| St Austell Gulls | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club information | |||||
| Track address | 1949–1964 Cornish Stadium Par St Austell 1997–2000 Clay Country Moto Parc Longstone Pit Old Pound Nanpean St Austell Cornwall | ||||
| Country | England | ||||
| Founded | 1949 | ||||
| Closed | 2000 replaced by Trelawny Tigers | ||||
| Club facts | |||||
| Colours | Blue and White | ||||
| Track size | 360 yards (330 m) 1949-1964 230 metres (250 yd) 1997–2000 | ||||
| Major team honours | |||||
| |||||
The St Austell Gulls were a speedway team which operated from 1949 until their closure in 1964 at the Cornish Stadium at Par, St Austell in Cornwall. In 1997 the team rode at the Clay Country Moto Parc until the club finally closed in 2000. [1] [2]
The Cornish Stadium took two years to build but once in place works started on the track which was designed by famous riders Jack Parker, Vic Duggan and Bill Kitchen. [3]
In 1949, the track operated under an open licence but ran a series of meetings under the team names, the St Austell Pixies and St Austell Badgers before finally settling on the Gulls nickname. [3]
In 1950, the Gulls entered National League Division Three and competed again in 1951. [4] In 1952 they entered the Southern League, finishing bottom and again the following season but rising just the one place. [5] Former West Ham Hammers and Harringay Racers star George Newton managed the team, having ridden for the Gulls in 1951. In 1954 the Southern League was disbanded. Without a league to race in, the Gulls applied to join the National League Division Two. However, the Speedway Control Board decided against giving the club a licence and the riders were reallocated. [3]
League racing was not seen again at the stadium until 1963 when the Gulls entered the Provincial League, [6] although the Neath Dragons did finish off their 1962 Provincial League fixtures at the stadium under promoter Trevor Redmond. [7] Redmond promoted the Gulls in 1963 but it turned out to be their only season of league racing until 1997.
In 1997 permission was given to build a track in a disused china clay pit. A small track was built with very basic facilities, the referee's control room was a converted caravan, which was replaced eventually by a double decker bus. The Gulls entered the Amateur League, which became the Conference League. [8]
The track was rather rutted as it bedded in but by the start of the 1998 season, the team of mainly local riders started to become a solid outfit. Future 2007 British Speedway Grand Prix winner Chris Harris made his League debut at fifteen years of age. By the end of the season, the team had completed the League Championship and Knockout Cup double.
In 1999, the Gulls retained the Knockout Cup. The Gulls final season came in 2000 when it was becoming obvious the club was ready to join the Premier League. The current owners of the club felt that they could not take the club further and the track lease was handed over to another consortium who opened up in 2001 as the Trelawny Tigers. [8]
| Year and league | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 Speedway National League Division Three | 10th | |
| 1951 Speedway National League Division Three | 8th | |
| 1952 Speedway Southern League | 10th | |
| 1953 Speedway Southern League | 7th | |
| 1963 Provincial Speedway League | 5th | |
| 1997 Speedway Conference League | 6th | |
| 1998 Speedway Conference League | 1st | Champions & Knockout Cup winners |
| 1999 Speedway Conference League | 2nd | Knockout Cup winners |
| 2000 Speedway Conference League | 7th |
Christopher Calvin Harris from Truro, Cornwall, nicknamed Bomber, is a Great Britain international motorcycle speedway rider from England.
Trelawny Tigers operated as a British Premier League speedway team from 2001 to 2003 at the Clay Country Moto Parc.
The Rye House Rockets were a speedway team based at Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon, England. They competed in various British speedway leagues from 1954 to 2018.
Mark Roysten Gregory Loram is a former British motorcycle speedway rider who won the World Speedway Championship in 2000 and won the British Championship in 1997, 1999, and 2001.
Len Silver is a former speedway rider and is former promoter of the Rye House Rockets.
The Eastbourne Eagles were a British speedway team, based at Arlington Stadium, near Eastbourne, England, that raced in the SGB Championship.
The Plymouth Gladiators are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. Under several names Plymouth have competed during various seasons from 1932. The club was reformed after a gap of thirty-six years in 2006 by former St Austell Gulls rider Mike Bowden In 2021 the club successfully applied to join the British second division, the SGB Championship. The team names included Tigers, Panthers, Devils and Bulldogs
The Bradford Dukes were a British motorcycle speedway team which operated from the Odsal Stadium in Bradford from 1986 until their closure in 1997.
The New Cross Rangers were a Speedway team which operated from 1934 until their closure in 1953. They also rode as the New Cross Lambs from 1934 to 1935 and then the New Cross Tamers in 1936. The team were League Champions in 1938 and 1948.
Malcolm Simmons was a British speedway rider.
Edward David Kennett is a motorcycle speedway rider. He was the British Under-21 Champion in 2005 and has appeared in two Speedway Grand Prix as a wild card.
Bo Petersen is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Denmark. He was the 1980 Danish champion.
The 1950 National League Division Three was the fourth season of British speedway's National League Division Three
Liverpool Chads are a defunct motorcycle speedway team who were based at the Stanley Stadium in Prescot Road, Fairfield, Liverpool, England.
Trevor John Redmond was a New Zealand speedway rider who mainly rode for the Aldershot Shots, and the Wembley Lions. Redmond also opened a speedway track in Neath, Wales in 1962. He later became a promoter of stock car and hot rod racing, mainly in southwest England, through his Autospeed organisation.
Hackney Wick Wolves speedway opened in 1935 at Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, London, and operated until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Many years later the Hackney Hawks and Hackney Kestrels rode at Hackney Wick Stadium.
Roy George Arthur 'Dicky' Case was an Australian international speedway rider who finished sixth in the 1936 Speedway World Championship, the first ever final.
Lloyd Goffe was a British motorcycle speedway rider.
George Newton was an international speedway rider who featured in the first Speedway World Championship in final in 1936.
Frank Varey was a former international speedway rider who featured in the Speedway World Championship finals in 1937 and 1938. He also featured in two Star Riders' Championships, the forerunner to the World Championship, in 1932 and 1933.
