Cradley Heathens was a

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

team from

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The team was founded in 1947 and competed at the top level of British speedway until its closure in 1995. It was revived as Dudley Heathens in 2010, competing in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, reverting to the Cradley Heathens name in 2013. It ceased operating after the 2019 season.

History

Cradley Heath speedway team was formed in 1947 and first raced at

Dudley Wood Stadium Dudley Wood Stadium also known as Cradley Heath Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. Origins The origins of the track date back to 1917 when the Cradley He ...

on 21 June 1947 after a number of away appearances prior to the opening of the newly built stadium. They raced in the 1947 Speedway National League Division Three and took the name Cradley Heath Cubs for the first two seasons. After closure at the end of the 1952 season the track reopened in 1959 for one unlicensed meeting and in 1960 the Heathens entered the newly formed

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

. The club won their first silverware after winning the 1961 and 1963 Provincial League Knockout Cup (the second division cup). From 1973 to 1976 they rode under the name Cradley United. The golden years of Cradley speedway arrived during the 1980s, the club won two league titles (1981 and 1983) and eight Knockout Cups from 1979 to 1989. During the period some of the world's leading riders rode for Cradley, including

Bruce Penhall Bruce Lee Penhall (born May 10, 1957) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway racer who later starred in television and in film. He was the World Speedway Champion in 1981 and 1982 and rode for the successful Cradley Heath Heathen ...

Erik Gundersen Erik Gundersen (born 8 October 1959 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is a former motorcycle speedway rider in the late 1970s and 1980s. Gundersen is one of the most successful speedway riders of all time. He was the ...

and

Jan O. Pedersen Jan Osvald Pedersen (born 9 November 1962 in Middelfart, Denmark) is a former Speedway rider who became Speedway World Champion in 1991 after finishing runner-up in 1986 and in third place in 1988 behind fellow Danes Erik ...

. The club operated continuously at top flight level from 1965 to 1995, when they were evicted by the new landlords who had bought the stadium to redevelop into housing. The team survived for one additional year, competing at the

Loomer Road Stadium Loomer Road Stadium is a former sports stadium situated in Chesterton, Staffordshire. The building had considerable parking facilities, covered terracing and a bar with a view of the track. It had a capacity of 5,000. The stadium was constructe ...

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

in 1996 under the name 'Cradley and Stoke' Heathens. The club was one of the most successful in the sport throughout the 1980s, winning the

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a second division starting in 1968 (which was renamed the ...

in 1981 and 1983 and eight Knockout Cup competitions. Seven

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...

s were won by Cradley riders between 1981 and 1996.

Revival

Supporters of the club campaigned to resurrect speedway in the local area. Plans were submitted to

Dudley Council Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for Dudley metropolitan borough. It is more commonly known as Dudley Council or Dudley MBC. The present authority was formed as a result of further reorganisation of local government ...

for a new site. The

Birmingham Brummies Birmingham Brummies are a British speedway team founded in 1928. They were inaugural members of the Southern League in 1929. The team have twice finished runner-up in the highest tier of British speedway, during the 1952 Speedway National Lea ...

promoter, Tony Mole and Bob Edwards (on behalf of supporters group, CRASH – Cradley Raising Aid Saving Heathens) led the planning application and it was hoped that the team would return to racing in 2009. There was an online petition to show support for the application which was linked from the Cradley Heath Speedway website. The Heathens returned in 2010 but with a changed name. The Cradley name was changed to Dudley Heathens temporarily until a new stadium could be found to call their own. They joined the National League and their home meetings were initially shared between two stadiums – Monmore Green (home track of the

Wolverhampton Wolves Wolverhampton Wolves are a British speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They are sponsored by Parry's International Travel, and signed a deal with owner Dave Parry (previous speedway rider for the Wolverhampton Wolves) for the 2008 ...

) and the Perry Bar Stadium (home track of the

). The team manager was Will Pottinger, and the club was promoted by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

Speedway presenter Nigel Pearson, and now by Chris Van Straaten & Gary Patchett. Between 2011 and 2014 home matches were solely at Monmore Green, however at the end of the 2014 season it was announced they would be unable to continue racing at Monmore Green and a deal was quickly agreed to go back to the

Perry Barr Stadium Perry Barr Stadium (also known as Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium and previously as Alexander Sports Ground(s)) is a stadium and a Greyhound Board of Great Britain regulated greyhound racing track on Aldridge Road in Perry Barr, Birmingham, Engl ...

in Birmingham for the 2015 season. This proved short lived and at the end of the 2015 season, an agreement was reached for Wolverhampton Wolves and Cradley Heathens to ride on alternate Monday's at Monmore Green. On July 4, 2017 "Heathens Speedway Supporters Trust" lodged an Outline Planning Application with Sandwell MBC for a Sports & Recreation Village to include Speedway as a small part of the whole project on land at Lion Farm Playing Fields which already has a covenant on it for Recreation & Sport.

Name

The team name is taken from the Dudley Wood stadium's proximity to

Cradley Heath Cradley Heath is a town in the Rowley Regis area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England approximately north-west of Halesowen, south of Dudley and west of central Birmingham. Cradley Heath is often confused with the ...

town centre, though it lies in the borough of

, centred about away. At the time of formation the two towns were in different

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, but both towns are now part of the county of

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. The Cradley team initially took the nickname "Cubs" but during the 1949 season, having gained promotion from the National League Division Three to the National League Division Two, they adopted the name of Cradley Heathens, which was retained through to their final days in 1996 but for the period of 1973-76 when they raced as Cradley United and 1996 when they became 'Cradley and Stoke' and raced in

. The club was revived as Dudley Heathens in 2010, reverting to Cradley Heathens after the 2013 season.

Season summary

The club also operated a junior team in the British Junior League in the years 1986 to 1992 inclusive, being Runners-Up in 1986 and Winners in 1991.

Club honours

British League
Champions: 1981, 1983 Knockout Cup (Div 1)
Winners: 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986+, 1987, 1988, 1989 (+shared with Oxford) Knockout Cup (Div 2)
Winners: 1961, 1963 League Cup
Winners: 1982, 1984, 1986+ (+shared with Oxford) Inter-League Cup
Winners: 1979 Premiership
A season-opening challenge match, held over two legs, between the previous year's League and KO Cup winners (similar to

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

's Charity Shield). Winners: 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990 Inter-League Four Team Tournament
Winners: 1980 Premier League Four Team Tournament
Winners: 1995 Midland Cup/Lge/Shield
Winners: 1950, 1951, 1963, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1987 National League *National Shield - 2011, 2012 and 2013Mildenhall Speedway: Fen Tigers miss out on National Shield.
, worldspeedway.com, 1 May 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013 *National League Fours Winners - 2011, 2013 and 2014British Speedway Roll of Honour 2013
, speedwaygb.co, 31 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013 *National League Pairs Winners - 2013 *National League Champions - 2013 and 2014 *National League Knock Out Cup - 2013 and 2014

Individual Champions

World Champion *

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

Billy Hamill William Gordon Hamill (born 23 May 1970, in California, United States) is an American international motorcycle speedway rider. He is a former Speedway World Champion, winning the title in 1996. Career Early career Hamill began junior speedway ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Under-21 World Champion *

Gert Handberg Gert Handberg (born 30 May 1969 in Brædstrup, Denmark) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider form Denmark. Career Gert joined Cradley Heathens in 1988 on a recommendation, after winning the Danish Junior Championship during the ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

Long Track World Champion *

Anders Michanek Anders Michanek (born 30 May 1943 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Speedway rider. In 1974 he won the Speedway World Championship in his Swedish homeland with a maximum score of 15 points. Career Michanek had a very successful career riding in the B ...

- 1977 *

- 1984, 1986 British Under-21 Champion *

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

- 1978 * Scott Smith - 1992 Intercontinental Champion *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

Overseas Champion *

- 1983 *

Lance King Lance King (born November 23, 1962) is an American heavy metal music singer and songwriter specializing in melodic progressive power metal. He has sung with many groups over the last 35 years and started the record label Nightmare in 1990 to ...

- 1984 *

Simon Cross Simon James Cross (born 31 May 1965 in Hereford, England) is a former motorcycle speedway rider who spent most of his career with the Cradley Heathens. Career Simon Cross and Kelvin Tatum finished runner-up in Speedway World Pairs Championship ...

- 1988 British League Riders Champion *

- 1983, 1985 *

- 1988 National League Riders Champion *

Lee Smart Lee Mitchell Smart (born 5 April 1988) in Swindon, Wiltshire, is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Smart raced for the Mildenhall Fen Tigers in the Premier League in 2008 after being released by the Birmingham Brummies ...

- 2010 American Champion *

- 1980, 1981 *

Greg Hancock Gregory Alan Hancock (born June 3, 1970 in Whittier, California) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway rider. As of 2023, he was one of only six riders to have won the individual World Championship four or more times. In addit ...

- 1995 Danish Champion *

- 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989 *

- 1988 *

- 1992 Swedish Champion *

Bernt Persson Bernt Eveart Persson (24 June 1946 to 20 September 2020) was a Swedish international speedway rider who finished runner up in the 1972 Speedway World Championship final. He rode in Britain for the Edinburgh Monarchs, the Cradley Heath Heathens (f ...

- 1977 Scottish Open Champion *

- 1983 *

- 1991, 1992 Australasian Champion *

John Boulger John Boulger (born 18 June 1945 in Adelaide, South Australia) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider. After he retired from riding Solos in the early 1980s, Boulger raced somewhat successfully in Speedcars (Midgets) from the mid- ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

South Australian Champion *

- 1974, 1975, 1976 Western Australian Champion *

- 1987 Victorian Champion (Aust) *

Roy Trigg Roy Trigg (born 29 April 1943, in Morden, Surrey)Fenn, C.(2003). ''Hackney Speedway, Friday at Eight''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. is a former motorcycle speedway rider. He was noticed as a teenager by the Wimbledon Dons management who signe ...

- 1969, 1970

Notable riders

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.cradleyheathens.co/
Cradley Heath Speedway website
British speedway teams Sport in Dudley