Summary
The Swindon Robins are an motorcycle speedway team from England, established in 1949 that have competed primarily in the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom. They are five times league champions of the United Kingdom.[1]
| Swindon Robins | |||||||||||||||||
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 The Abbey Stadium, the home of Swindon Robins from 1949 to 2019. | |||||||||||||||||
| Club information | |||||||||||||||||
| Track address | Abbey Stadium, Blunsdon, Swindon | ||||||||||||||||
| Country | England | ||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1949 | ||||||||||||||||
| League | SGB Premiership | ||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||
| Club facts | |||||||||||||||||
| Colours | Red, white and black | ||||||||||||||||
| Track size | 315 metres (344 yd) | ||||||||||||||||
| Track record time | 58.86 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Track record date | 6 May 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
| Track record holder | Brady Kurtz | ||||||||||||||||
| Major team honours | |||||||||||||||||
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The club have raced on their home track at the Abbey Stadium, Lady Lane, Blunsdon since their inception but since 2020 have been unable to race at the stadium.
History edit
1928–1949 edit
The formation of the club followed the sport's prehistory in the town at the now-demolished Gorse Hill Aerodrome, where dirt track racing had taken place since 1928.[2]
The birth of the Robins was a product of the partnership of Bristol speedway manager Reg Witcomb and businessman Bert Hearse. Under their direction, a 410-yard (370 m) cinder track was built.[3]
The first meeting, a non-league home challenge match, took place on 23 July 1949 against future rivals Oxford Cheetahs,[4] and an official attendance figure of 8,000 was given, although employees of the club believe that 10,000 would be closer to the truth. The Robins lost their debut meeting 39–45 in a meeting that saw Ginger Nicholls top score for the home side with 11 points on his wedding day. In the process he won the first-ever race, was beaten by an opponent only once, and set the first-ever track record at 82.8 seconds.
The team then joined the 1949 Speedway National League Division Three taking over the fixtures of the Hull Angels, who withdrew from the league. Swindon finished in 11th place.[5]
1950–1969 edit
The first silverware came to the club in 1956 and 1957. In 1956, they won the 1956 Speedway National League Division Two title, finishing one point clear of Southampton Saints,[6] with three riders, Bob Roger, Ian Williams and George White securing 9+ averages for the season.[7] Promotion followed and the following year Swindon joined the highest league, that of the 1957 Speedway National League. Several riders were brought in to bolster the campaign but it was the same three riders that steered Swindon to back to back league titles.[8] The next major success came during the 1967 British League season when Swindon won their second highest league title. Swindon finished with four riders with averages over eight, Barry Briggs topped the entire league with 11.05 but the contributions from Martin Ashby (8.83), Bob Kilby (8.61) and Mike Broadbank (8.55) were pivotal in the Swindon's success.[9]
1970–1999 edit
The next three decades were spent primarily in the top tier of the British League, with only two third place finishes to show for their efforts in 1981 and 1987. The 1981 British League season was led by Swindon stalwart Phil Crump and the 1987 British League season by Jimmy Nilsen, who had taken over as the team's number one rider.
2000–2009 edit
The club did not experience further success until they won the Div 2 KO Cup during the 2000 Premier League speedway season, a season in which they were unlucky to finish league runner-up behind Exeter Falcons. The Falcons only won the title on points difference and actually won three less matches than Swindon that season.
In 2004, the club returned to the top league, which was now called the Elite League and from 2006 until 2009 reached four consecutive play offs. During the 2009 Elite League speedway season the Robins finished first in the regular season table but lost in the play off final. The Australian Leigh Adams was one of the best riders in the league, topping the averages twice and was the track record holder, with a time of 63.86 seconds, on 31 August 2009.
2010–2019 edit
Following difficult campaigns in 2010 (when Adams left the club) and 2011, Swindon signed Denmark's Peter Kildemand, former world #5 Hans Andersen and Australian international Troy Batchelor, who rode for the Robins in 2008 and part of the 2009 season. Alun Rossiter also returned as team manager after a 2-year spell with Coventry, with whom he won the Elite League in 2010. In 2012, the Robins won the Elite League title after beating the Poole Pirates 95–89 on aggregate following a 45-year wait for glory.[10]
In 2013, 2014 and 2015, the Robins made the semi-finals of the playoffs, but failed to advance further. At the start of the 2015 season, Swindon's No 1 Adrian Miedziński was injured in the first meeting at the Abbey, with Peter Kildemand filling in on a temporary basis before the club signed Australian international Darcy Ward. However, Ward suffered a career-ending accident while riding in Poland, and Kildemand once again stepped in to complete the season. The 2016 Robins team was nicknamed Roscos Roo's, because it contained five Australians in addition to the required two British reserves.
In 2017, the Robins won the League Championship play off final against Wolverhampton Wolves despite losing the first leg at their home track. Jason Doyle was instrumental in helping Swindon claim the crown.
Due to stadium issues, a new stadium was planned to be built for the 2018 season[11] but this did not happen and at the start of the 2019 season, the Abbey Stadium was reduced in size to 320 metres from its original 363 metres. It turned out to be their last season at the Abbey Stadium.
2020–present edit
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 SGB Premiership was completely cancelled[12] and in January 2021, the Robins confirmed their withdrawal from the 2021 season, citing uncertainty around the potential redevelopment of their stadium.[13] The Robins' promoter, Terry Robins, confirmed that the team would not be fielding a team in the 2022 season due to uncertainty over when the new stadium would be completed.[14] In December 2022, a stand-off continued between the council and builders Taylor Wimpey over the stadium's perimeter and its expected redevelopment. Around that time Clarke Osborne of Gaming International issued a press release calling for sites, seeking a 5,000 capacity stadium to host speedway, karting and car racing.[15]
Season summary edit
Season summary (juniors) edit
Extended content
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Riders previous seasons edit
Extended content
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2019 team 2018 team  2017 team
2016 team 2010 team
2009 team
Also Rode: 2008 team
Also Rode:
2007 team
Also rode: 2006 team |
Club honours edit
- National League Champions: 1957
- British League Champions: 1967
- Elite League Champions: 2012
- SGB Premiership Champions: 2017, 2019
- National League Division Two Champions: 1956
- Premiership Supporters KO Cup Winners: 2019
- Premier League KO Cup Winners: 2000
- Premier League Four-Team Championship Winners: 2003
- Young Shield Winners: 2000
- Midland Cup Winners: 1967, 1968, 1994
- Elite Shield Winners: 2008, 2018
Elite League Pairs Championship
- 2004 (Leigh Adams and Charlie Gjedde)
- 2005 (Leigh Adams and Lee Richardson)
British League Division Two Best Pairs
- 1994 (Tony Olsson and Tony Langdon)
Individual honours edit
Barry Briggs (1964 and 1966)
Jason Doyle (2017)
Peter Nahlin (1988)- Leigh Adams (1992)
- Erik Stenlund (1988)
- Barry Briggs (1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 & 1969)
Steve Bastable (1981)
British League Riders' Championship
- Barry Briggs (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970)[16]
British League Division Two Riders Championship
- Gary Allan (1993)
Notable riders edit
All-time points scorers edit
| Rider | Total Points | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Leigh Adams | 6442.5 | 9.72 |
| Martin Ashby | 5476.5 | 8.61 |
| Phil Crump | 4254 | 9.52 |
| Mike Broadbank | 4239 | 7.84 |
| Bob Kilby | 4192 | 7.95 |
| Jimmy Nilsen | 3815 | 8.41 |
| Barry Briggs | 3681 | 10.71 |
| Ian Williams | 3452.5 | 7.54 |
| Brian Karger | 2754 | 7.60 |
| Neil Street | 1802.5 | 7.45 |
References edit
- ^ "Result: Thursday October 17", speedwaygb.co.uk, 17 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019
- ^ Bamford, Robert; Shailes, Glynn (1999). 50 Years of Swindon Speedway. Bamford and Shailes.
- ^ Bamford, Robert; Shailes, Glynn (2002). Speedway In The Thames Valley. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0752424084.
- ^ "Swindon Speedway". Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer. 15 July 1949. Retrieved 4 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ "Swindon win speedway's Div. Two". Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph. 8 September 1956. Retrieved 4 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "A-Z rider averages 1929-2011" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "You Muddy Heroes!!". Swindon Web. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ Bamford, Robert (2005). Swindon Speedway: The Definitive History of the Robins. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0752427482.
- ^ Rose, Dan (21 July 2020). "Professional league speedway in the UK cancelled for 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Swindon withdraw from 2021 Premiership". BBC Sport. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Swindon withdraw from 2022 Premiership". Swindon Robins website. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ "Call for sites". Speedway Star page 4. 19 November 2022.
- ^ Bamford, Robert; Shailes, Glynn (2003). 50 Greats: Swindon Speedway. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0752427482.
External links edit
- Official website
- Save Swindon Speedway BBC Action Network
- James Wright official website