Leicester Lions

For the rugby union team, see Leicester Lions RFC.

Leicester Lions
Club information
Track address	Pidcock Motorcycles Arena Beaumont Park 1 The Lions Leicester LE4 1DZ
Country	England
Founded	1968, 2011
Closed	1983
Promoter	Paul Cairns & Stewart Dickson
Team manager	Stewart Dickson
League	SGB Premiership
Website	www.leicesterspeedway.com
Club facts
Colours	Red and Yellow
Track size	300 metres (330 yd)
Track record time	58.06s
Track record date	17th July 2023
Track record holder	Max Fricke
Current team
Rider CMA Max Fricke (capt) Sam Masters Richard Lawson Luke Becker Ryan Douglas Drew Kemp Joe Thompson
Major team honours
Championship Shield 2019 SGB Championship 2019 Mildand Cup 1972, 1974

Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983 ^[1] and again from 2011. The team race at the Beaumont Park Stadium (or Pidcock Motorcycles Arena for sponsorship purposes).

Previous Leicester teams

Speedway started at Leicester in 1928 at Leicester Stadium with the Leicester Stadium team entering the English Dirt Track League in 1929 finishing 5th but by 1931 the track, beset with problems, closed. Speedway was also staged at a track known as Leicester Super off Melton Road. After World War II, speedway returned in 1948. The team were nicknamed the Leicester Hunters and ran under that name until closure in 1962. In 1949 the team started in the National League Division Three and moved up over the years operating in the top flight for some time until the end of 1961.

The first Lions era

1960s

Speedway returned to Leicester Stadium in 1968, when Reg Fearman and Ron Wilson moved the Long Eaton Archers team from Long Eaton Stadium. The team were renamed the Lions but the colours remained the same ^[2] and they competed in the British League, the top division of British speedway at the time. ^[1] The first season resulted in 12th place finish despite Anders Michanek recording a league average of 10.07. ^[3] Michanek left in 1969 but Ray Wilson stepped up and helped the Lions to a 5th place finish.

1970s

Ray Wilson and Dave Jessup discuss tactics, circa 1975

The team finished fourth in 1970 before taking the runner-up place during the 1971 British League season. The consistency of good results was due to the riding of Ray Wilson, John Boulger and Graham Plant.

Dave Jessup joined in 1972, which led Leicester to win the Midland Cup, which was their first silverware since returning. ^[4] Despite the loss of Boulger to rivals Cradley Heath in 1974, Leicester managed to win another Midland Cup crown. ^[5]

The team's results began to slide and then Dave Jessup left in 1976. In 1977, Vic White took over from Wilson, the two acting as co-promoters until 1980. ^[1] The Lions saw out the decade with some disappointing seasons, failing to make the top half of the table despite the best efforts of Ila Teromaa and John Titman.

1980s

The Blackbird Road stadium was sold in 1983.

In 1980, Martin Rogers took over the promoting and Leicester attempted to change their fortunes by signing Les Collins from Belle Vue for a club record fee. ^[6] Collins won the Riders' championship but the Lions finished mid-table and then in 1982, the team finished 15th out of 16 during the 1981 British League season.

Speedway continued through the 1983 season with the knowledge that the Midland Sport Stadiums Ltd were selling the Blackbird Road stadium for housing development. ^[7] The Lions finished 12th in their final season.

The team was sold at the end of the 1983 season and the stadium closed, with Rogers' atempts at finding a new venue for 1985 failing.

Second Lions era

Beaumont Park

In the late 2000s, a group of fans with chairman Ken Naylor from the Leicester Speedway Supporters Club/campaign group began discussions with various local bodies about the return of Speedway to the Leicester area. At the meeting of the Leicester City Council Planning and Development Control Committee held on 4 August 2009 the application for a speedway track at Beaumont Park ^[8] was approved. The new track was constructed at Beaumont Park with the Lions returning in March 2011 as a Premier League team, with three-time cycle speedway world champion David Hemsley as promoter.

2010s

2014 Lions team

The 2011 season was littered with rider changes and a last place in the league. However, the Lions hosted the Premier League Four-Team Championship and finished as runners-up to Ipswich Witches. The following season saw the Lions again finished as runners-up (this time to Berwick Bandits) in the Premier Fours and a sixth place in the Premier League, therefore making the end of season playoffs. The team rode one more season in the Premier League, finishing 7th.

At the BSPA AGM in November 2013, the Lions were accepted into the Elite League for 2014. ^[9] Norrie Allan was named as team manager, with former manager Glyn Taylor concentrating on track curation. Australian Jason Doyle was brought in as number 1 but the Lions finished bottom of the Elite League but did also enter a team in the National League-level National Trophy competition. In 2015, Doyle topped the league averages and won the Elite League Riders' Championship on his home track ^[10] but Doyle left at the end of the season and the team suffered a poor 2016 campaign.

Shortly before the start of the 2017 season, the team was taken over by Sheffield Tigers promoter Damian Bates, and the track altered to take in the curb around bends 1 and 2. ^{[11] [12]} After finishing bottom of the league, the team avoided relegation with a playoff win over SGB Championship winners Sheffield Tigers. ^[13]

Before the 2019 season, the club owners took the decision to drop Leicester Lions down to the SGB Championship. Also for the 2019 season, for the first time the club owners decided to enter a team, Leicester Lion Cubs, into the third tier of British speedway, the National League. The decision to drop a division was good one as the team won the season opening Championship Shield competition defeating the Eastbourne Eagles 103-76 on aggregate ^[14] and then on 22 October, they secured the SGB Championship, beating Glasgow Tigers over two legs in the play-off final. ^[15] The strong all-round team was headed by Scott Nicholls, Ryan Douglas and Richie Worrall.

2020s

Following a season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic the team finished 3rd in the SGB Championship 2021. The following season, was successful in terms of topping the league table and reaching the play off final in the SGB Championship 2022 before missing out on the title to Poole Pirates. The team's leading rider was Nick Morris.

In 2023, the club announced that they would move up to the Premiership for the 2023 season and brought in Max Fricke at number 1. ^[16]

Season summary

Extended content

Year and league Position Notes 1968 British League season 12th 1969 British League season 5th 1970 British League season 4th 1971 British League season 2nd 1972 British League season 5th Midland Cup winners 1973 British League season 4th 1974 British League season 10th Midland Cup winners 1975 British League season 8th 1976 British League season 19th 1977 British League season 19th 1978 British League season 11th 1979 British League season 17th 1980 British League season 11th 1981 British League season 15th 1982 British League season 10th 1983 British League season 12th 2011 Premier League speedway season 14th 2012 Premier League speedway season 6th 2013 Premier League speedway season 7th 2014 Elite League speedway season 9th 2015 Elite League speedway season 6th 2016 Elite League 8th SGB Premiership 2017 8th SGB Premiership 2018 7th SGB Championship 2019 1st Champions & Championship Shield SGB Championship 2021 3rd PO semi finals SGB Championship 2022 2nd PO final SGB Premiership 2023 5th SGB Premiership 2024 tbc

Previous teams

Extended content

2011 Riders signed for the start of the 2011 season were Sergey Darkin, Ilya Bondarenko, Jamie Courtney, Jan Graversen, John Oliver, Richard Hall (on loan from Sheffield Tigers), and Richard Sweetman (on loan from Swindon Robins). [17] Mathieu Trésarrieu was brought in when Bondarenko was out through injury. By July 2011, four of the seven riders who started the season had either left or been replaced, with only Bondarenko, Graversen and Oliver remaining, and Hemsley had handed over team management duties to Jason Attwood. Promoter Hemsley brought in Kauko Nieminen, Henning Bager and Magnus Karlsson, with Charles Wright and Ashley Morris as reserves. In August, Oliver and Wright were released, with Viktor Bergström and Jason Garrity coming in for the remainder of the season. Graversen finished the season as the team's top points scorer with 211 points from league and cup matches. 2012 In November 2011, Graversen and Karlsson were the first riders confirmed for the 2012 season, [18] with Jari Mäkinen the third signing. At the end of November Nieminen signed to return in 2012 and the top three in the 2012 team was completed by Danish Under-21 Champion Lasse Bjerre. Sixth rider to be signed was Simon Lambert. The team was completed by Simon Nielsen. An injury for Neilsen early in the season saw Kyle Hughes drafted in as a temporary replacement and a broken femur for Nielsen later in the season led to the signing of Linus Eklöf, with Lambert leaving to accommodate the Swede's higher average, and Lewis Blackbird moving up from the National League to complete the new line-up. Lions again finished as runners-up (this time to Berwick Bandits) in the Premier Fours. 2013 The team for 2013 was announced, subject to BSPA approval, on 25 November 2012. Nieminen, Bjerre, Graversen, Nielsen, and Blackbird were joined by Kevin Doolan and Adam Roynon. An injury to Roynon after only one match for the Lions saw the return of Magnus Karlsson to the team. [19] Despite scoring at over a point above his starting average, Blackbird was allowed to leave for Scunthorpe Scorpions in May after the signing of Robert Branford. [20] Later that month, Nielsen lost his place to Alex Edberg. Branford was replaced by James Sarjeant in July and with two league matches to go Sarjeant and the injured Nieminen were replaced by Simon Nielsen and Linus Eklof. [21] 2014 At the BSPA AGM in November 2013 the Lions were accepted into the Elite League for 2014. [22] The first two riders for 2014 were confirmed in early December when Tom Perry and Max Clegg were picked in the reserve draft. [23] Mads Korneliussen, Patrick Hougaard, Peter Ljung, and Jason Doyle were named in the top five of the side, but doubts over Doyle's visa delayed the completion of the team. With Doyle receiving a tier 5 visa, his place was confirmed, and Simon Stead was named in the final team place. [24] Norrie Allan was named as team manager, with former manager Glyn Taylor concentrating on track curation. In May Ljung withdrew from racing in Britain and was replaced by Lasse Bjerre. Perry was replaced by Josh Bates. An injury to Hougaard led him to withdraw from British speedway, and Lions brought in Krzysztof Buczkowski and Nicolai Klindt, with Bjerre losing his place. 2015 The first rider signed for 2015 was Polish Under-21 champion Szymon Woźniak. They then selected Josh Auty and Simon Lambert in the reserve draft. [25] Jason Doyle returned for a second season, and former Eastbourne Eagles rider Mikkel Michelsen also signed. Bjarne Pedersen and Grzegorz Walasek completed the team. Pedersen and Michelsen had both left by May, with Lewis Bridger and Sam Masters replacing them, although Bridger quit after only one meeting. 2016 With Lions' Saturday race night prompting 2015 number one Doyle to leave, Lions retained Walasek, Woźniak, and Auty from the previous season's team, also signing Paul Starke at reserve. Former rider Nikolai Klindt returned, but by late January they were still short of two heat leaders, with team manager Norrie Allan admitting "We need two riders of heat leader standard, and there just aren't any out there...we could be looking at putting in two riders just to complete a team." [26] They eventually signed Sebastian Ułamek and Patrick Hougaard, starting the season over 4 points below the team building limit. After losing the first four league meetings, Walasek was dropped, to be replaced by Aaron Summers. An injury to Ułamek saw him being replaced by Davey Watt. [27]

Track records

• 2011–2012 (321m): 61.47s Kauko Nieminen, 7 April 2012
• 2013–2015 (317m): 59.06s Niels-Kristian Iversen, 7 June 2014
• 2016 (302m): 60.63s Craig Cook, 18 June 2016
• 2017–2023 (300m): 58.79s Emil Sayfutdinov, 17 April 2023

Notable riders

• John Boulger
• Les Collins
• Ryan Douglas
• Jason Doyle
• Max Fricke
• Dave Jessup
• Anders Michanek
• Nick Morris
• Scott Nicholls
• Graham Plant
• Ila Teromaa
• John Titman
• Ray Wilson
• Richie Worrall

See also

• List of Leicester Lions riders
• Speedway in Leicester

References

1. Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN   0-7524-2210-3
2. "Speedway Bombshell" . Stapleford & Sandiacre News. 23 February 1968. Retrieved 18 April 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
4. "Speedway" . Daily Mirror. 25 October 1972. Retrieved 21 October 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Wolves beaten in cup final" . Birmingham Daily Post. 12 October 1974. Retrieved 21 October 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Boocock's double deal" . Manchester Evening News. 12 March 1980. Retrieved 18 April 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Leicester Speedway to close" . Lincolnshire Echo. 25 November 1983. Retrieved 18 April 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. Beaumont Park Archived 19 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
9. "Speedway: Leicester Lions fulfil ambition to compete in top tier", Leicester Mercury , 19 November 2013
10. "SPEEDWAY LIVE: Elite League Riders Championship". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
11. "Leicester Speedway: Sheffield promoter Damien Bates takes over at Lions", BBC, 31 January 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017
12. "Leicester Lions' team spirit bodes well for an exciting season, says owner Damien Bates ^{[ permanent dead link ]}", Leicester Mercury , 31 March 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017
13. Paul, Jon (2017) "Leicester Lions staying in the Premiership after play-off win against Sheffield Tigers", Leicester Mercury , 17 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017
14. "LIONS 55 EASTBOURNE 34 (Agg: 103-76) - Leicester Lions Speedway - Official Website".
15. "Result: Tuesday October 22", speedwaygb.co.uk, 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019
16. "Lions moving up in 2023". Leicester Speedway. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
17. "Dane Jan Graversen becomes Leicester Lions' fourth signing", Leicester Mercury , 9 December 2010, retrieved 10 December 2010
18. "Leicester re-sign Jan Graversen and Magnus Karlsson", BBC, 7 November 2011, retrieved 20 November 2011
19. "Karlsson in Lions Return", speedwaygb.co, 3 April 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013
20. "Blackbird in Scorpions Switch", speedwaygb.co, 3 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013
21. "Double Change for Lions", speedwaygb.co, 30 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013
22. "Speedway: Leicester Lions fulfil ambition to compete in top tier", Leicester Mercury , 19 November 2013
23. "Reserve Pairings Revealed", speedwaygb.co, 3 December 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2013
24. "Lions Complete with Stead", speedwaygb.co, 14 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014
25. "Elite Draft Selections", speedwaygb.co, 26 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014
26. Rowe, David (2016) "No Man's land", Speedway Star, 23 January 2016, p. 10
27. "Watt a Move for Lions", speedwaygb.co, 11 May 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016