The Swindon Robins are a 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]
The club have raced at the Abbey Stadium since their inception but since 2020 have been unable to race at the stadium.
History
Origins and 1940s
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 (370m) 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.[5] 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 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,[8] with three riders, Bob Roger, Ian Williams and George White securing 9+ averages for the season.[9] Promotion ensued 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.[10]
1960s
Barry Briggs
Martin Ashby
The Robins continued to compete in the top division, which became known as the British League in 1965 and during the period the leading riders included Mike Broadbank, Neil Street and Tadeusz Teodorowicz. The Robins strengthened the team in 1964 with the signing of Barry Briggs, who won his third world title during the same year.
The next major success came during the 1967 British League season when Swindon won the 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.[11] The Robins also won the Midland Cup for two consecutive seasons in 1967 and 1968.[12][13]
Martin Ashby would go on to ride for Swindon for 16 seasons from 1961 to 1979 and score 5,476.5 points for the club.
1970s
Swindon vs Exeter, circa 1974
Phil Crump
The 1970s failed to live up to the success of the previous decade but the Robins did manage two fifth place finishes in 1971 and 1976 respectively. The team consisted of various number one riders throughout the period including Briggs, Ashby, Kilby before the signing of Phil Crump in 1979 by the new promoter Wally Mawdsley.[14]
1980s
The 1980s followed the same path as the 1970s, with a full decade of top level speedway but with only two third place finishes to show for their efforts in 1981 and 1987. The majority of the deacde was led by Swindon stalwart Phil Crump before Jimmy Nilsen took over as the team's number one rider. Phil Crump scored 4,254 points and was the Robins' leading rider for eight years from 1979 to 1986.
1990s
In 1990, the club paid £20,000 to Poole Pirates to secure the transfer of Leigh Adams,[15] who would go on to become the number 1 rider at Swindon during three different spells, in addition to being regarded as one of the world's best riders for over a decade. Despite securing his services he lacked support and the Robins suffered a poor 1992 season, finishing last and dropping down to the second division from 1993 to 1994. The team (Tony Olsson and Tony Langdon) won the British League Division Two Pairs Championship, held at Arena Essex Raceway on 28 May 1994.[16]
With the merger of the divisions for the 1995 season, Swindon returned to the top league. Jimmy Nilsen returned to the club in 1996, as did Leigh Adams in 1997 but the club dropped again to the second division in 1999.
In 2004, the club returned once again to the top league, which was now called the Elite League and won the Elite League Pairs Championship in both 2004 and 2005.[19][20]
From 2006 until 2009 the Robins 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 the best rider in the league, topping the averages twice and was the track record holder, with a time of 63.86 seconds, on 31 August 2009.
2010s
The team celebrating the Elite League title win in 2012Jason Doyle (in Swindon colours), topped the UK averages and won the league with Swindon in 2017
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.[21]
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[22] 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.
2020s
The Abbey Stadium, the home of Swindon Robins from 1949 to 2019
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 SGB Premiership was completely cancelled[23] and in January 2021, the Robins confirmed their withdrawal from the 2021 season, citing uncertainty around the potential redevelopment of their stadium.[24] 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.[25] 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.[26]
Poole Pirates are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the champions of the United Kingdom on ten occasions.
Jason Philip Crump is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Australia. He is a three-time Speedway World Champion, and a World Cup winner.
Leigh Scott Adams is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. He is a multiple Speedway Grand Prix winner and World Team Champion. He also won a record ten Australian individual championships, four Australian Under-21 Championships and the 1992 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship.
The Oxford Cheetahs are a British speedway team based at Oxford Stadium, in Oxford, England. They were founded in 1939 and are five times champions of Britain, in 1964, 1985, 1986, 1989 and 2001. The club folded in 2007 but returned to racing when participating in the SGB Championship 2022.
Barry Briggs is a New Zealand former speedway rider.
Craig Vincent Boyce is a former motorcycle speedway rider who primarily rode for the Poole Pirates in the British Elite League. After retiring from riding, Boyce became manager of the Australian national team until 2012.
Philip John Crump is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. who attained third place in the 1976 World Championship. He also won the 1976 Speedway World Team Cup with Australia in the same year.
Malcolm Simmons was a motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned 73 international caps for the England national speedway team and five caps for the Great Britain team.
Colin George Pratt was a British motorcycle speedway rider and later promoter of the Coventry Bees who compete in the British Elite League. He earned 14 international caps for the England national speedway team and 7 caps for the Great Britain team. He was later the manager of the Great Britain national team from 1979 to 1980 and from 1986 to 1993.
The 2007 Elite League speedway season was the 73rd season of the top division of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
The 2006 Elite League speedway season was the 72nd season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
The 2005 Elite League speedway season was the 71st season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
The 2004 Elite League speedway season was the 70th season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). Poole Pirates completed the double for the second year running. They were the first team to achieve this since Oxford Cheetahs in 1986.
The 1967 British League season was the 33rd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the third season known as the British League.
The 1972 British League season was the 38th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the eighth season of the British League.
The 1975 Gulf Oil British League season was the 41st season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 11th season known as the British League.
Todd Wiltshire is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider, who competed at the highest level of the sport, finishing a career best third in the 1990 Individual Speedway World Championship at the Odsal Stadium in Bradford, England. He is also a two time Australian Champion, winning in 1999 and 2001.
The 2008 Elite League speedway season was the 74th season of the top division of UK speedway and the 12th since its establishment as the Elite League. The first fixtures of the season took place on 29 March and the season ended on 27 October. The Coventry Bees were the defending champions from 2007.
Henry Martin Ashby is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from England, who reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in 1968. He also finished third in the Speedway World Pairs Championship in 1969, with Nigel Boocock and was a member of the Great Britain team that won the World Team Cups in 1968 and 1975.
The 2012 Elite League speedway season was the 78th season of the top division of UK speedway and took place between March and October 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Barry Briggs
Martin Ashby
