The Great Britain national speedway team (formerly the England speedway team) is one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by the Tai Woffinden.
| Great Britain | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Team captain | Tai Woffinden |
| Nation colour | Blue |
| SWC Wins | 10 (inc SON) (1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1989, 2021, 2024) |
| Squad |
|
The team raced as England from 1928 to 1961 and again from 1974 to 2000. They have raced as Great Britain from 1962 to 1973 and since 2001.
History
editThe national speedway team held test matches against the Australia as early as 1928, although the first official test match is listed as 30 June 1930 at Wimbledon Stadium.[1]
The team won the Speedway World Team Cup on five occasions as England and four times as Great Britain from 1968 to 1989. They were a major force in the 1970s, winning five consecutive tournaments, two as England and three as Great Britain.[2] Key riding members of the title wins include Peter Collins (five wins), Malcolm Simmons (four wins), New Zealand born Ivan Mauger and Ray Wilson (all three wins).[3] Prior to 1974, the Great Britain team often consisted of riders from other Commonwealth Nations including Australia and New Zealand.[4]
The cup eluded the team after 1989, although they came close in 2000, missing out when Mark Loram fell in a race-off and 2004 where a team of Mark Loram, Lee Richardson, Gary Havelock, David Norris and Scott Nicholls missed out by one point. Both the 2000 and 2004 narrow defeats were at the hands of Sweden and both in somewhat controversial fashion.
In June 2018, Great Britain competed as one of 15 nations in the inaugural Speedway of Nations tournament and in August 2018, Great Britain hosted a top-level international test match for the first time in over 15 years when they took on Australia at Glasgow's Peugeot Ashfield Stadium.
At the 2021 Speedway of Nations in Manchester, Team GB ended a 32 years drought. After finishing third in qualifying, they beat Denmark 6–3 in the Grand Final qualifier and then beat Poland in the Grand Final 5–4. The winning team included Robert Lambert, Dan Bewley and Tai Woffinden.[5] The team subsequently won the 2024 Speedway of Nations.[6]
Major tournament wins
editWorld Team Championships
edit| Year | Venue | Standings (Pts) | Riders | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 |  London Wembley Stadium |
1.  Great Britain (40)2.  Sweden (30)3.  Poland (19)4.  Czechoslovakia (7)
|
Ivan Mauger (NZ) | 12 |
| Nigel Boocock | 10 | |||
| Martin Ashby | 8 | |||
| Barry Briggs (NZ) | 7 | |||
| Norman Hunter | 3 | |||
| 1971 | Wrocław Stadion Olimpijski |
1. Great Britain (37) 2.  Soviet Union (22)3. Poland (19)4. Sweden (18)
|
Ray Wilson | 12 |
| Ivan Mauger (NZ) | 10 | |||
| Jim Airey (AUS) | 9 | |||
| Barry Briggs (NZ) | 6 | |||
| Ronnie Moore (NZ) | dnr | |||
| 1972 |  Olching Olching Speedwaybahn |
1. Great Britain (36) 2. Soviet Union (21)3. Poland (21)4. Sweden (18)
|
Ivan Mauger (NZ) | 11 |
| John Louis | 9 | |||
| Terry Betts | 9 | |||
| Ray Wilson | 8 | |||
| Ronnie Moore (NZ) | dnr | |||
| 1973 | London Wembley Stadium |
1. Great Britain (37) 2. Sweden (31)3. Soviet Union (20)4. Poland (8)
|
Peter Collins | 12 |
| Terry Betts | 9 | |||
| Malcolm Simmons | 8 | |||
| Ray Wilson | 8 | |||
| Dave Jessup | dnr | |||
| 1974 | Chorzów Stadion Śląski |
1. England (42) 2. Sweden (31)3. Poland (13)4. Soviet Union (10)
|
Peter Collins | 12 |
| John Louis | 12 | |||
| Dave Jessup | 10 | |||
| Malcolm Simmons | 8 | |||
| Ray Wilson | dnr | |||
| 1975 | Norden Motodrom Halbemond |
1. England (41) 2. Soviet Union (29)3. Sweden (17)4. Poland (9)
|
Peter Collins | 12 |
| Malcolm Simmons | 11 | |||
| Martin Ashby | 10 | |||
| John Louis | 8 | |||
| Dave Jessup | dnr | |||
| 1977 | Wrocław Stadion Olimpijski |
1. England (37) 2. Poland (25)3. Czechoslovakia (23)4. Sweden (11)
|
Peter Collins | 10 |
| Michael Lee | 9 | |||
| Dave Jessup | 9 | |||
| John Davis | 6 | |||
| Malcolm Simmons | 3 | |||
| 1980 | Wrocław Stadion Olimpijski |
1. England (40) 2.  United States (29)3. Poland (15)4. Czechoslovakia (12)
|
Michael Lee | 11 |
| Chris Morton | 11 | |||
| Peter Collins | 10 | |||
| Dave Jessup | 8 | |||
| John Davis | dnr | |||
| 1989 | Bradford Odsal Stadium |
1. England (48) 2.  Denmark (34)3. Sweden (30)4. United States (8)
|
Jeremy Doncaster | 13 |
| Paul Thorp | 12 | |||
| Kelvin Tatum | 12 | |||
| Simon Wigg | 11 | |||
| Simon Cross | 0 | |||
| 2021 | Manchester National Speedway Stadium |
1. Great Britain (64+6+5) 2. Poland (74+4)3. Denmark (68+3)4.  Australia (49)5.  France (47)6.  Latvia (42) 7. Sweden (30)
|
Robert Lambert | 32+4+3 |
| Dan Bewley | 11+2+2 | |||
| Tai Woffinden | 14 | |||
| Tom Brennan | 7 | |||
| 2024 | Manchester National Speedway Stadium |
1. Great Britain (35+5+7) 2. Australia (36+2)3. Sweden (27+4)4. Germany (26)5. Poland (24)6. Denmark (21) 7. Latvia (20)
|
Robert Lambert | 22+3+4 |
| Dan Bewley | 13+2+3 | |||
| Tom Brennan | dnr |
Titles
edit
World Pairs Championship
edit| Year | Venue | Standings (Pts) | Riders | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Borås Ryavallen |
1. England (24) 2.  New Zealand (24) 3. Sweden B (22)4. Sweden A (22)5. Poland (15)6. Czechoslovakia (12)7.  Hungary (6)
|
Ray Wilson | 15+3 |
| Terry Betts | 9 | |||
| 1976 | Eskilstuna Snälltorpet |
1. England (27) 2. Denmark (24) 3. Sweden (22)4. Australia (16)5. New Zealand (15)6.  Scotland (12)7. Poland (10)
|
John Louis | 17 |
| Malcolm Simmons | 10 | |||
| 1977 | Manchester Hyde Road |
1. England (28) 2. Sweden (18)3. West Germany (18)4. Czechoslovakia (17)5. New Zealand (17)6.  Finland (14)7. Australia (12)
|
Peter Collins | 15 |
| Malcolm Simmons | 13 | |||
| 1978 | Chorzówr Stadion Śląski |
1. England (24) 2. New Zealand (24)3. Denmark (21)4. Czechoslovakia (18)5. Poland (15)6. West Germany (13)7. Sweden (11)
|
Malcolm Simmons | 15+3 |
| Gordon Kennett | 9 | |||
| 1980 |  Krsko Matija Gubec Stadium |
1. England (29) 2. Poland (22) 3. Denmark (21)4. Sweden (18)5. New Zealand (16)6. Finland (14)7. Yugoslavia (6)
|
Dave Jessup | 15 |
| Peter Collins | 14 | |||
| 1983 | Göteborg Ullevi |
1. England (25) 2. Australia (24) 3. Denmark (19)4. United States (18)5. Sweden (16)6. West Germany (12)7. New Zealand (11)
|
Kenny Carter | 15 |
| Peter Collins | 10 | |||
| 1984 |  Lonigo Santa Marina Stadium |
1. England (27) 2. Denmark (25) 3. New Zealand (25) 4. United States (19)5. Australia (14)6. Czechoslovakia (10)7. Italy (6)
|
Chris Morton | 14 |
| Peter Collins | 13 |
International caps (as of 2022)
editSince the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix era, international caps earned by riders is largely restricted to international competitions, whereas previously test matches between two teams were a regular occurrence. This means that the number of caps earned by a rider has decreased in the modern era.[7]
Managers
edit- 1975–1975 (Reg Fearman)
- 1975–1976 (John Berry)
- 1976-1976 (Len Silver)
- 1977–1978 (John Berry)
- 1979–1980 (Colin Pratt)
- 1980–1980 (Ian Thomas)
- 1981-1981 (Len Silver)
- 1982-1982 (Eric Boocock)
- 1983-1984 (Wally Mawdsley)
- 1984–1984 (Carl Glover)
- 1984–1985 (John Berry)
- 1982 & 1986–1993 (Eric Boocock)
- 1986–1993 (Colin Pratt)
- 1994–1998 (John Louis)[8]
- 1994–1994 (James Easter)[8]
- 1998–2001 (Dave Jessup)[9]
- 2001–2008 (Neil Middleditch)
- 2009–2010 (Rob Lyon)[10]
- 2011–2013 (Neil Middleditch)
- 2014–2019 (Alun Rossiter)[11]
- 2019– (Oliver Allen)[12]
- 2019– (Simon Stead)[12]
References
edit- ^ "United Kingdom international matches". International Speedway. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 134. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- ^ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 99. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
- ^ "Speedway: Great Britain claim first world title since 1989 with win over Poland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ^ "Great Britain wins FIM Speedway of Nations World Title in manchester Thriller". FIM Speedway. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ a b "Boocock quits". Nottingham Evening Post. 26 November 1993. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "New boy dave aims to heal the old wounds". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 21 March 1998. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Lyon named GB Boss". Wolverhampton speedway. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
- ^ "Alun Rossiter: Great Britain Speedway boss leaves role". BBC. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Team Managers revealed". British Speedway. Retrieved 22 December 2023.