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

 

1 - Scun 1972 team (2)
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

 

K McKinley
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

 

Tony Childs
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

 

Nicky Allott
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

 

J McNeil

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

 

A Browning
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

 

Team v Oxford 170405
PHOTO: The 2005 Scunthorpe Scorpions

DSCF1438_resize
PHOTO: The crowd at Normanby Road in 2005.

Josh on debut 11Sep05
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.

N Allott T Hornsby

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.

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