	9	38	35	9	4.63	0	44
9	Simon Lambert	23	106	86	21	4.04	0	107
10	Gary Irving	6	27	12	3	2.22	0	15
11	Steve Worrall	7	26	11	3	2.15	0	14

PREMIER LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Edinburgh Monarchs	26	11	1	0	1	7	3	1	0	2	1317	1039	278	74
2	Newcastle Diamonds	26	12	0	0	1	2	4	0	2	5	1307	1096	211	58
3	Birmingham Brummies	26	11	1	0	1	1	2	0	5	5	1275	1102	173	50
4	Sheffield Tigers	26	8	3	0	2	2	3	0	2	6	1217	1156	61	49
5	Rye House Rockets	26	9	1	1	2	2	1	0	1	9	1217	1183	34	42
6	Workington Comets	26	9	2	0	2	2	0	0	3	8	1204	1184	20	42
7	King’s Lynn Stars	26	8	3	0	2	2	0	0	2	9	1201	1213	-12	40
8	Berwick Bandits	26	9	1	0	3	1	2	0	0	10	1157	1218	-61	39
9	Scunthorpe Scorpions	26	10	0	0	3	1	0	1	2	9	1189	1194	-5	38
10	Newport Wasps	26	6	2	0	5	1	3	0	3	6	1162	1193	-31	38
11	Somerset Rebels	26	6	2	2	3	1	1	0	1	10	1168	1227	-59	32
12	Stoke Potters	26	6	3	0	4	0	1	0	1	11	1106	1277	-171	28
13	Glasgow Tigers	26	4	2	0	7	0	1	2	1	9	1112	1272	-160	24
14	Redcar Bears	26	2	2	1	8	0	1	0	0	12	1039	1317	-278	14

PREMIER TROPHY (MIDLAND):

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total	To S-Final
1	Birmingham Brummies	8	4	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	436	290	146	28	Qualified
2	Scunthorpe Scorpions	8	2	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	359	357	2	14
3	Sheffield Tigers	8	2	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	2	374	355	19	12
4	Redcar Bears	8	1	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	3	328	397	-69	7
5	Stoke Potters	8	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	3	324	422	-98	4

No	Date	H/A	Opponents	Result	Score	Comp
1	19-Mar	H	Sheffield	W	43-33	PT
2	26-Mar	H	Stoke	W	49-44	PT
3	04-Apr	A	Birmingham	L	41-54	PT
4	05-Apr	H	Redcar	W	50-42	PT
5	08-Apr	A	Sheffield	L	43-49	PT
6	09-Apr	H	Birmingham	L	41-49	PT
7	22-Apr	A	Redcar	W	48-42	PT
8	23-Apr	H	Berwick	W	62-28	PL
9	24-Apr	A	Stoke	D	44-44	PT
10	30-Apr	A	Somerset	L	43-47	PL
11	03-May	H	Somerset	W	56-40	PL
12	07-May	H	King’s Lynn	W	55-37	PL
13	09-May	A	Newcastle	L	31-59	KOC
14	14-May	H	Newcastle	W	49-41	KOC
15	19-May	A	Birmingham	L	40-52	PL
16	21-May	H	Birmingham	W	55-39	PL
17	22-May	A	Berwick	L	35-58	PL
18	28-May	A	Edinburgh	L	34-59	PL
19	31-May	H	Edinburgh	L	41-48	PL
20	04-Jun	H	Newport	L	42-45	PL
21	06-Jun	A	Glasgow	W	52-42	PL
22	19-Jun	A	Workington	L	36-56	PL
23	20-Jun	H	Workington	W	56-36	PL
24	04-Jul	H	Rye House	W	55-37	PL
25	07-Jul	A	King’s Lynn	L	35-55	PL
26	15-Jul	A	Sheffield	L	32-61	PL
27	16-Jul	H	Stoke	W	51-39	PL
28	17-Jul	A	Stoke	L	40-53	PL
29	23-Jul	H	Newcastle	W	52-39	PL
30	25-Jul	A	Newport	L	29-61	PL
31	01-Aug	A	Newcastle	L	39-53	PL
32	19-Aug	A	Redcar	L	44-49	PL
33	20-Aug	H	Redcar	W	57-34	PL
34	21-Aug	A	Rye House	D	45-45	PL
35	30-Aug	H	Sheffield	L	41-51	PL
36	03-Sep	H	Glasgow	W	62-30	PL
37	02-Oct	H	Somerset	W	70-20	YS
38	08-Oct	A	Somerset	L	29-65	YS
39	16-Oct	A	Workington	L	35-61	YS
40	18-Oct	H	Workington	Ab	22-8	YS
41	22-Oct	H	Workington	W	47-43	YS

SCUNTHORPE SAINTS’ AVERAGES:

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Benji Compton	16	73	120	8	7.01	6	134
2	Mark Burrows	9	39	66	1	6.87	10	77
3	Gary Irving	19	89	140	11	6.79	3	154
4	Steve Worrall	19	101	144	19	6.53	2	165
5	Ashley Birks	16	77	94	15	5.66	0	109
6	Scott Richardson	16	69	85	5	5.22	9	99
7	Adam Wrathall	14	60	65	9	4.93	0	74
8	Jonathan Bethell	2	5	4	2	4.80	0	6
9	Gary Beaton	5	20	17	4	4.20	0	21
10	Richie Worrall	5	20	15	5	4.00	0	20
11	Gareth Isherwood	5	11	10	1	4.00	0	11
12	Luke Chessell	5	20	14	2	3.20	0	16
13	Leigh Boujos	2	6	2	2	2.67	0	4

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Dudley Heathens	18	9	0	0	0	2	2	0	4	1	938	724	214	45
2	Buxton Hitmen	18	8	1	0	0	4	1	0	0	4	899	722	177	45
3	Newport Hornets	18	8	0	0	1	5	0	0	1	3	878	742	136	45
4	Rye House Cobras	18	6	1	0	2	1	2	0	1	5	801	821	-20	31
5	Bournemouth Buccaneers	18	5	3	0	1	0	2	1	1	5	837	803	34	30
6	Plymouth Devils	18	7	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	8	844	819	25	27
7	Isle of Wight Islanders	18	6	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	9	779	867	-88	18
8	Scunthorpe Saints	18	4	1	1	3	0	0	0	0	9	743	893	-150	15
9	King’s Lynn Young Stars	18	3	2	0	4	0	0	0	1	8	758	873	-115	14
10	Weymouth Wildcats	18	4	0	0	5	0	0	0	1	8	719	932	-213	13

2011

With Magnus Karlsson, Jerran Hart and Jan Graversen (a late season reserve upgrade in 2009) replaced by Thomas Jorgensen, Ben Wilson and Steve Worrall the Scorpions continued to nich their way up the Premier League table. After finishing 10th, 10th and 9th they achieved their first top half finish with 7th place. Three away wins (two at Leicester and one at Newport) out weighed two losses at home (to Workington and Leicester) and were acheived despite having to bring in another seven-point assessed rider, Michael Palm Toft, after Carl Wilkinson broke his leg and the initial replacement, Joe Haines, struggled to find form after coming back from a bad winter crash in Australia. The last change saw Richard Hall come in when Viktor Bergstrom was injured.

Crowds improved as the season went on whilst the Saints National League side (which was effectively run as a Scunthorpe side but officially names Scunthorpe/Sheffield Saints because of financial and track time input) actually won the league title. With second season riders Steve Worrall and Ashley Birks joined by rookies Richie Worrall and Stefan Nielsen the side had a very youthful core. Gary Irving and Adam Wrathall made up the core of the side whilst the final spot was mostly filled by a combination of Paul Cooper, Greg Blair and Lee Smethills. The side finished in second place knowing it qualified them for the playoffs before defeating Belle Vue 92-88 and Mildenhall 93-92 in epic two-leg playoff battles. The final against Mildenhall saw a 62-33 home win but the 29-point lead was nearly blown at Mildenhall when only a 5-1 from Birks and Richie Worrall in heat 15 retrieved the situation.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	David Howe	40	196	400	18	8.53	19	437
2	Richard Hall	12	51	92	10	8.00	2	104
3	Tero Aarnio	23	106	177	13	7.17	4	194
4	Ben Wilson	40	184	275	27	6.57	11	313
5	Thomas Jørgensen	41	195	282	36	6.52	0	318
6	Viktor Bergstrom	22	104	140	21	6.19	0	161
7	Michael Palm Toft	23	104	135	23	6.08	3	161
8	Carl Wilkinson	13	56	68	8	5.43	3	79
9	Joe Haines	10	39	38	9	4.82	2	49
10	Steve Worrall	40	178	155	41	4.40	0	196

PREMIER LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Glasgow Tigers	38	19	0	0	0	3	6	0	2	8	1925	1568	357	89
2	Sheffield Tigers	38	17	1	0	1	1	3	0	8	7	1880	1604	276	74
3	Ipswich Witches	38	15	2	0	2	3	2	3	1	10	1793	1670	123	74
4	Workington Comets	38	16	1	1	1	2	2	1	5	9	1787	1667	120	72
5	Newport Wasps	38	11	2	0	6	5	2	1	3	8	1794	1697	97	68
6	Somerset Rebels	38	12	4	1	2	3	1	2	3	10	1786	1712	74	67
7	Scunthorpe Scorpions	38	13	4	0	2	1	2	0	3	13	1709	1786	-77	60
8	Rye House Rockets	38	10	6	0	3	2	0	1	6	10	1687	1750	-63	58
9	Berwick Bandits	38	8	9	0	2	1	0	1	5	12	1712	1710	2	53
10	Redcar Bears	38	8	7	2	2	1	1	1	3	13	1690	1792	-102	52
11	Edinburgh Monarchs	38	13	1	1	4	1	1	0	2	15	1764	1737	27	51
12	Newcastle Diamonds	38	9	5	0	5	0	1	0	6	12	1693	1794	-101	46
13	Plymouth Devils	38	4	7	1	7	0	1	0	1	17	1496	1929	-433	31
14	Leicester Lions	38	4	1	4	10	1	1	0	2	15	1586	1886	-300	27

No	Date	H/A	Opponents	Result	Score	Comp
1	18-Mar	H	Sheffield	L	43-47	STT (1)
2	24-Mar	A	Sheffield	L	35-59	STT (2)
3	25-Mar	H	Berwick	W	56-39	PL
4	31-Mar	A	Ipswich	L	24-69	PL
5	01-Apr	H	Newcastle	W	47-42	PL
6	02-Apr	A	Workington	L	37-59	PL
7	07-Apr	A	Redcar	L	45-48	PL
8	08-Apr	H	Rye House	W	56-38	PL
9	10-Apr	A	Leicester	W	52-40	PL
10	15-Apr	H	Workington	L	44-46	PL
11	16-Apr	A	Berwick	L	36-54	PL
12	22-Apr	A	Somerset	L	32-62	PL
13	25-Apr	H	Somerset	W	49-41	PL
14	29-Apr	A	Edinburgh	L	32-60	PL
15	02-May	H	Edinburgh	W	46-44	PL
16	12-May	A	Ipswich	L	35-55	KOC1 (1)
17	22-May	A	Glasgow	L	43-50	PL
18	27-May	A	Plymouth	L	38-51	PL
19	03-Jun	H	Ipswich	W	55-35	KOC1 (2)
20	10-Jun	H	Sheffield	W	46-43	PL
21	16-Jun	A	Ipswich	L	25-65	KOC1R (1)
22	01-Jul	H	Ipswich	W	53-37	KOC1R (2)
23	02-Jul	A	Newport	W	49-43	PL
24	03-Jul	A	Newcastle	L	45-49	PL
25	08-Jul	H	Leicester	W	53-40	PL
26	14-Jul	A	Sheffield	L	39-55	PL
27	15-Jul	H	Newport	W	52-41	PL
28	29-Jul	H	Glasgow	W	54-36	PL
29	05-Aug	H	Ipswich	W	53-39	PL
30	13-Aug	A	Leicester	W	47-43	PL2
31	18-Aug	A	Redcar	L	39-54	PL2
32	19-Aug	H	Plymouth	W	56-37	PL
33	29-Aug	H	Edinburgh	W	50-41	PL2
34	02-Sep	A	Edinburgh	L	25-64	PL2
35	04-Sep	H	Somerset	W	49-41	PL2
36	09-Sep	H	Redcar	W	52-41	PL
37	16-Sep	H	Leicester	L	43-50	PL2
38	23-Sep	H	Newport	W	46-44	PL2
39	24-Sep	A	Newport	L	39-56	PL2
40	30-Sep	H	Glasgow	W	57-38	PL2
41	02-Oct	A	Rye House	L	43-47	PL
42	07-Oct	H	Redcar	W	65-25	PL2
43	09-Oct	A	Glasgow	L	27-66	PL2
44	14-Oct	A	Somerset	L	43-50	PL2

SCUNTHORPE SAINTS’ AVERAGES:

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	John Oliver	2	8	17	2	9.50	2	21
2	Steve Worrall	18	84	166	22	8.95	8	196
3	Richie Worrall	15	85	171	18	8.89	3	192
4	Ashley Birks	18	90	184	10	8.62	3	197
5	Gary Irving	12	53	100	14	8.60	0	114
6	Benji Compton	1	4	7	1	8.00	0	8
7	Lee Smethills	12	52	74	9	6.38	0	83
8	Stefan Nielsen	17	70	95	16	6.34	2	113
9	Greg Blair	6	22	30	3	6.00	0	33
10	Adam Wrathall	21	103	123	16	5.40	3	142
11	Oliver Greenwood	2	7	8	1	5.14	0	9
12	Paul Cooper	5	19	14	1	3.16	0	15

NATIONAL LEAGUE TABLE:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Stoke Potters	18	9	0	0	0	3	1	0	1	4	897	735	162	43
2	Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield)	18	8	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	5	875	760	115	36
3	Belle Vue Colts	18	7	2	0	0	2	0	0	2	5	855	737	118	35
4	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	18	4	5	0	0	1	1	2	2	3	855	785	70	35
5	Hackney Hawks	18	7	0	0	2	1	0	0	3	5	813	830	-17	28
6	King’s Lynn Young Stars	18	5	1	1	2	0	2	0	2	5	815	835	-20	26
7	Dudley Heathens	18	4	2	0	3	0	2	1	1	5	741	848	-107	25
8	Buxton Hitmen	18	4	1	0	4	1	0	0	3	5	814	814	0	21
9	Isle of Wight Islanders	18	2	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	8	729	904	-175	16
10	Newport Hornets	18	3	2	1	3	0	0	0	1	8	735	881	-146	15

League Championship Play-Off Semi-Finals

1st Leg Belle Vue Colts 46 Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 41

2nd Leg Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 51 Belle Vue Colts 42

On agg: Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 92 Belle Vue Colts 88

League Championship Play-Off Final

1st Leg Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 62 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 33

2nd Leg Mildenhall Fen Tigers 59 Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 31

On agg: Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 93 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 92

2012

2012 will live long in the memory of Scunthorpe Speedway fans. It was the year when all the hard work came together with the ingredient any successful speedway team needs, a bit of good fortune at the right time. The side looked like playoff contenders from the point they made a couple of team changes in mid-season and went on to claim the Premier League title by 1 point (92-91) over two legs against Somerset in the last week of October. However, near the end of June things didn’t look so good. Josh Auty, Ashley Birks and Tom Armstrong had come into the side at the start of the season in place of Ben Wilson, Richard Hall and Steve Worrall. Returning were David Howe, Thomas Jorgensen, Tero Aarnio and Michael Palm Toft but Armstrong had a bad crash in only his third ride of the season. Jerran Hart filled in during his absence but when he returned ten weeks later Armstrong’s confidence had completely disappearred. After a torrid few meetings he decided to return to Australia and then the Scorpions’ first stroke of good fortune occurred. Nick Morris became available and although it meant losing Tero Aarnio there was no denying that Morris’ signing was a real coup. Then Workington made a bizarre decision to release Gary Irving from their side despite him having around a five point average for the Comets. In a shot Irving signed for the Scorpions and a 5.48 average from 21 meetings at the end of the season from the club’s number 7 showed just how strong they had become.

However, as with any speedway season there were downs as well as ups. David Howe injured his shoulder in April and despite a couple of brief comebacks he was out for the rest of the season. Guests and rider replacement covered for him and long-term that is rarely a fruitful solution. However, the remaining six were going so well that they took it in their stride and went through their home league campaign upbeaten. Away from home there were victories at Ipswich, Sheffield and Edinburgh along with a draw at Redcar. Plenty of bonus points were accumulated and by season end their 15-1-8 record saw them on 50 points, just one behind Newcastle.

By the playoffs Thomas Jorgensen was out injured and Nick Morris also missed the two away matches in the playoff group. However, sterling efforts from Kevin Doolan and Sam Masters at Edinburgh saw the Scorpions grad a vital away bonus point for losing by less than 7 points. It was enough to see them into the final against Somerset but a number of shed chains and mechanical gremlins saw the Rebels eke out a five point lead from the first leg when the Scorpions could easily have won. Two days later and the second leg of the final was rained off but then, on Monday 29th October, the Scorpions managed to win the home leg by six points. A nerve-wracking heat 15 saw Josh Auty and Nick Morris keep a charging Richard Hall at the back to ensure the celebrations could begin. There is actually a whole page of information regarding the final in the Scorpions section of the website.

In the National League the Saints were led by Steve Worrall and Gary Irving whilst Tom Young was signed from Newport. The club gave NL debuts to Oliver Greenwood, Max Clegg, Tommy Fenwick and Danny Phillips as they sought to develop the next batch of Premier League riders. Due to Premier League commitments Worrall was only able to do three meetings but Young added three points to his average and Greenwood, despite injury keeping him out for a while, recorded seven-point averages both home and away. The team finished sixth, just four points behind third-placed Isle of Wight. However, with poor weather conditions hitting the season’s crowds the club decided to take a season out of the National League in 2013 to try and save costs.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Josh Auty	40	193	405	19	8.91	9	433
2	Nick Morris	18	95	191	11	8.51	0	202
3	Thomas Jørgensen	29	132	214	31	7.42	0	245
4	David Howe	9	37	61	2	6.81	3	66
5	Ashley Birks	41	208	306	44	6.73	0	350
6	Stefan Nielsen	1	3	3	2	6.67	0	5
7	Michael Palm Toft	42	197	274	38	6.34	0	312
8	Tero Aarnio	15	66	92	9	6.12	0	101
9	Gary Irving	21	93	107	20	5.46	0	127
10	Jerran Hart	8	28	24	3	3.86	0	27
11	Tom Armstrong	3	10	1	0	0.40	0	1

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Newcastle Diamonds	24	11	1	0	0	1	1	1	7	2	1179	1019	160	51
2	Scunthorpe Scorpions	24	10	2	0	0	2	1	1	3	5	1151	1043	108	50
3	Somerset Rebels	24	9	3	0	0	1	2	1	3	5	1170	1027	143	48
4	Workington Comets	24	9	3	0	0	1	1	2	2	6	1142	1045	97	46
5	Edinburgh Monarchs	24	10	1	0	1	1	1	0	2	8	1133	1066	67	41
6	Leicester Lions	24	7	5	0	0	0	3	0	1	8	1079	1128	-49	41
7	Ipswich Witches	24	6	3	0	3	1	1	0	4	6	1088	1080	8	35
8	Glasgow Tigers	24	8	0	3	1	0	1	0	1	10	1031	1132	-101	31
9	Redcar Bears	24	5	2	2	3	1	1	0	2	8	1078	1107	-29	30
10	Berwick Bandits	24	6	2	0	4	1	0	0	2	9	1045	1156	-111	28
11	Rye House Rockets	24	6	2	0	4	0	1	1	0	10	1065	1133	-68	27
12	Sheffield Tigers	24	6	2	0	4	0	1	0	1	10	1052	1161	-109	26
13	Plymouth Devils	24	6	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	12	1048	1164	-116	23

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total	To S-Final
1	Scunthorpe Scorpions	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	202	160	42	7	Qualified
2	Workington Comets	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	124	145	-21	5
3	Edinburgh Monarchs	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	126	147	-21	3

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total	To S-Final
1	Somerset Rebels	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	193	172	21	8	Qualified
2	Newcastle Diamonds	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	179	186	-7	5
3	Leicester Lions	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	176	190	-14	5

League Championship Play-Off Final

1st Leg Somerset Rebels 49 Scunthorpe Scorpions 44
2nd Leg Scunthorpe Scorpions 48 Somerset Rebels 42
On agg: Scunthorpe Scorpions 92 Somerset Rebels 21

LEAGUE CUP (NORTH):

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total	To S-Final
1	Workington Comets	10	5	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	1	515	414	101	26	Qualified
2	Newcastle Diamonds	10	4	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	484	426	58	19	Qualified
3	Sheffield Tigers	10	4	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	3	474	444	30	18
4	Scunthorpe Scorpions	10	2	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	3	437	455	-18	15
5	Berwick Bandits	10	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	440	481	-41	14
6	Edinburgh Monarchs	10	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	453	452	1	13
7	Glasgow Tigers	10	3	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	4	431	477	-46	10
8	Redcar Bears	10	1	0	2	2	0	1	0	0	4	413	498	-85	8

No	Date	H/A	Opponents	Result	Score	Comp
1	16-Mar	H	Leicester	W	46-44	KSMT
2	23-Mar	H	Berwick	W	53-40	LC
3	25-Mar	A	Leicester	L	42-48	CH
4	29-Mar	A	Redcar	D	45-45	LC
5	30-Mar	H	Newcastle	W	46-44	LC
6	01-Apr	A	Glasgow	W	47-43	LC
7	08-Apr	A	Newcastle	L	35-57	LC
8	13-Apr	H	Sheffield	Ab	32-22	LC
9	14-Apr	A	Berwick	L	38-52	LC
10	27-Apr	H	Redcar	W	54-36	LC
11	06-May	A	Newcastle	L	37-53	PL
12	07-May	H	Edinburgh	W	55-37	PL
13	11-May	H	Glasgow	W	40-34	LC
14	12-May	A	Leicester	L	43-49	PL
15	18-May	H	Workington	L	44-46	KOC
16	19-May	A	Workington	L	42-48	KOC
17	25-May	A	Plymouth	L	43-47	PL
18	02-Jun	A	Berwick	L	37-56	PL
19	04-Jun	H	Sheffield	L	40-50	LC
20	24-Jun	A	Glasgow	L	38-55	PL
21	25-Jun	A	Sheffield	L	39-54	LC
22	26-Jun	H	Ipswich	W	61-31	PL
23	29-Jun	A	Somerset	L	42-48	PL
24	11-Jul	A	Ipswich	W	52-42	PL
25	12-Jul	A	Sheffield	W	47-43	PL
26	13-Jul	H	Newcastle	W	48-42	PL
27	17-Jul	A	Rye House	L	40-49	PL
28	20-Jul	H	Glasgow	Ab	10-14	PL
29	26-Jul	A	Redcar	D	46-46	PL
30	27-Jul	H	Berwick	W	48-42	PL
31	03-Aug	H	Workington	W	49-40	PL
32	10-Aug	H	Leicester	W	51-42	PL
33	11-Aug	A	Workington	L	38-52	PL
34	17-Aug	H	Sheffield	W	51-42	PL
35	27-Aug	H	Somerset	W	50-40	PL
36	31-Aug	A	Edinburgh	W	54-39	PL
37	02-Sep	H	Plymouth	W	54-39	PL
38	07-Sep	H	Rye House	W	58-34	PL
39	14-Sep	H	Redcar	W	55-38	PL
40	21-Sep	H	Glasgow	W	54-37	PL
41	30-Sep	H	Edinburgh	W	59-34	PLPO SF
42	05-Oct	A	Edinburgh	L	42-48	PLPO SF
43	06-Oct	A	Workington	L	39-50	PLPO SF
44	07-Oct	H	Workington	W	62-28	PLPO SF
45	26-Oct	A	Somerset	L	44-49	PLPO F
46	29-Oct	H	Somerset	W	48-42	PLPO F

SCUNTHORPE SAINTS’ AVERAGES:

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Gary Irving	12	60	128	5	8.87	2	135
2	Jerran Hart	3	17	32	3	8.24	0	35
3	Tom Young	16	78	138	6	7.38	8	152
4	Oliver Greenwood	10	53	87	8	7.17	3	98
5	Steve Worrall	3	14	24	1	7.14	3	28
6	Max Clegg	16	76	82	10	4.84	0	92
7	Tommy Fenwick	8	35	21	6	3.09	0	27
8	Daniel Phillips	14	53	22	7	2.19	0	29
9	Adam Wrathall	1	1	0	0	0.00	0	0

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Dudley Heathens	14	7	0	0	0	3	3	0	0	1	783	468	315	42
2	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	14	6	0	0	1	4	0	2	0	1	717	552	165	38
3	Isle of Wight Islanders	14	3	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	5	595	684	-89	21
4	Stoke Potters	14	4	0	1	2	0	2	0	1	4	647	631	16	20
5	Rye House Raiders	14	5	0	0	2	1	0	0	1	5	596	659	-63	20
6	Scunthorpe Saints	14	3	2	0	2	0	1	0	1	5	584	683	-99	17
7	Buxton Hitmen	14	3	0	1	3	0	0	0	1	6	586	686	-100	11
8	King’s Lynn Young Stars	14	2	1	0	4	0	0	0	1	6	567	712	-145	9

2013

There was tremendous excitement when the Scorpions put together a side that had just one change from the title-winning line-up. Australian Ryan Douglas was coming in to replace his friend Nick Morris. However, then Gary Irving received a not-to-be-missed job offer that meant he retired from the sport. It meant that were fewer options available and in the end Josh Bates was selected to fill the reserve berth. It didn’t work out for Josh and Michael Palm Toft’s form also suffered. Lewis Blackbird and Nicolai Klindt both came in and made a big difference to the team but David Howe’s average dropped below seven after returning from injury and the Scorpions, despite winning more than they lost, failed to make the playoffs. They finished eighth, a previously acceptable position, but after 2012’s exploits it felt like a anti-climax. Early in the season there was also a change of Team Manager for the Scorpions with Richard Hollingsworth stepping back to concentrate on the amateur meetings, practices and second halves. Former referee Dave Peet, who had managed at Hull and Berwick, stepped in to help Rob Godfrey with the duties.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Josh Auty	31	143	271	30	8.42	3	304
2	Ashley Birks	26	129	231	18	7.72	6	255
3	Nicolai Klindt	11	56	97	7	7.43	0	104
4	Thomas Jørgensen	27	120	186	22	6.93	7	215
5	David Howe	25	109	171	12	6.72	3	186
6	Lewis Blackbird	24	116	141	23	5.66	3	167
7	Ryan Douglas	31	143	163	28	5.34	0	191
8	Michael Palm Toft	20	83	90	14	5.01	0	104
9	Josh Bates	6	23	9	2	1.91	0	11

PREMIER LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Somerset Rebels	24	10	1	0	1	3	2	2	2	3	1218	951	267	56
2	Ipswich Witches	24	10	1	0	1	2	1	4	4	1	1193	987	206	55
3	Newcastle Diamonds	24	10	0	2	0	2	3	1	3	3	1207	973	234	54
4	Edinburgh Monarchs	24	10	0	0	2	2	2	2	3	3	1172	1003	169	51
5	Workington Comets	24	7	3	0	2	2	2	2	1	5	1139	1056	83	46
6	Redcar Bears	24	6	2	2	2	4	1	0	2	5	1078	1068	10	45
7	Leicester Lions	24	5	5	0	2	3	1	0	1	7	1079	1103	-24	41
8	Scunthorpe Scorpions	24	4	5	2	1	0	2	1	4	5	1080	1075	5	36
9	Rye House Rockets	24	4	2	3	3	0	3	0	3	6	1050	1115	-65	31
10	Berwick Bandits	24	5	3	0	4	0	1	0	1	10	1025	1150	-125	25
11	Plymouth Devils	24	3	1	1	7	0	2	1	1	8	994	1190	-196	21
12	Sheffield Tigers	24	3	1	2	6	0	0	1	1	10	958	1220	-262	16
13	Glasgow Tigers	24	1	2	2	7	0	0	0	0	12	945	1247	-302	9

No	Date	H/A	Opponents	Result	Score	Comp
1	29-Mar	H	Leicester	W	46-44	LC
2	04-Apr	A	Sheffield	L	41-51	LC
3	05-Apr	H	Sheffield	W	50-38	LC
4	06-Apr	A	Leicester	L	38-52	LC
5	12-Apr	H	Newcastle	W	50-43	PS
6	14-Apr	A	Newcastle	L	34-59	PS
7	19-Apr	H	Ipswich	D	45-45	PL
8	30-Apr	H	Workington	D	45-45	PL
9	06-May	H	Edinburgh	W	49-45	PL
10	12-May	A	Glasgow	D	45-45	PL
11	24-May	A	Edinburgh	L	36-56	PL
12	26-May	A	Newcastle	L	39-50	PL
13	27-May	H	Somerset	L	37-56	PL
14	13-Jun	A	Redcar	L	40-50	KOC
15	14-Jun	H	Redcar	L	41-49	KOC
16	21-Jun	H	Sheffield	W	63-31	PL
17	28-Jun	H	Glasgow	W	59-35	PL
18	05-Jul	H	Newcastle	W	46-44	PL
19	06-Jul	A	Berwick	L	36-54	PL
20	12-Jul	H	Rye House	W	47-46	PL
21	18-Jul	A	Ipswich	L	43-47	PL
22	19-Jul	H	Redcar	W	45-44	PL
23	26-Jul	A	Somerset	L	41-49	PL
24	02-Aug	H	Berwick	W	34-31	PL
25	03-Aug	A	Leicester	L	43-46	PL
26	08-Aug	A	Redcar	L	44-49	PL
27	11-Aug	A	Workington	L	44-47	PL
28	16-Aug	H	Plymouth	W	56-34	PL
29	22-Aug	A	Sheffield	W	46-44	PL
30	23-Aug	A	Plymouth	W	46-44	PL
31	26-Aug	H	Leicester	W	51-38	PL
32	31-Aug	A	Rye House	L	40-50	PL
33	26-Sep	A	Sheffield	W	42-36	RC
34	29-Sep	H	Sheffield	W	54-24	RC

2014

After a better financial year in 2013, and Poole speedway’s financial support, the club were able to return to National League racing with Richard Hollingsworth running a controversial team that had six rookie riders plus seasoned second-string Steve Jones. However, the club wanted to develop new assets and did not move away from that philosophy. They only won one meeting, their last one, at home to Buxton but the improvement of riders was there for all to see. Sam Chapman and Arron Mogridge made great strides forward whilst Ellis Perks, who made a couple of late season appearances, earning a 2015 Premier League place with the Scorpions.

In the Premier League the Scorpions added Anders Mellgren and Matt Williamson in place of Lewis Blackbird and Nicolai Klindt but Mellgren was badly injured in only his second meeting (away at Redcar). After a period with guests the club re-signed Klindt to cover and, apart from a brief trial with Tom Perry in place of Williamson that was how the team stayed until the end of the season. With only one home loss and thirteen points picked up on their travels the Scorpions easily made the playoffs in fifth place (13 points ahead of 7th place Peterborough who didn’t make the playoffs). Whilst Williamson found it tough at times the experience was invaluable for him and with Ryan Douglas, Thomas Jorgensen, David Howe and Ashley Birks all having spells at reserve there was invariably a strong reserve to cover.

The team were really shaping up well heading into the playoffs but one-by-one Ashley Birks, Ryan Douglas and Nicolai Klindt got injured, all with broken scaphoids, and despite winning their two home meetings they were unable to offer enough resistance at Ipswich and Somerset.

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Anders Mellgren	2	5	10	1	8.80	0	11
2	David Howe	39	191	341	34	7.85	3	378
3	Nicolai Klindt	21	95	161	18	7.54	3	182
4	Josh Auty	36	158	270	26	7.49	4	300
5	Thomas Jørgensen	39	195	316	32	7.14	6	354
6	Ryan Douglas	34	171	288	17	7.13	3	308
7	Ashley Birks	37	159	228	37	6.67	0	265
8	Matt Williamson	28	94	39	13	2.21	0	52
9	Tom Perry	6	25	3	0	0.48	0	3

PREMIER LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Edinburgh Monarchs	28	14	0	0	0	4	4	2	0	4	1465	1108	357	74
2	Somerset Rebels	28	14	0	0	0	4	2	0	3	5	1449	1083	366	67
3	Ipswich Witches	28	11	0	3	0	3	2	0	3	6	1339	1212	127	57
4	Berwick Bandits	28	10	3	0	1	4	1	0	1	8	1282	1247	35	56
5	Scunthorpe Scorpions	28	11	2	0	1	2	1	0	2	9	1310	1267	43	50
6	Workington Comets	27	9	2	1	2	1	1	0	2	9	1191	1241	-50	41
7	Peterborough Panthers	28	7	4	1	2	1	0	0	3	10	1228	1300	-72	37
8	Newcastle Diamonds	28	9	1	1	3	0	0	1	4	9	1277	1272	5	36
9	Plymouth Devils	28	10	1	0	3	0	0	0	2	12	1224	1304	-80	34
10	Redcar Bears	28	4	5	0	5	1	0	1	3	9	1194	1303	-109	31
11	Glasgow Tigers	27	6	3	0	4	1	0	1	1	11	1145	1314	-169	31
12	Sheffield Tigers	28	5	4	0	5	0	0	1	0	13	1164	1363	-199	25
13	Rye House Rockets	28	8	0	0	6	0	0	0	1	13	1164	1418	-254	25

PLAY-OFF GROUPS:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total	To S-Final
1	Edinburgh Monarchs	4	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	212	158	54	13	Qualified
2	Workington Comets	4	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	172	196	-24	3
3	Berwick Bandits	4	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	170	200	-30	3

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total	To S-Final
1	Somerset Rebels	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	202	166	36	7	Qualified
2	Ipswich Witches	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	191	177	14	6
3	Scunthorpe Scorpions	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	157	207	-50	5

LEAGUE CUP (NORTH):

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total	To S-Final
1	Sheffield Tigers	6	1	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	263	280	-17	12	Qualified
2	Redcar Bears	6	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	1	278	258	20	11
3	Newcastle Diamonds	6	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	292	247	45	10
4	Scunthorpe Scorpions	6	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	2	247	295	-48	6

No	Date	H/A	Opponents	Result	Score	Comp
1	30-Mar	H	Sheffield	L	42-48	LC
2	03-Apr	A	Redcar	L	27-63	LC
3	06-Apr	H	Redcar	L	37-50	LC
4	10-Apr	A	Sheffield	W	53-41	LC
5	13-Apr	H	Somerset	W	46-44	PL
6	18-Apr	H	Newcastle	W	49-44	LC
7	20-Apr	A	Newcastle	L	39-49	LC
8	24-Apr	A	Ipswich	L	39-53	PL
9	27-Apr	H	Plymouth	W	52-43	PL
10	02-May	A	Edinburgh	L	34-59	PL
11	05-May	H	Edinburgh	L	43-48	PL
12	15-May	A	Sheffield	W	49-41	PL
13	16-May	H	Glasgow	W	57-36	PL
14	20-May	A	Peterborough	L	43-46	KOC
15	23-May	A	Plymouth	L	40-55	PL
16	26-May	H	Peterborough	W	46-44	KOC
17	30-May	A	Somerset	L	35-55	PL
18	12-Jun	A	Sheffield	W	49-41	PL
19	20-Jun	H	Ipswich	W	55-38	PL
20	27-Jun	H	Newcastle	W	58-38	PL
21	29-Jun	A	Newcastle	L	22-67	PL
22	09-Jul	H	Sheffield	W	54-39	PL
23	18-Jul	H	Rye House	W	60-35	PL
24	24-Jul	A	Redcar	L	40-50	PL
25	25-Jul	H	Redcar	W	54-39	PL
26	04-Aug	A	Glasgow	L	37-53	PL
27	15-Aug	H	Sheffield	Ab	30-18	PL
28	27-Aug	H	Redcar	W	46-43	PL
29	28-Aug	A	Redcar	W	46-44	PL
30	30-Aug	A	Workington	L	41-49	PL
31	31-Aug	H	Workington	W	53-37	PL
32	02-Sep	A	Peterborough	L	44-45	PL
33	05-Sep	H	Peterborough	W	58-36	PL
34	06-Sep	A	Berwick	L	46-47	PL
35	09-Sep	H	Berwick	W	62-34	PL
36	13-Sep	A	Rye House	L	35-59	PL
37	25-Sep	A	Ipswich	L	35-57	PLPO SF
38	26-Sep	H	Somerset	W	46-44	PLPO SF
39	01-Oct	A	Somerset	L	27-65	PLPO SF
40	03-Oct	H	Ipswich	W	49-41	PLPO SF
41	12-Oct	H	Sheffield	W	55-39	PL

SCUNTHORPE STAGS’ AVERAGES:

	RIDER	M	R	PTS	BP	AVE	T/R Pts	TOT PTS SCORED
1	Steve Jones	16	72	93	7	5.56	8	108
2	Sam Chapman	12	53	69	4	5.51	2	75
3	Arron Mogridge	12	56	61	6	4.79	6	73
4	Danno Verge	17	65	60	9	4.25	1	70
5	Reece Downes	10	36	30	1	3.44	0	31
6	Ryan MacDonald	17	72	42	7	2.72	0	49
7	Liam Sanderson	10	49	14	1	1.22	0	15

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Position	Team	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts Diff	Total
1	Cradley Heathens	16	8	0	0	0	5	2	0	1	0	931	502	429	51
2	Coventry Storm	15	6	1	0	1	2	2	0	1	2	747	574	173	35
3	Kent Kings	16	6	0	1	1	3	1	0	0	4	783	652	131	34
4	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	15	6	0	0	2	2	2	0	0	3	754	607	147	32
5	King’s Lynn Young Stars	16	4	0	0	4	4	0	1	0	3	773	683	90	30
6	Stoke Potters	15	4	1	0	3	2	1	0	0	4	701	667	34	25
7	Devon Demons	13	2	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	7	503	658	-155	10
8	Buxton Hitmen	16	2	0	0	6	0	0	0	1	7	592	876	-284	7
9	Scunthorpe Stags	16	0	1	0	7	0	0	0	0	8	434	999	-565	2

BACKTRACK ARTICLE ON HISTORY OF SCUNTHORPE FROM 1971 TO 1985:

The following article comes from is from Issue 49 (March-April 2012) of Backtrack – The Retro Speedway Magazine For The Fans Of The 70s And 80s. It was written by Rob Peasley, who is also the Press Officer for Scunthorpe Speedway. It features interviews with Brian Osborn, Andrew Skeels, Nicky Allott and Rob Godfrey.

Subscriptions to Backtrack are available at: http://www.retro-speedway.com

A LIST of bare facts regarding the incarnation of Scunthorpe Speedway which lasted from 1971 to 1985 can make rather grim reading:

• Only one top-half-of-the-table finish in thirteen completed National League seasons (fifth out of 18 teams in 1983).
• Finishing eight times in the bottom three, including two wooden spoons in 1972 and 1979.
• Failing to win a single Knockout Cup tie on aggregate – being eliminated from the tournament at the first attempt in each of the 13 years they entered the competition.
• A bizarre situation where the Scunthorpe Saints riders walked out of a meeting in 1976 – on their own track! Visitors Rye House were willing to continue.
• Racing a turbulent 1979 season in a half-completed Ashby Ville stadium, after the team left their original Quibell Park home due to disagreements with the athletics club.
• Not scoring a single National League point in 1979 until September 16th. On that date, the Scunthorpe Stags beat Weymouth 44-34 – having lost their previous 23 league matches that season.
• Not one single club honour.
• The club failing to see out the 1985 season, folding in mid-May.

It all points towards one conclusion – that Scunthorpe were the Cinderella club of the Backtrack era.

However, success isn’t everything. Andrew Skeels was a Scunthorpe supporter from the age of nine in 1973 – and these days is the Deputy Editor of the Speedway Star.

He points out: “Speedway was something exciting and different for the people of Scunthorpe.

“I was also a football fan and Scunthorpe United were equally as rubbish, so I think the people of the area had the mindset that the winning wasn’t the be-all and end-all.

“These days in sport it is – everything is so results driven. For instance, a football manager can get sacked for losing a couple of matches.

“But it was different back then. Of course, the fans wanted the team to do well. But we were a small town club with a small fan base, and we accepted that.”

A passion for speedway was planted in the hearts of many in the North Lincolnshire town and would eventually lead to an altogether more successful resurrection of the club in 2005 (see separate story).

Over four thousand fans flocked into the plush Quibell Park venue to see the first ever speedway meeting in Scunthorpe on May 3rd, 1971.

Over 200 tonnes of shale were laid on top of the running track to accommodate speedway – with speedway and athletics to share the same track.

The Saints were 39-38 victors over Hull in the Humberside Trophy, and commenced a series of challenge matches that would see out the summer.

Scunthorpe entered the second division in 1972, but found the going very tough, ending up stone last in the league.

During that season, rider Brian Osborn found himself moving from one side of the fence to the other.

Osborn recalls: “I got injured riding at Quibell Park. Ivor Brown and Vic White were the promoters, and Ivor persuaded me to be the team manager. I enjoyed that – it was much easier telling people what to do rather than doing it yourself!

“Ivor was already getting a bit fed up. He wasn’t making any money from it, so I was talked into taking over as the promoter.”

Osborn pulled off a coup in 1973, when he persuaded legendary Scot Ken McKinlay, a former World No. 5, to ride for the Saints, two weeks short of his 45th birthday!

“Ray Watkins smashed his thigh prior to the start of the season and it left us dreadfully weak.

“We needed a superstar and Ken was available. He said ‘yes’ a little half-heartedly, simply because I don’t think he really wanted to drop down to the second division.

“Ken piled on the points, and was great with the other riders. He would tell them: ‘You’ve got to gate out of the gate first. If you do that, you’ve got every chance of winning’.”

Osborn explained some of the problems experienced in staging speedway and athletics – not usual bedfellows – on the same track.

“The track needed a lot of work on it every week. We had to tyre pack it to get it hard enough.

“The athletics people wanted the track for themselves – they didn’t want speedway there. But before the speedway went there, the athletics track was in decay and underused.

“They used to get around six people to watch the athletics training. For those six people, we had to take down and put up the safety fence every week!

“We had problems in getting rid of water on wet days, because the circuit was almost flat. The water would just lay on the track, it didn’t drain.”

Andrew Skeels says: “There were various rucks with both the athletics people and the council over the whole period at Quibell Park.

“I don’t think the track was a favourite with many riders. It was one of the longest tracks in the country, but it was flat and narrow.”

Scunthorpe were not the most attractive visitors, and Eastbourne promoter Bob Dugard slammed the Saints prior to their visit to Arlington in 1977.

Skeels recalls: “Bob decided he couldn’t charge full admission for us, so he halved the prices, and said that was all we were worth. He said that to the press, so got into hot water, but you couldn’t really disagree with what he was saying.

“From what I recall, that led to us signing Arthur Browning, so it had the desired effect!”

Osborn explains that the strength of the Scunthorpe side was a question of economics.

“It was a financial struggle at times”, he admits. “I would make a little bit of money one year, but lose it the next. I didn’t come out of Scunthorpe speedway with a penny.

“It was a period of high inflation and high unemployment. There wasn’t enough money in people’s pockets. If you’ve got a pound in your pocket, do you spend it on food or do you spend it on entertainment?

“Scunthorpe was a three-shift-town at that point. I think its population was around 70,000 people, and because of the shift patterns, you ended up with over half of those ruled out straight away as potential supporters.

“We didn’t have a major sponsor putting thousands of pounds in each week, so we had to put out a team we could afford. Money was tight – especially in the Scunthorpe area.”

Osborn also had a further problem: the council could actually call off meetings due to the lease agreement. More than once, against Osborn’s wishes, a meeting was called off at lunchtime only for the evening to prove to be glorious weather.

The clashes with the athletics people eventually led to Osborn and new promoting partner, Ted Hornsby, looking for a new venue. Eventually they were allocated a piece of land by the council – and work started on Ashby Ville.

Osborn admits: “I didn’t really want to move. I realised from the off that it was probably financial suicide.

“I was up at the Ashby Ville site every day for seven months from around 8am to 9-10pm. I can’t even start to measure the number of man hours we put into building the place.”

Skeels says: “Most of the work on the new stadium had to be done on a shoestring budget. We were late opening for the 1979 season.

“Calling it a stadium was a misnomer. Ashby Ville was the forerunner of building a track in a field. Most promoters in the 70s and 80s would find an existing dog track or something along those lines. There weren’t many who started from scratch.

“I think the problem was that no-one really had a full idea of what was required. In some ways, it was a total miracle that they got Ashby Ville up-and-running at all.”

No sooner was the new stadium open, than the Scunthorpe license was suspended by the SCB who demanded improvements to the track.

The newly-renamed Stags eventually finished their season, after running a series of double-headers throughout September and October. Arthur Price, signed as No. 1, struggled badly and his averaged halved (Arthur’s full story is in Backtrack issue 48).

Osborn recalls this highly stressful season: “The Control Board were on my back, telling me we had to run. They said: ‘You will run or you will lose your license.’ Taking a year out wasn’t an option.

“It was a very difficult year financially. I was losing money hand over fist.

“The stadium wasn’t what I wanted. It needed a grandstand and bar. We looked into it and priced it up, and we couldn’t afford it.”

The 1980 season started with a major shock – as the Stags were early league leaders!

Skeels remembers: “The start of that year was unbelievable. We won at Workington first. Obviously Workington in 1980 were even worse than Scunthorpe in ’79, but we didn’t know that at that point.

“We then won away at Stoke. Rob Woffinden quite often used to talk about that one. He was still a youngster, and he and Arthur Browning were out in the final heat, needing a 5-1 to win. Rob popped out of the start, with big Arthur tucked behind him, having to cover the whole track to keep the Stoke boys at bay. We got the 5-1 and we went top of the league.”

Scunthorpe eventually finished 1980 in thirteenth place out of 20 teams, thus equalling 1975 as their best season to date.

Osborn left the club in mid-1981, selling his shares to Ted Hornsby and Richard Judge.

“We had a big barney and I got out. I’d had enough.

“I spent ten years as promoter of the club. I love the people of Scunthorpe. They took me to my heart. I still have a lot of friends in Scunthorpe, even more than 30 years on.”

1983 finally saw the fortunes of the club take a turn for the better. Nigel Crabtree led a Stags side which went through their league campaign with a 100% home record, and finished fifth in the National League. It was followed by a tenth place in 1984 – the club’s second best season.

However, improved results did not bring improved crowds, with the Ashby Ville stadium seemingly the biggest stumbling block in attracting paying punters.

Skeels says: “We used to stand on the third bend on a mud bank. You’d never get away with that these days. There was a shed with the ref’s box, but apart from the pits on the second bend, the rest of it was just mud banks.

“I moved down to London to start my journalism career. In 1983, I landed a job working on the Speedway Star.

“I got to know a few of the riders, such as Rob Woffinden, and went to away matches with them. It was in the days when the riders would have the bike on a rack on the back of the car, and go off in a convoy to the meeting. They were great days. I loved it.”

Tony Nicholls came in as co-promoter alongside Richard Judge in 1984, and was then in sole control in 1985 – a season that Scunthorpe would not complete.

So what went wrong?

Skeels reflects: “I remember coming back from an away match at Stoke in April, in the car with Rob Woffinden and Tony Nicholls.

“Nicholls said it was getting a bit desperate. But at the time, you took it with a pinch of salt because you’d heard so many times before.

“We had Eric Boocock in as team manager in ‘85, and Steve Finch came in as an established rider. And Tony started making improvements to the stadium. Maybe he was spending too much money out.

“I got roped in to do the programme, which was by far the best in Scunthorpe’s history. By today’s standards, it was rubbish, but it was good for then. But, with hindsight, the bill for the programmes would have been higher than before.

“I think it was done with the best of intentions. Tony thought if he spent money on this and that, it would help improve the crowds, but it didn’t work it that way.”

Nicholls was losing around £600 a week – a loss that could not be sustained. A few days after a 40-37 home win over Peterborough on May 13th, Nicholls withdrew the Stags from the National League.

And that proved to be the end of the sport at Ashby Ville.

So what of the stadiums today? Ashby Ville is long gone, with the land having been turned into a retail park. But Quibell Park is still operating, hosting both athletics and cycling.

NICKY ALLOTT INTERVIEW

FAST-STARTING Nicky Allott gave the success-starved Scunthorpe fans something to cheer about when he took National League kingpin Tom Owen to the third and final leg of the Silver Helmet in 1978.

After a series of high-scoring performances for the Saints, Buxton-born Allott was nominated as the September challenger for Owen’s helmet.

Allott takes up the story: “He beat me in his home leg at Newcastle, although I got my own back by beating him in Heat 1 of the following Newcastle v Scunthorpe match.

“But we went back to Quibell Park the following day and I got the better of him (2-1).

“That took the competition to a third leg. I was hoping we’d end up at somewhere like Stoke, which was similar to the Scunthorpe track, but instead it went to Milton Keynes. That favoured Tom Owen, as it was a small track along the lines of Newcastle.

“I fell off while leading the first race and, before I’d even got the bike back to the pits, we were put on two minutes for the second race, so that was my chance gone.

“But I was one of only two riders to take Tom Owen to a third leg over the course of the whole season. Steve Finch was the other.”

Owen had won 14 successive Silver Helmet races, before tasting defeat to Allott in the first race at Quibell Park, and won 27 out of his 31 races that season – a remarkable season long domination of the competition.

1978 proved to the highpoint of Nicky Allott’s career.

He was an almost unstoppable force around his Quibell Park home circuit and scored ten full maximums on his way to a 9.33 average from 38 National League fixtures. It gave something the Saints something that they lacked in most seasons – a genuine No. 1 rider.

“I had a great season that year”, says Nicky. “Not only was I knocking up the points for Scunthorpe, but I also had my best season for Sheffield in the British League, as I was riding for them most weeks as their No. 8.”

He finished the season on a figure of 6.44 for Sheffield – just behind third heat-leader Bernt Persson.

Allott is part of a speedway dynasty that started in 1928 and lasts to this day.

“My uncle (Tommy) was one of the first speedway pioneers in this country – he rode in the first very season of British Speedway.

“My dad (Guy) started riding in the late forties and carried on riding until 1962, when he fell off the tractor during the victory parade at Sheffield and was injured. He then became one of the top tuners in the country – doing engines for Ivan Mauger, Ole Olsen and Ove Fundin, amongst others.

“I was mascot at Sheffield when I was 7 years old, so I guess it was a natural thing that I became a speedway rider.”

Allott rode in his first second half at Sheffield at the age of sixteen, and ended up making a handful of appearances for second division Hull and Crewe in 1972.

The 1973 season was a write-off after Nicky was sidelined by serious injuries sustained in a road accident.

“I crashed a mini pick-up into a tree”, he recalls. “I broke my leg, arm and jaw. I was in hospital for three months and I didn’t ride again until the following season.

“The following year I went to Ellesmere Port for a second half, but they wouldn’t give me a ride. I went again the next week, got a ride this time and won it.

“I had another good second half the following week, and then Gerald Smitherman crashed and broke his leg, and I took his team place for the rest of the season.”

After two seasons riding for the Gunners, Allott moved up to ride full-time for Sheffield in 1976.

“It was tough”, admits Allott. “It was probably too early, but I learnt a lot, and it benefitted me when I dropped back down to ride for Scunthorpe the following year.

“I liked the track at Quibell Park. It was big and flat and quite bumpy, but once you learnt your way around, it was quite easy.”

Allott was No 1 at Scunthorpe in 1977 & ‘78.

“I moved back up and rode for Sheffield in 1979. It was probably a mistake. I should have stayed in the National League. But you have to give it a try, or else you never get any better.

“I then returned to Scunthorpe in 1980, who were now riding at Ashby Ville. It was not quite as much to my liking at Quibell Park. It was a bit harder to ride, but it was alright, once you got the hang of the track.

“Arthur Browning was one of my team-mates. He was a good rider to have in a team. If ever there was any trouble, he was a big lad and could sort the problem out.

“I used to get on well with Phil White; we used to travel together to meetings. He now flies an aeroplane for a living!

“I remember helping out Rob Woffinden when he first started. I used to stay back after the meeting and show him a few basics, such as how to start.

“Rob later went on to become a heat-leader at Scunthorpe, and his son, Tai, is now one of the best British riders in the business. It’s a shame that Rob lost his fight to cancer and is no longer around to see Tai doing so well.”

Allott’s 1981 season ended prematurely thanks to a knee ligament injury – a season in which he and the emerging Kevin Teager were Scunthorpe’s top men.

“I had an accident at Leicester while guesting for Poole. I was leading a race, but fell off. Two of the riders went past, but the other went over my leg. I did the ligaments and was in plaster for six months.

“I didn’t ride a bike until a week before the 1982 season, when the plaster finally came off. I went to Scunthorpe seven days on the trot and rode all day, just to try and get fit.

“I didn’t start the season at all well, and after a few weeks, I moved to Long Eaton. I just needed a change.

“I did return to Scunthorpe at the start of 1984. But I struggled and then quit.

“You get to stage in your life, when you think: ‘I don’t want to be doing this anymore’. When you’re thinking like that, then it’s time to give up. My son Adam was born in 1983, so it was time to start earning a steady living.”

The Allott family speedway story doesn’t end up there, because Adam Allott has also given speedway a go (not to mention the fact that Simon Stead is Nicky’s nephew).

Nicky says proudly: “I think Adam is the only third generation rider to have ridden for the same club as his grandfather and father. We all rode for Sheffield.”

Adam’s career has been dogged by injuries, and he is taking a year out from speedway in 2012 to try his hand at short-track.

Nicky Allott has worked for the family business, Guy Allott Motorcycles, since his retirement from speedway.

THE SECOND COMING

The Eddie Wright Raceway in Normanby Road has been the new home of Scunthorpe Speedway since 2005 and promoter Rob Godfrey admits: “It is built from what I learnt of the failings of Ashby Ville.”

A Scunthorpe fan since the age of 10, Godfrey’s stepfather – a friend of Ted Hornsby – used to be a pusher at Quibell Park. Later on, Rob was the colour marshal at Ashby Ville and spannered for both Julian Parr and Rob Woffinden.

Godfrey reveals: “I remember as a kid bunking off school, and going down to the Ashby Ville site. We were always doing something up there.

“The steelworks had built a big Boss plant. They put up hundreds of workers up in a temporary portacabin village and it was left behind afterwards. We recycled all the bedsteads, welding them together. We used everything we could for the stadium.

“There were two main problems with Ashby Ville – in my opinion. Firstly, it was built in too much of a hurry. Everywhere you walked, there were bricks hanging out. On turns 3 and 4, there was mud banking there, where you could have fallen off and broken your neck. In today’s modern world, it would not get past health & safety.

“Also the rent they negotiated at Ashby Ville was far in excess to what they could sustain. To take a current example, it was a Newport scenario, with a ground rent so high that it was almost impossible to break even.”

Godfrey walked away from speedway at the end of 1982 “to avoid becoming a speedway bum” as he puts it. “There was no money in speedway and I had to learn a trade”, he explains.

But, some 20 years later, he caught the speedway bug again after chancing on a meeting at Trelawny during a family holiday in Cornwall. And he set about returning speedway to Scunthorpe.

“My first thought was a return to Quibell Park. It’s a fantastic venue. If you could get a speedway track in there, you could stage Grand Prix rounds, it’s that good.

“But these days, there are houses all around it. You’d be restricted to one meeting a week, and there would be so many stipulations.

“So I needed to get my own piece of land from the council. One of the major obstacles in getting speedway back was that I was dealing with the same councillor who shut Ashby Ville. I had to convince him that I was committed to the exact opposite of that stadium. It took about a year to win the council over, and to get a good deal on the rent.”

Godfrey wanted to do two things – create a clean, multi-purpose stadium, and gain some long overdue track success for Scunthorpe Speedway. And he achieved both.

“I didn’t want the muddy banks of Ashby Ville. I wanted grass, with no trip hazards.

“I also knew what I wanted for the track. I knew Somerset and Sheffield were fantastic tracks, so it’s based on those. I wanted a track that would provide entertainment and entice people into the stadium.

“It was also in the plan right from the beginning to have stock cars in as well – they were included in the planning application. I eventually brought them in 2009 to supplement the speedway income, investing in both a stock car fence and a speedway air fence.”

When Godfrey reintroduced the sport to Scunthorpe, he deliberately chose a new nickname – the Scorpions.

“It had to be something new for the new era, because the Saints and Stags were associated with unsuccessful teams.

“We soon shrugged off that tag. In our first year in 2005, we avoided finishing bottom of the Conference League – and then for the next two seasons, we won practically everything in sight!

“However, once we moved up into the Premier League, and needed a name for the Conference League (our second team), it was nice to bring back the Saints. The stick man is easy to market.

“And now our Midland Development League team is called the Stags, so both old names are back.”

SCUNTHORPE: THE VENUES

1. QUIBELL PARK

Location: Quibell Park, Brumby Wood Lane, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
Track length: 402 metres.
Track record: 76.8 seconds (Keith Evans 24/5/76, John Jackson & Phil Collins both 18/4/77, Nicky Allott, Phil White, Bob Garrad & Kelvin Mullarkey all 14/8/78).
First meeting: Scunthorpe 39 Hull 38 (Humberside Trophy, 3/5/71).
Last meeting: Scunthorpe 37 Eastbourne 41 (National League, 16/10/78).

2. ASHBY VILLE

Location: Ashby Ville Stadium, off Queensway, Ashby, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
Track length: 315 metres.
Track record: 63.3 seconds (Andy Buck 11/9/84).
First meeting: Scunthorpe 38 Middlesbrough 40 (Challenge, 6/5/79).
Last meeting: Scunthorpe 40 Peterborough 37 (National League, 13/5/85).

3. EDDIE WRIGHT RACEWAY

Location: Eddie Wright Raceway, Normanby Road, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
Track length 285 metres.
Track record: 55.50 seconds (David Howe 29/7/11).
First meeting: Scunthorpe Telegraph Trophy (27/3/05). Winner: Danny Norton.

KEVIN TEAGER INTERVIEW

The following article comes from is from Issue 50 (May-June 2012) of Backtrack – The Retro Speedway Magazine For The Fans Of The 70s And 80s. It was written by Rob Peasley, who is also the Press Officer for Scunthorpe Speedway.

Subscriptions to Backtrack are available at: http://www.retro-speedway.com

A PASSION FOR RACING

KEVIN TEAGER has a passion for racing motorcycles which has lasted to the present day.

When Teager isn’t travelling around Europe, defending his European Veteran Longtrack title, he is back in England, either riding for the Blast From The Past troupe, or maintaining his growing collection of restored speedway bikes, which he keeps at Mark Loram’s farm in Suffolk.

And now the 53-year-old is looking to pack in the day job, serving as a Prison Officer at Warren Hill Young Offenders Institution, to start a new life in Germany with his partner Nikki. It will move them much closer to much of the racing that Kevin is also involved in these days.

Kevin’s passion for speedway started on the Foxhall Heath terraces in the 1970s.

He told Backtrack: “A friend of mine took me along to Ipswich Speedway, and we became supporters every Thursday evening.

“We used to roll around on these Bantam bikes around the fields. It developed from there. I dabbled at a little at grasstrack on a 250cc bike. That only lasted for a couple of meetings or so, because what really interested me was speedway.”

Teager first rode at the Ipswich practice day in 1977. The following year, the Anglia Junior League (AJL) was launched.

AJL matches were held over three races and tended to take place right at the end of the evening, after a 13-heat first half and the rider of the night competition in the second half.

Ipswich romped to the 1978 AJL title, with a team consisting of Andy Hibbs (11.00 average), Mark Bilner (9.33), Tim Hunt (8.80), Kevin Teager (8.13) and Carl Squirrell (8.00).

“Those were good days”, Teager says. “There were so many of us youngsters in the Ipswich second halves, all vying to try to get a reserve position with the Witches.

“John Berry already had a good record at finding homegrown talent, which had started some years earlier with John Louis and Tony Davey.”

Teager made two British League appearances for the Witches in 1978, in away meetings at Halifax and Bristol. He was ready for regular league action, and that opportunity came at National League Scunthorpe.

Teager recalls: “Brian Osborn was the promoter at Scunthorpe. He lived just outside Ipswich, so we knew each other. Brian wanted a few new faces up there, to gee everyone up and asked me to come up, to see if I could get into the National League team.

“I vaguely remember riding a couple of times at Quibell Park, but that closed to speedway at the end of the 1978 season.

“Brian went ahead and built Ashby Ville, which was just opposite the steel works. That became my home track for several years.”

A few weeks into the 1979 season, Teager bagged a regular place in the Stags’ 1-7. It was a highly unsettled season for Scunthorpe, with Ashby Ville opening late, and then being closed down for a spell by the Speedway Control Board, until a series of improvements were carried out to the stadium and track.

But none of that affected the eager young Teager.

“I went to Ashby Ville for the very first practice day and I just fell in love with the place,” he reveals.

“It was a natural racing track for me. Sometimes the surface wasn’t brilliant, but I liked it. Sometimes I was beating people I shouldn’t be up there, because the track didn’t faze me but it did them.

“It was a bit basic. If you went over the white line, you went for a motocross ride! But it just clicked for me.

“Ashby Ville was like a home-from-home. I guess it was because it was a brand new track and I was a rider who hadn’t long since come into the sport.”

It didn’t take Teager long to improve. He went from a reserve in 1979 to a second string in 1980 and then heat leader in 1981.

And when Nicky Allott was injured mid-season in 1981, Teager found himself elevated to Scunthorpe’s No.1. It was a role he took to with some gusto, rattling off three successive maximums around Ashby Ville in August and September.

Teager remembers fondly: “There were a great bunch of people up there.

“Sadly, Rob Woffinden is no longer with us (he died from cancer in 2010). But Rob and I grew up together in the Scunthorpe team.

“We started off vying for the No.7 spot, and then for a while, we were riding at reserve together, before we both progressed up the ranks.

“I used to travel alone quite a lot, but if I was going to Scotland, I would pick up Rob at the Scunthorpe junction, and take him up to Scotland. We had some good times together.

“Brian Osborn was doing his best on limited funds at Scunthorpe. His co-promoter was Ted Hornsby, who was the landlord at the Brown Cow pub. But, bless him, Ted wasn’t very well.

“They were difficult times for Scunthorpe, and the scoring of the team wasn’t up to par a lot of the time. But, for me personally, I was having a good time, because I was on the up.

“I still used to get the odd outing for Ipswich. John Berry tended to use me up north, if he was having problems.

“He’d get hold of Brian or Ted at the Brown Cow and tell them: ‘Tell Kevin to get to Belle Vue’ or wherever it was.”

Although Teager did occasionally stay in Scunthorpe, he spent the majority of time commuting up to Lincolnshire for home meetings.

“I lived in a little village the other side of Ipswich, called Tunstall, when I was single, and then moved to Hollesley once I got married. It was a fair old trek to Scunthorpe.

“It was a good five hour journey. I’d leave at lunchtime and get there around 5.30pm.

“I had two ways of getting to Scunthorpe. There was what I called the back way, which was through Thetford, King’s Lynn, Boston and then onto Sleaford, Lincoln and into Scunthorpe that way. Or I could go to Peterborough, get on the A1 there, go up to Grantham, and then shoot across.

“I nearly put in a ditch in Boston once, because I feel asleep at the wheel. After that, I tended to use the A1 more, because that was a bit safer.”

After four very happy years at Scunthorpe, Teager left the Stags at the end of the 1982 season.

He explains: “The rider pay scales were standardised. Every rider was, supposedly, paid the same amount of points money and start money. If you were a heat leader, you got a little bit more than a second string, and in turn the second strings got a little bit more than the reserves.

“Scunthorpe couldn’t find me enough sponsors to bump up the money. Terry Russell and Peter Thorogood had wanted me to go to Crayford for a couple of seasons, because I always went well there and scored a hatful of points.

“Terry Russell phoned me up when the pay scales came in, and said: ‘Come and ride for me. You’ll get paid the same, and you’ll have to travel a lot less distance.’

“And they had tyres, oil, fuel; little bits of sponsorship that weren’t available at Scunthorpe. It was a sad move, but one I had to do financially, because I couldn’t afford to continue travelling to Scunthorpe for less money.”

It started a nomadic few years for Teager.

“I did start to move around tracks quite a lot from that point, mostly due to circumstances out of my control.

“I had a reasonable year with Crayford in ‘83, riding alongside Barry Thomas, Paul Bosley, Trevor Banks and Alan Mogridge.

“Crayford Speedway closed down at the end of the year. But, luckily, Terry got into Hackney and took more-or-less the whole team with him.

“It was a good bunch of riders; we had the nucleus of a very good side. I had a good crack during my two years for Crayford and Hackney – they were good times.”

The Kestrels won the 1984 National League KO Cup. But the dreaded points limit decreed that a rider had to go for the following season. It proved to be Teager.

“My average dictated that I was the one who moved on from Hackney. Terry arranged for me to go to Wimbledon for 1985, I didn’t have much say in that move.

“I enjoyed riding for Wimbledon. But I had a few injuries and engine problems there, and I really started to find it a financial strain.”

Worse was to follow for Teager when he was involved in a second half crash at Boston in May 1986.

“I broke my back. It was an accident with Nicky Allott. It was a couple of years since he’d lost his team place at Scunthorpe (he’d never been the same since a bad leg injury in ’81), and he was having a ride or two in the second halves at Boston when he felt like it.

“As always, Nicky jumped out of the gate, but almost stopped when he got to the first turn, and I ran into the back of him.

“We both capitulated over the fence. I broke two vertebrae, but luckily they were what they call stable breaks, so it wasn’t too serious. But it was the final straw for me as far as speedway was concerned.

“Subsequently I got a job in the prison in the village where I was living (Hollesley). And I retired from speedway.”

But Teager still had the speedway bug and found a job offer for the 1987 season from Rye House promoter Ronnie Russell impossible to turn down.

“Ronnie phoned me up and asked me if I wanted to ride for Rye House. I told him I now had a full-time job, but Ronnie told me: ‘That’s not a problem, our home meetings are on Sundays.’

“I found I could fit in the away matches using my annual leave. I built a speedway bike out of the bits I had leftover, bought an engine, and rode for Rye.”

Did speedway become a hobby for Teager at this point?

“In a way, yes it did, although it still had to pay for itself. But I wasn’t reliant on it, because I had a full-time job.”

Teager’s form for the Rockets was poor. Halfway through the 1988 season, he lost his team place to German Peter Schroeck (see separate story).

But he then had something of a renaissance in 1989, riding at reserve for Ipswich. The Witches had dropped down to the National League, and it soon became apparent that the new Aussie reserves were not up to scratch. They turned to local lad Kevin Teager.

He says: “Ipswich needed a reserve and my average fitted. I invested in some reasonable equipment and I quite enjoyed that season.

“The following season I had brief spells at Rye House and Arena Essex.

“After that, I didn’t retire as such, but there wasn’t any club interested in me. I wasn’t scoring that many points any more. I was doing quite a lot of grasstrack at that point, while I was also rider/coach for Sittingbourne for a couple of years.”

The 1996 season saw a surprise name in the Ipswich No.7 berth – that of Kevin Teager. At the age of 37, he was about to commence his first ever full-season in the top flight!

“From what I recall, John Louis was really struggling to find a No.7, and he phoned up and asked me to go to the press & practice.

“By this time, I was really friendly with Mark Loram. I bought a year-old lay-down engine off Mark, which meant I had top equipment.”

Teager started the season in great form, and after a month moved up to the No.2 spot, alongside Chris Louis, relegating young hot shots Ben Howe and Savalas Clouting to reserve.

“The season started very well”, he recalls. “But I then had a crash at Ipswich. I went straight through the fence and I damaged my ankle and the tendons in my leg.

“After that, I was just making the numbers up. I told John Louis to drop me, but I don’t think there was anyone else suitable to come in, so he preserved with me.”

1997 marked the final chapter on Kevin Teager’s professional speedway career.

“I had spent quite a lot of money on machinery riding for Ipswich, so wanted some outings in the Premier League to get some of the money back.

“I went to the Isle Of Wight for a bit, but the travelling was horrendous. I was using up all my holiday entitlement at work.

“I then signed for Stoke. The home meetings were at weekends, so I could do it. But I crashed on my debut for Stoke at Newport.

“I again broke my back – but much more seriously this time.

“I was in the hospital in Newport for eight weeks, not able to move. I had two major operations. The first one went very wrong so they had to stop. During the second operation, they put two rods about six inches long on each side of my spine, and transplanted a bit of bone from my hip, because I had lost about an inch-and-a-half of my spine.

“By the time I got home, my family had sold most of my bikes. I had spent around a month or so in hospital at Ipswich as well. I was lucky that I worked for the civil service, because they kept my job open.”

However, Teager’s involvement in motorsport did not cease, as he became involved in trials bikes and stock car racing – the latter in conjunction with his job in the prison service.

He explains: “When I started working for the prison in 1986, I was a civilian, working as a motor mechanic. I just did the maintenance of the lorries and the vans at Hollesley Bay. But I then got a promotion and became an Instructional Officer in the juvenile establishment at Warren Hill.

“I was teaching the youngsters motor mechanics in the workshop. As a project, we started making stock rods, supposedly a non-contact car. I would take the youngsters as mechanics and we would go racing at Ipswich, Wimbledon, Arena Essex and so on.

“It was a good experience for them to show them they don’t have to race on the road, and that there are proper places to race where you could do it safely. I was doing that for 3 or 4 years.

“But they privatised all the workshop areas in the prisons, and I was in danger of losing my job. I had the opportunity to transfer and became a Prison Officer, to keep my wages and my pension, so I took that.”

In 2009, Teager joined the Blast From The Past troupe that tours various speedway tracks in Britain during the season, with demonstration races on classic speedway bikes.

“Alec Gooch is a good friend of mine, and he’s one of the main guys behind Blast From The Past. He asked me if I wanted to go to Holland for a meeting over there. I then started looking for a JAP and it took off from there.

“They normally put me at the back to see if I can have a bit of a tussle and work my way forward, to entertain the crowd.

“From there, things developed, and I also started riding in the two-value class of the European Veteran Longtrack Championship.

“Last year, I clinched the series by winning every round. But this year the van broke down on the way to the opening round in the Czech Republic. You drop your worst score, but now I can’t afford to have a bad round or miss any other rounds.”

Kevin is accompanied on his trips abroad by his partner Nikki.

“My marriage broke down a few years ago. I met Nikki and she is my mechanic; we go all over the place together. I’m so lucky to have someone in my life who shares the same interest as me, and we enjoy the social side.

“It’s a social thing; we have some great friends such as Mick and Astrid Cooke. But when the riders put the crash helmets on, the racing instinct takes over.”

Teager currently lives in the garage of the Loram family bungalow.

“Mark has become a great friend. His parents live in the main house, and I live in just a couple of rooms. When they go off to Spain, I look after the house.

“Speedway is one big family, and people are always there for you. I bumped into Richard Clark (the editor of the Speedway Star and a big Wimbledon fan) recently, and we ended up down the pub along with Mark. I hadn’t seen Richard for years, but we picked up our friendship from the Wimbledon days straight away.

“My workshop is at Mark’s farm, where I’m building up a collection of old bikes. But they are not there just to look at; they are there for me to go and race! I have a collection of around thirty bikes now. I love the old JAP. There’s the sound, the smell, plus it’s a bit of a handful.”

Kevin’s career working for the prison service will shortly come to an end, as he and Nikki head off to Germany.

He admits: “I’ve had enough of the prison service, to be quite honest. I keep getting assaulted. It’s become a horrible place to work.

“You have to control these young guys. A couple of years ago I ended up with five broken ribs, after taking a good kicking. I’ve also had my head split open.

“I’ve been there a long time, seen how times have changed, and it is best that I now leave. I still believe in the discipline side of it, but I’m afraid there’s not much discipline now.

“The youngsters nowadays have no respect. You have these boys who, in terms of size, are men. Most of them are quite a lot bigger than me. They know the system. They think they can do what we want, and to a certain extent, they can.

“I’ve worked for the prison service for 26 years, and been a Prison Officer for around eight years. But I’ve come to hate the job.

“The plan is to move over to Germany with Nikki and for us to start a new life over there.

“We’ve finalised buying a house, and it’s now just a case of decamping over there. We’ll then be commuting back here to do some of our racing (Blast From The Past), instead of the other way around.”

What seems to define Kevin Teager is his love for racing motorbikes.

“Even when I was not riding speedway, I was riding trials. When I was convalescing from my second broken back, I was building a trials bike. When the rods came out of my back, I used them to make the front mudguard bay of that bike.

“I still love racing and entertaining people. I wish all the fans and my friends and rivals the best, and long may we continue putting on the crash helmets on and having a bit of fun!”

THE START OF THE FOREIGN INVASION

1988 was a stormy season at Rye House. Struggling to field a team over the National League’s minimum limit, promoter Ronnie Russell turned to mainland Europe.

It was a highly controversial move, as up until that time, the National League had been restricted to British and Commonwealth riders.

There were few arguments over Dane Jens Rasmussen, who was a British resident and had an English wife and young child.

But German Peter Schroeck was a different kettle of fish. He was a 100% foreign rider.

After a tussle between Russell and the sport’s authorities, Schroeck was allowed to ride.

But the young German struggled and was dropped almost immediately. However, Schroeck was reintroduced later in the season – at the expense of Kevin Teager.

“I wasn’t too happy about it at the time”, Teager admits.

“We were about to go on a northern tour. I knew I was struggling, so I said to Ronnie: ‘Look Ronnie, I’m not going that well, you’re not taking me all the way to Scotland, and then dropping me afterwards are you?”

“Ronnie said: ‘No, I won’t do that.’ But, of course, that’s exactly what did happen. So I wasn’t too pleased.

“I put a bit in the Speedway Star to say it wasn’t right that I was being replaced by a foreign rider. I was quite raw about it at the time.

“In my book, the second division should have been kept to British and Commonwealth riders. When it was opened up to foreign riders, it stopped the flow of young British riders coming into the sport, and it’s why we are where we are today.

“These days, the whole league is full of foreign riders.

“Don’t get me wrong; a lot of the foreign boys are very good mates of mine, and I don’t hold any kind of grudge. But I think the powers-that-be made a big mistake in allowing Ronnie to use Peter Schroeck. It opened the floodgates”, Teager concluded.