The Eastbourne Eagles were a British speedway team, based at Arlington Stadium, near Eastbourne, England, that raced in the SGB Championship.

History

Speedway was initially introduced to Eastbourne in 1929. During their first league season they were the

1947 Speedway National League Division Three The 1947 National League Division Three was the inaugural season of British speedway's National League Division Three With several new teams joining British Speedway in 1947, a third league tier was created for the first time. Eastbourne Eagles ...

champions. Despite winning the title at their first attempt they were forced to close down due to a petrol ban enforced at their Arlington Stadium. They decided to transfer their team to

Hastings Saxons Hastings Saxons were a British motorcycle speedway team which operated for two years between 1948 and 1949 at the Pilot Field in Hastings. History At the end of 1947, the Eastbourne Eagles were forced to close down due to a petrol ban enforced ...

and at the beginning of 1948 the

Speedway Control Board The Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), known as the Speedway Control Board between 1948 and 2002, governs the sport of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Auto Cycle Union (ACU). The directors are appointed by the ACU and Br ...

granted a licence to Hastings to stage speedway. Eastbourne would not compete again in the league until they joined the

Southern Area League The Southern Area League was the regional third and then regional second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams as a replacement for the defunct Southern League. The league ran for three seasons from 1954 to 195 ...

in 1954. In 1957, they won the

1959 Southern Area League The 1959 Southern Area League was the final season of the Southern Area League as the regional second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams. With no league in 1958, a set of 6 new teams competed in 1959. Summary ...

which was the second division league at the time but once again did not compete in league action for another decade. The Eagles returned for the

1969 British League Division Two season The 1969 British League Division Two season was the second season of second tier motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. Summary The league expanded from 10 to 16 teams in its second season. Weymouth Eagles dropped out after just one season. The ...

and two years later won their piece of silverware, winning the 1971 British League Division Two. The club won their first (of many) Knockout Cups in 1975. In 1995, Eastbourne won their first highest league title, after they won the

1995 Premier League speedway season The 1995 Premier League season was the 61st season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. It was also the first for the new league, and the first of two seasons in which British speedway was competed as a single division. Summary The ...

. The gulf in quality of teams was evident after the merging of the two leagues, with the Eagles winning the title 56 points clear of bottom club Exeter Falcons. Eastbourne had been an easy runner-up the previous year to runaway winners Poole Pirates and retained four of their riders Martin Dugard, Dean Barker,

Stefan Dannö Stefan Dannö (born 10 February 1969) is an international former Speedway rider who rode in the Speedway World Championship. He also rode for the Eastbourne Eagles in the British Speedway League and Indianerna in the Swedish Elite League when ...

and Stefan Andersson, which provided enough firepower to seal the Championship. They became the highest league champions for the second time after winning the

2000 Speedway Elite League The 2000 Elite League speedway season was the 66th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. It was the fourth known as the Elite League and was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speed ...

. They were Elite League Knockout Cup winners in 2002 and again in 2008. The 2008 success was their fourth highest division Knockout Cup win. The Eagles competed in the Elite League until 2014 and the National League from 2015 until 2018. In 2021, the Eagles competed in the SGB Championship 2021 (division 2) but withdrew from the league (on 26 August) because of financial problems. Their results were expunged as were the NDL results of their junior side called the Eastbourne Seagulls.

Notable former riders

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Season summary

Season summary (juniors)

2021 season
the Seagulls were formed in February 2021 tand disbanded in August 2021. This was the junior side of the Eagles. The Seagulls' first two signings for the season were Jake Knight and Richard Andrews, both returning to Arlington having ridden for the Eagles when they were in the National League. Club asset, and local youngster,

Nathan Ablitt Nathan Ablitt (born 3 March 2004) is a British Motorcycle speedway, speedway rider. Career On 20 December 2018, it was announced that Ablitt had signed for his first senior club, Kent Kings, and he would ride for them in the National League (sp ...

was then confirmed as one of the Seagulls' reserves starting on a 3.00 average. The Seagulls then completed the signings of Chad Wirtzfeld and Connor King, who both had previous National League experience with the

Isle of Wight Warriors The Isle of Wight Wightlink Warriors (formerly Islanders) are a British speedway team. They last competed in the 2019 National Development League and ride their home meetings at the Smallbrook Stadium. History Isle of Wight speedway began at ...

. Henry Atkins became the Seagulls' sixth signing, he raced for the Seagulls alongside riding for his SGB Championship team, the

Plymouth Gladiators 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 r ...

. Another local rider, Nick Laurence, was named as the Seagulls' second reserve and their final signing.

Riders previous seasons

2021 team * Richard Lawson * Edward Kennett * Lewis Kerr * Tom Brennan * Kyle Newman *

Drew Kemp Drew Kemp (born 11 August 2002) is a British motorcycle speedway rider. Career In 2019, riding for Kent Kings Kemp won the Division 3 Pairs with Anders Rowe, the National Trophy and finished runner-up in the NDL Riders' Championship behind h ...

2019 team * Edward Kennett * Richard Lawson * Lewis Kerr * Kyle Newman *

Georgie Wood Georgie Wood (born 8 September 1993) is a British grasstrack and speedway rider. Career 2015-2016 seasons Wood began speedway racing in 2015, signing for Eastbourne Eagles as one of their reserves after the team dropped down to the National L ...

* Alfie Bowtell * Jason Edwards * Tom Brennan * Ben Morley 2018 team *

* Mark Baseby * Tom Brennan * Jason Edwards * Ethan Spiller * Charley Powell * Charlie Brooks * Kelsey Dugard 2017 team * Josh Bailey * Jake Knight *

* Tom Brennan * Charley Powell * Mattie Bates * Charlie Saunders * Kelsey Dugard Kelsey Dugard and Connor Coles were replaced in the team by Matt Saul and Jake Knight on 2 June 2017. * Connor Coles Kelsey Dugard and Connor Coles were replaced in the team by Matt Saul and Jake Knight on 2 June 2017. * Matt Saul * Mark Baseby 2016 team *

Adam Ellis Adam Ellis (born 21 March 1996) is a British grasstrack and speedway rider and former British champion. Biography Born in Marmande, France, Ellis began grasstrack racing in 2009, going on to finish second in the 250cc French Grasstrack Champ ...

* Jake Knight *

Ellis Perks Ellis George Perks (born 18 March 1997) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. In 2019, he became the first ever rider to win all three tiers of the British Speedway leagues in the same season; the Premiership, Championship and Nati ...

* Gary Cottham * Charley Powell * Luke Harris 2015 team * Bradley Wilson-Dean * Ben Hopwood * Marc Owen * Daniel Spiller *

* Richard Andrews * Kelsey Dugard 2014 team *

Bjarne Pedersen Bjarne Aagaard Pedersen (born 12 July 1978 in Holstebro, Denmark)Oakes, P.(2006). ''Speedway Star Almanac''. is an international motorcycle speedway rider who has represented Denmark in the Speedway World Cup, winning it on two occasions: i ...

* Cameron Woodward * Joonas Kylmäkorpi *

Mikkel Michelsen Mikkel Michelsen (born 19 August 1994) is a Danish speedway rider. Career Born in Nykøbing Falster, Michelsen took up speedway at the age of 6, and went on to win the Junior World Cup in both 2008 and 2009.Laursen Brock, Jeppe (2013)Speedwaytale ...

* Timo Lahti * Lewis Blackbird * Danny Halsey 2013 team *

* Cameron Woodward * Lukáš Dryml * Kim Nilsson *

Simon Gustafsson Simon Gustafsson (born 26 May 1990 in Sköllersta, Sweden) is a Swedish speedway rider who won the Team U-19 European Champion title in 2008. He is the son of former Grand Prix rider Henrik Gustafsson. Career summary World Championships * ...

* Timo Lahti 2012 team * Joonas Kylmäkorpi *

* Timo Lahti * Lewis Bridger * Cameron Woodward * Lukáš Dryml *

Denis Gizatullin Denis Gizatullin (born 11 March 1983 in Oktiabrsky, Russia) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider and former captain of the Russian national team. Career He is a two times Russian champion. He first rode in the British leagues i ...

Notes

References