Jump to content

Great Britain national speedway team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Great Britain speedway team)

Great Britain
Team captainTai Woffinden
Nation colourBlue
SWC Wins10 (inc SON) (1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1989, 2021, 2024)
Squad
  • Robert Lambert
  • Dan Bewley
  • Tom Brennan
  • Tai Woffinden

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.

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

[edit]

The 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

[edit]

World Team Championships

[edit]
Year Venue Standings (Pts) Riders Pts
1968 England
London
Wembley Stadium
1. United Kingdom Great Britain (40)
2. Sweden Sweden (30)
3. Poland Poland (19)
4. Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia (7)
Ivan Mauger (NZ) 12
Nigel Boocock 10
Martin Ashby 8
Barry Briggs (NZ) 7
Norman Hunter 3
1971 Poland
Wrocław
Stadion Olimpijski
1. United Kingdom Great Britain (37)
2. Soviet Union Soviet Union (22)
3. Poland Poland (19)
4. Sweden Sweden (18)
Ray Wilson 12
Ivan Mauger (NZ) 10
Jim Airey (AUS) 9
Barry Briggs (NZ) 6
Ronnie Moore (NZ) dnr
1972 West Germany
Olching
Olching Speedwaybahn
1. United Kingdom Great Britain (36)
2. Soviet Union Soviet Union (21)
3. Poland Poland (21)
4. Sweden Sweden (18)
Ivan Mauger (NZ) 11
John Louis 9
Terry Betts 9
Ray Wilson 8
Ronnie Moore (NZ) dnr
1973 England
London
Wembley Stadium
1. United Kingdom Great Britain (37)
2. Sweden Sweden (31)
3. Soviet Union Soviet Union (20)
4. Poland Poland (8)
Peter Collins 12
Terry Betts 9
Malcolm Simmons 8
Ray Wilson 8
Dave Jessup dnr
1974 Poland
Chorzów
Stadion Śląski
1. England England (42)
2. Sweden Sweden (31)
3. Poland Poland (13)
4. Soviet Union Soviet Union (10)
Peter Collins 12
John Louis 12
Dave Jessup 10
Malcolm Simmons 8
Ray Wilson dnr
1975 Germany
Norden
Motodrom Halbemond
1. England England (41)
2. Soviet Union Soviet Union (29)
3. Sweden Sweden (17)
4. Poland Poland (9)
Peter Collins 12
Malcolm Simmons 11
Martin Ashby 10
John Louis 8
Dave Jessup dnr
1977 Poland
Wrocław
Stadion Olimpijski
1. England England (37)
2. Poland Poland (25)
3. Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia (23)
4. Sweden Sweden (11)
Peter Collins 10
Michael Lee 9
Dave Jessup 9
John Davis 6
Malcolm Simmons 3
1980 Poland
Wrocław
Stadion Olimpijski
1. England England (40)
2. United States United States (29)
3. Poland Poland (15)
4. Czech Republic Czechoslovakia (12)
Michael Lee 11
Chris Morton 11
Peter Collins 10
Dave Jessup 8
John Davis dnr
1989 England
Bradford
Odsal Stadium
1. England England (48)
2. Denmark Denmark (34)
3. Sweden Sweden (30)
4. United States United States (8)
Jeremy Doncaster 13
Paul Thorp 12
Kelvin Tatum 12
Simon Wigg 11
Simon Cross 0
2021 England
Manchester
National Speedway Stadium
1. United Kingdom Great Britain (64+6+5)
2. Poland Poland (74+4)
3. Denmark Denmark (68+3)
4. Australia Australia (49)
5. France France (47)
6. Latvia Latvia (42)
7. Sweden Sweden (30)
Robert Lambert 32+4+3
Dan Bewley 11+2+2
Tai Woffinden 14
Tom Brennan 7
2024 England
Manchester
National Speedway Stadium
1. United Kingdom Great Britain (35+5+7)
2. Australia Australia (36+2)
3. Sweden Sweden (27+4)
4. Germany Germany (26)
5. Poland Poland (24)
6. Denmark Denmark (21)
7. Latvia Latvia (20)
Robert Lambert 22+3+4
Dan Bewley 13+2+3
Tom Brennan dnr

Titles

[edit]
Preceded by World Champions
1968 (1st title)
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Sweden Sweden
World Champions
1971 (2nd title)
1972 (3rd title)
1973 (4th title)
1974 (5th title)
1975 (6th title)
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Australia Australia
World Champions
1977 (7th title)
Succeeded by
Preceded by World Champions
1980 (8th title)
Succeeded by
Denmark Denmark
Preceded by
Denmark Denmark
World Champions
1989 (9th title)
Succeeded by
Preceded by World Champions
2021 (10th title)
Succeeded by
Australia Australia
Preceded by
Poland Poland
World Champions
2024 (11th title)
Succeeded by

World Pairs Championship

[edit]
Year Venue Standings (Pts) Riders Pts
1972 Sweden
Borås
Ryavallen
1. England England (24)
2. New Zealand New Zealand (24)
3. Sweden Sweden B (22)
4. Sweden Sweden A (22)
5. Poland Poland (15)
6. Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia (12)
7. Hungary Hungary (6)
Ray Wilson 15+3
Terry Betts 9
1976 Sweden
Eskilstuna
Snälltorpet
1. England England (27)
2. Denmark Denmark (24)
3. Sweden Sweden (22)
4. Australia Australia (16)
5. New Zealand New Zealand (15)
6. Scotland Scotland (12)
7. Poland Poland (10)
John Louis 17
Malcolm Simmons 10
1977 England
Manchester
Hyde Road
1. England England (28)
2. Sweden Sweden (18)
3. West Germany West Germany (18)
4. Czech Republic Czechoslovakia (17)
5. New Zealand New Zealand (17)
6. Finland Finland (14)
7. Australia Australia (12)
Peter Collins 15
Malcolm Simmons 13
1978 Poland
Chorzówr
Stadion Śląski
1. England England (24)
2. New Zealand New Zealand (24)
3. Denmark Denmark (21)
4. Czech Republic Czechoslovakia (18)
5. Poland Poland (15)
6. West Germany West Germany (13)
7. Sweden Sweden (11)
Malcolm Simmons 15+3
Gordon Kennett 9
1980 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Krsko
Matija Gubec Stadium
1. England England (29)
2. Poland Poland (22)
3. Denmark Denmark (21)
4. Sweden Sweden (18)
5. New Zealand New Zealand (16)
6. Finland Finland (14)
7. Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (6)
Dave Jessup 15
Peter Collins 14
1983 Sweden
Göteborg
Ullevi
1. England England (25)
2. Australia Australia (24)
3. Denmark Denmark (19)
4. United States United States (18)
5. Sweden Sweden (16)
6. West Germany West Germany (12)
7. New Zealand New Zealand (11)
Kenny Carter 15
Peter Collins 10
1984 Italy
Lonigo
Santa Marina Stadium
1. England England (27)
2. Denmark Denmark (25)
3. New Zealand New Zealand (25)
4. United States United States (19)
5. Australia Australia (14)
6. Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia (10)
7. Italy Italy (6)
Chris Morton 14
Peter Collins 13

International caps (as of 2022)

[edit]

Since 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]

Rider Caps for England Caps for Great Britain Total
Abbott, Joe 30 - 30
Airey, Jim Australia - 17 17
Allen, Oliver - 2 2
Andrew, Bill New Zealand - 7 7
Andrews, Bob 21 12 33
Ashby, Martin 49 21 70
Ashworth, Ricky - 1 1
Atkinson, Arthur 30 - 30
Auffret, Frank 6 - 6
Bales, Billy 12 1 13
Barker, Ben - 5 5
Barker, Dean 14 4 18
Bastable, Steve 18 - 18
Beaton, Bobby Scotland - 1 1
Betts, Terry 55 19 74
Bird, Danny - 1 1
Blackbird, Carl 8 - 8
Boocock, Eric 53 37 90
Boocock, Nigel 90 64 154
Boothroyd, Eric 2 1 3
Boss, Chris Wales 5 - 5
Boulger, John Australia - 5 5
Bounds, Reg 2 - 2
Bradley, Dick 24 - 24
Brett, Brian 3 4 7
Bridger, Lewis - 5 5
Briggs, Barry New Zealand - 57 57
Brine, Cyril 12 - 12
Broadbank, Mike 28 8 36
Broadbelt, Eric 17 14 31
Brown, Ivor 1 - 1
Burton, Squib 7 - 7
Bush, Arthur 5 - 5
Byers, Gordon 3 - 3
Byford, Howdy 6 - 6
Carr, Peter 12 - 12
Carter, Kenny 51 - 51
Cartwright, Ian 6 - 6
Clarke, Tony 11 2 13
Clarke, Phil 5 - 5
Clarke, Ron 9 - 9
Clark, Pat 2 - 2
Clibbett, Bill 1 - 1
Close, Derick 2 - 2
Cole, Howard Wales 10 1 11
Coles, Bob 1 - 1
Coles, Michael 2 - 2
Collins, Les 31 - 31
Collins, Neil 19 - 19
Collins, Peter 118 9 127
Collins, Phil 55 1 56
Cottrell, Col 1 - 1
Courtney, Mark 5 - 5
Cox, Marvyn 25 - 25
Craven, Gil 1 - 1
Craven, Malcolm 11 - 11
Craven, Peter 48 12 60
Cresp, Ray Australia - 6 6
Cribb, Bruce New Zealand - 3 3
Croombs, Tommy 30 - 30
Cross, Simon 33 - 33
Crutcher, Brian 23 - 23
Cunningham, Glenn 2 - 2
Davey, Tony 11 - 11
Davis, John 64 - 64
Dent, Russ 1 - 1
Doncaster, Jeremy 52 - 52
Drury, Graham Wales 1 - 1
Dugard, Martin 41 - 41
Edwards, Bert 7 - 7
Elliott, Bryan 6 - 6
Erskine, Jon 1 2 3
Etheridge, Laurie 1 - 1
Evans, Norman 1 - 1
Evitts, Neil 27 - 27
Farndon, Tom 21 - 21
Featherby, Clive - 1 1
Fisher, Dick 1 4 5
Forrest, Arthur 26 - 26
France, Rick 1 4 5
Francis, Joe 6 - 6
French, Eric 8 - 8
Frogley, Roger 3 - 3
Galvin, Andy 1 - 1
Gamble, Tommy 1 - 1
Genz, Ronnie 7 1 8
Gifford, Dave New Zealand - 2 2
Gilbert, Bill 6 - 6
Glover, Carl 1 - 1
Gofffe, Lloyd 1 - 1
Golden, Alby - 1 1
Gooch, Jimmy 10 3 13
Gooddy, Colin 1 - 1
Goulden, Frank 1 - 1
Grahame, Alan 42 - 42
Grahame, Andy 16 - 16
Gray, Dennis 1 - 1
Greatrex, Stan 5 - 5
Green, Richard 1 - 1
Green, Wally 6 - 6
Greenwood, George 2 - 2
Greer, Richard 4 - 4
Gregory, Eric 2 - 2
Gregory, Les 1 - 1
Grifiths, Syd Wales 1 - 1
Hagon, Alf 4 - 4
Haigh, Dusty 15 - 15
Haley, Arnie 33 6 39
Harkins, Bert Scotland 7 4 11
Harris, Chris - 22 22
Harris, Dick 5 - 5
Harrison, Bob 10 - 10
Hart, Oliver 16 - 16
Havelock, Gary 54 12 66
Hedge, Trevor 16 17 33
Hemus, Dave - 1 1
Herbert, Hal 1 - 1
Hill, Roger 1 - 1
Holden, Kevin 5 7 12
How, Ron 44 12 56
Howe, Ben 8 - 8
Howe, David - 4 4
Hull, Wally 2 - 2
Hunt, Alan 26 - 26
Hunt, Tim 1 - 1
Hunter, George Scotland 17 16 33
Hunter, Norman 9 13 22
Hurry, Paul 12 5 17
Hussey, Gerry 2 - 2
Jackson, Syd 8 - 8
Jay, Alan 1 - 1
Jervis, Arthur 2 - 2
Jessup, Dave 97 - 97
Johns, Roger 2 - 2
Jolly, Kevin 6 - 6
Jones, Graham 3 - 3
Kelly, Peter 1 - 1
Kempster, Jim 4 - 4
Kennett, Edward - 10 10
Kennett, Gordon 53 - 53
Kentwell, Greg Australia - 1 1
Key, Nobby 11 - 11
Kilby, Bob 37 5 42
King, Danny - 6 6
Kitchen, Bill 41 - 41
Kitchen, Jack - 2 2
Knight, Richard 20 - 20
Kuhn, Gus 4 - 4
Landels, Bill Scotland 1 8 9
Langton, Eric 44 - 44
Langton, Oliver 1 - 1
Lawson, Louis 7 - 7
Leadbitter, Tom 2 - 2
Lee, Michael 72 - 72
Lees, Ginger 22 - 22
Levai, Sandor Hungary 1 1 2
Lightfoot, Jim 1 3 4
Lloyd, Jeff 5 - 5
Lloyd, Wally 8 - 8
Lomas, Tony 12 - 12
Loram, Mark 36 10 46
Louis, Chris 41 3 44
Louis, John 54 4 58
Luckhurst, Reg 4 7 11
McAuliffe, Leo Wales - 1 1
McGillivray, Les 2 - 2
McGregor, Gordon Scotland 19 1 20
McKinlay, Ken Scotland 92 23 115
McMillan, Jim Scotland 28 31 59
Maidment, Cyril 6 16 22
Mardon, Geoff New Zealand - 1 1
Mauger, Ivan New Zealand - 47 47
Mear, Robert - 2 2
Middleditch, Ken 5 - 5
Middleditch, Neil 7 - 7
Miller, Tommy Scotland 5 - 5
Milner, Keith 1 - 1
Molyneux, Alan 1 - 1
Monk, Charlie Australia - 15 15
Moore, Peter Australia - 3 3
Moore, Ronnie New Zealand - 21 21
Morton, Chris 115 7 122
Morton, Dave 18 - 18
Morton, Ray 1 - 1
Mountford, Ron 25 4 29
Mudge, Geoff Australia - 1 1
Mullett, Dave 3 - 3
Neath, Chris - 1 1
Newton, George 12 - 12
Nicholls, Nick 5 - 5
Nicholls, Scott 8 27 35
Norris, David 20 8 28
Oakley, Bob 1 - 1
Oliver, Dent 19 - 19
Ormston, Jack 14 - 14
Owen, Joe 3 - 3
Owen, Les 2 1 3
Owen, Tom 1 - 1
Parker, Dennis 5 - 5
Parker, Jack 89 - 89
Parker, Norman 36 - 36
Parkinson, Cliff 17 7 24
Paulson, Bob 3 - 3
Pawson, Fred 5 - 5
Phillips, Wal 27 - 27
Pitcher, Bill 7 - 7
Plant, Graham 5 1 6
Pratt, Colin 14 7 21
Price, Arthur 3 - 3
Price, Tommy 23 - 23
Pusey, Chris 51 - 51
Pymar, Geoff 12 - 12
Richardson, Colin 1 - 1
Richardson, Lee 1 25 26
Rigg, Eddie 14 - 14
Roger, Bert 11 - 11
Roger, Cyril 25 - 25
Rogers, Fred 1 - 1
Roper, Tommy 4 - 4
Rossiter, Alun 8 - 8
Roynon, Adam - 1 1
Rye, Claude 4 - 4
Schofield, Steve 12 - 12
Scott, Jack Australia - 1 1
Screen, Joe 37 7 44
Sharpe, Les Australia - 2 2
Sharples, Ken 8 - 8
Silver, Andrew 22 - 22
Simmons, Malcolm 73 5 78
Small, Terry 1 - 1
Smith, Andy 29 - 29
Smith, Kevin 3 - 3
Smith, Pete 7 2 9
Squibb, Jimmy 4 4 8
Standing, Dean 4 - 4
Statham, Alec 22 - 22
Stead, Simon - 11 11
Stevenson, Tiger 27 - 27
Stobbart, Rol 2 - 2
Stonehewer, Carl 7 5 12
Street, Neil Australia - 1 1
Sweetman, Tommy 6 - 6
Tatum, Kelvin 65 - 65
Taylor, Chum Australia - 1 1
Thomas, Barry 26 - 26
Thorp, Paul 31 - 31
Trigg, Roy 31 5 36
Trott, Reg 1 - 1
Tyrer, Paul 1 - 1
Unstead, Jack 2 - 2
Varey, Frank 21 - 21
Warwick, Arthur 7 - 7
Waterman, Split 32 - 32
Watkin, Mike 1 1 2
Watson, Colin 9 - 9
White, George 19 - 19
White, Keith 7 - 7
Whitfield, Harry 1 - 1
Wigg, Simon 57 - 57
Wilkinson, Alan 12 - 12
Wilkinson, Fred 2 - 2
Wilks, George 9 - 9
Williams, Eric Wales 23 - 23
Williams, Freddie Wales 28 - 28
Williams, Ian Wales 8 - 8
Wilson, Ray 72 36 108
Wilson, Reg 7 16 23
Wilson, Sean 23 2 25
Woffinden, Tai - 11 11
Woods, Paul 2 - 2
Wotton, Les 13 - 13
Wright, Arthur 7 - 7
Wyer, Doug 46 14 60
Young, Jack - 1 1
Younghusband, Dave 8 3 11

Managers

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "United Kingdom international matches". International Speedway. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 134. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  4. ^ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 99. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  5. ^ "Speedway: Great Britain claim first world title since 1989 with win over Poland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Great Britain wins FIM Speedway of Nations World Title in manchester Thriller". FIM Speedway. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  7. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Boocock quits". Nottingham Evening Post. 26 November 1993. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "New boy dave aims to heal the old wounds". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 21 March 1998. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Lyon named GB Boss". Wolverhampton speedway. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Alun Rossiter: Great Britain Speedway boss leaves role". BBC. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Team Managers revealed". British Speedway. Retrieved 22 December 2023.