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British League Division Two Pairs Championship
The British League Division Two Pairs Championship, named the National League Pairs Championship in the years that the second division was known as the National League was a motorcycle speedway contest between the top two riders from each club competing in the British League Division Two/New National League/National League in the United Kingdom. Winners See also * List of United Kingdom Speedway Pairs champions * Speedway in the United Kingdom * Elite League Pairs Championship The Elite League Pairs Championship was a motorcycle speedway contest between the top two riders from each club competing in the Elite League in the United Kingdom, staged from 2004 to 2011. History The Championship was a reincarnation of the B ... References {{United Kingdom Speedway Seasons Speedway competitions in the United Kingdom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Cook (speedway)
Colin Cook (born 29 August 1954) is an English former motorcycle speedway rider who rode for Ipswich Witches and Leicester Lions in the British League, before spending eight successive seasons with the Exeter Falcons. Biography Cook was born in Southwold in 1954.Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) ''Who's Who of World Speedway'', Studio Publications, He took up speedway while working as a plant fitter, initially at Mildenhall, before joining Ipswich Witches in the mid-1970s. He was loaned out to National League team Scunthorpe Saints in 1975, averaging 5.91 in his first season. After a further season at Scunthorpe he moved on to the Boston Barracudas in 1977.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar'', Automedia, p. 162 A much improved season saw his average rise and he also won the National League Pairs Championship with Rob Hollingworth. In 1978, he was recalled by Ipswich and was part of the cup-winning team that year. Cook transferred to Leicester Lions e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Courtney
Mark Vincent Courtney (born 25 March 1961) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England, who rode in the British League for several teams between 1978 and 2003. He earned five international caps for the England national speedway team. Biography Courtney was born in Braintree, Essex in 1961 and moved with his family to Workington when he was twelve, and he began his speedway career with second-half races at Workington in 1977.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar'', Automedia, p. 162Lions Fans hoping Jamie Courtney is a chip off the old block , '' |
Andy Grahame
Andrew George Grahame (born 10 September 1957 in Birmingham, England) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. Career Grahame began his British leagues career when he joined his older brother Alan Grahame at Birmingham Brummies for the 1976 British League season. Over the next three seasons he would only make a handful of appearances for the Midlands club so doubled up with Milton Keynes Knights in 1978, where he managed a 6.17 average. In 1979, he significantly improved his average for Birmingham and was the top rider at Milton Keynes. He also won the 1979 National League Pairs, partnering Bob Humphreys, during the 1979 National League season. From 1980 to 1983 he only rode for Birmingham and finished second in the team averages three seasons running behind Danish superstar Hans Nielsen. Grahame won the British Speedway Championship in 1982 and made it to the World Final in 1982 in Los Angeles as reserve but did not ride. In 1984, he rode for Wolverhampton before being sig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Turner (speedway Rider)
Christopher Turner (born 28 May 1958) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Biography Born in Crewe, Cheshire, Turner took up speedway at the age of fourteen at the training school at Belle Vue.Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) ''Who's Who of World Speedway'', Studio Publications, , p. 107 He also competed in grasstrack racing as a junior. He made his competitive debut for Belle Vue in a challenge match in 1974, and in 1975 spent most of the season with Crewe Kings in the National League, also riding in a few matches for Belle Vue. In 1976, he rode for Ellesmere Port Gunners in the National League for whom he averaged more than nine points per match, as well as riding in the British League for Belle Vue, for whom he averaged over five points. He won the National League Pairs with Ellesmere in 1976. In 1977, and 1878 he was a regular part of Belle Vue's British League team, before signing for Leicester Lions in 1979.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leiceste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middlesbrough Bears
The Middlesbrough Bears were a British speedway team which operated under various names from 1939 until their closure in 1996. History The team was initially nicknamed the Bears in 1939 by the club's general manager Vic Wieland. The track at Cleveland Park, which operated in the pioneer days of the late 1920s, was promoted by Albion Auto Racers of Stockport, Cheshire, ran sporadically throughout the 1930s and for a short spell in 1939, staged a couple of open meetings in 1945, then saw competitive league speedway from 1946 until 1948. The Bears won the Northern League in 1946 and Division Two in 1947 before the promotion moved to Newcastle in 1949. The Bears nickname was again used when the track re-opened in 1961 under the guidance of former rider turned promoter Reg Fearman, who was a multi track promoter and one of the brains behind setting up the Provincial League. At the end of the 1964 season the Bears team moved to Halifax and the track staged challenge matches in 1965 a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980 National League Season
The 1980 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom. Summary The league was increased from 19 teams to 20 from the previous season. Exeter Falcons dropped down from the British League to join the 19 incumbent sides. Rye House Rockets who had been pipped to the title in the previous season in the last meeting, won the title by just one point from Newcastle Diamonds to win their first National League title. Rye House had managed to retain all of their top riders from the previous season and the solid performances of Bob Garrad, Karl Fiala, Kelvin Mullarkey and Kevin Smith for the second year running made up for the disappointment of 1979. Newcastle's second place finish was remarkable bearing in mind that they had lost the league's leading rider Tom Owen to Hull Vikings in the highest division. Despite signing 1979 Riders' champion Ian Gledhill, the defending champions Mildenhall suffered after losing Melvyn Taylor and Mick Hines to othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Humphreys (speedway Rider)
Robert Allen Humphreys (born 7 January 1946) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Australia. Career Humphreys started his British leagues career during the 1971 British League season, where he rode for King's Lynn Stars. He rode for King's Lynn for four years before signing for Reading Racers for the 1975 British League season. With Reading, he completed five seasons from 1975 to 1979 and doubled up with Milton Keynes Knights in the National league. In 1978, he averaged an impressive 10.59. He won the National League Pairs, partnering Andy Grahame for Milton Keynes, during the 1979 National League season. Humphreys finished his career riding with Arena Essex Hammers. Humphreys also earned 12 full caps for the Australia national speedway team Australia is one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway with the country regarded as the birthplace of the sport in the 1920s. The current team is managed by former rider Mark Lemon, and captained by 2012 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milton Keynes Knights
The Milton Keynes Knights are a Speedway team which originally operated from 1978 until their closure in 1992. The team were revived in 2012 but have had to race at various venues outside of Milton Keynes. History 1978–1988 The inaugural league season for the team was during the 1978 National League season, in which they finished in 16th place. The team were based at the Milton Keynes Greyhound Stadium Milton Keynes Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium, in Milton Keynes located on the Groveway in Ashland. Origins & opening The stadium opened as an independent track on 25 July 1963 and was called the Groveway Greyh ... on the Groveway, in Ashland, Milton Keynes. The team continued to compete in division 2 (known as the National League at the time) until 1988, with a best place finish of 3rd in 1987. 1989–1992 In 1989, the team moved to the new stadium at Elfield Park. The team ran for another four seasons at this venue but finished no high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Newspaper Archive
The British Newspaper Archive web site provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011. History The British Library Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London, until 2013, and is now divided between the St Pancras and Boston Spa sites. The library has an almost complete collection of British and Irish newspapers since 1840. This is partly because of the legal deposit legislation of 1869, which required newspapers to supply a copy of each edition of a newspaper to the library. London editions of national daily and Sunday newspapers are complete back to 1801. In total, the collection consists of 660,000 bound volumes and 370,000 reels of microfilm containing tens of millions of newspapers with 52,000 titles on 45 km of shelves. After the closure of Colindale in November 2013, access to the 750 million original printed pages was maintained via an automated and climate-controlled storage facil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1979 National League Season
The 1979 National League was contested as the second division/tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom. Summary The league was reduced from 20 teams to 19 from the previous season. White City Rebels closure saw their riders move to Eastbourne Eagles who moved up to the British League. Barrow Furness Flyers dropped out and Nottingham Outlaws joined the league. Teesside Tigers changed their name to Middlesbrough Tigers. Scunthorpe Saints changed their name to Scunthorpe Stags. Tom Owen of Newcastle topped the averages for the third consecutive year and Ian Gledhill, riding for Stoke won the Riders' Championship but both Newcastle and Stoke finished well behind Mildenhall Fen Tigers and Rye House Rockets in the league table. In a season that would go down to the last match, Mildenhall won their first title in their history. The consistency of four riders, Ray Bales, Mick Hines, Melvyn Taylor and Robert Henry was the crucial factor to their success. There was a controversial e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robbie Blackadder
Robert Blackadder (born 7 December 1955) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Australia. He earned four international caps for the Australia national speedway team. Biography Blackadder, born in Cessnock, New South Wales, began his British leagues career riding for Newcastle Diamonds during the 1975 New National League season season. Newcastle had been re-formed by Ian Thomas and the club signed a new team ready for 1975, which included the Owen brothers (Joe and Tom Owen), in addition to the two Australian riders, Blackadder (aged 19) and Ron Henderson (aged 17). Blackadder made an immediate impact, supporting the Owen brothers and helping the Diamonds to the runner-up position behind Birmingham Brummies. The following season in 1976, the Newcastle team dominated and won the league and cup double and the fours. Blackadder improved his average to 8.61 and was later called up to represent the Australian speedway team. The 1978 season resulted in further improvement wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Finch
Steve Finch (born 8 January 1958) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Finch started his British leagues career during the 1974 British League Division Two season, where he rode for Long Eaton Invaders. He rode for Berwick Bandits in 1975, in addition to appearing for Halifax Dukes in the highest league. In 1976, he once again doubled up for Halifax but joined Ellesmere Port for the 1977 National League season and he began to forge a reputation as one of the top riders in the National league, surpassing a nine average in the 1979 and 1980 seasons. In 1978, he won the British League Division Two Pairs Championship with John Jackson and reached the final of the 1978 Individual Speedway Junior European Championship, finishing just outside the medals in fourth place. In 1979, he helped the Ellesmere Port win the Fours Championship during the 1979 season. After averaging 9.92 during the 1980 National League season The 1980 National League was contest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
