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The Plymouth Gladiators are a
speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...
team in the British
SGB Championship The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Championship is the second division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). It ...
. 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 Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Championship is the second division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). It ...
. The team names included Tigers, Panthers, Devils and Bulldogs


History


1932–1937

Plymouth's original home was
Pennycross Stadium Pennycross Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium in north Plymouth, Devon. Origins In 1928 southeast of Pennycross village and directly east of the Pennycross vicarage an area of rural land was identified for a greyhound track ...
. As the Plymouth Tigers they competed in the first
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 ...
season in the 1932 Speedway National League. The Tigers became the Panthers for the 1936 season and the stadium was used in 1937.


1947–1954

The stadium re-opened in 1947 when the Devils raced in the 1947 Speedway National League Division Three. Apart from short spells in the Second Division the team operated at this level until 1954. In 1952, the team achieved their first major success, winning the Division three section of the
National Trophy National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
. They defeated
Rayleigh Rockets The Rayleigh Rockets were a Speedway team which operated from 1949 until their closure in 1973 from the Rayleigh Weir Stadium in Rayleigh, Essex . History The Rockets inaugural league season was in 1949 Speedway National League Division Three, ...
in the final. After another season in the Southern League (1953) they withdrew from the
1954 Speedway National League Division Two The 1954 National League Division Two was the ninth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. Summary The Southern League was replaced by the Southern Area League which resulted in Division Two taking in teams ...
.


1961–1969

The track re-opened for a couple of years in the
1961 Provincial Speedway League The 1961 Provincial Speedway League was the second season of the Provincial League. Summary Eleven speedway teams took part. Liverpool, Yarmouth and Bristol had all folded at the end of the previous season and Bradford were unable to take their ...
(as the Plymouth Bulldogs) and 1962. It re-opened 1968 and had spells in the
British League Division Two The British League Division Two was created in 1968 and was the second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom until the restructuring of British speedway in 1995. It was renamed the New National League in 1975 and the National League betwee ...
.


2006–present

Temporary planning permission was awarded for a new speedway track in 2006, but in August 2007 the club was granted full planning permission. During the
2006 Speedway Conference League The 2006 Speedway Conference League was the third tier/division of British speedway. Summary The title was won by Scunthorpe Scorpions who won the playoffs. Final league table Play-offs Conference League Knockout Cup The 2006 Conference Lea ...
the club finished first in the regular season table but lost in the play off final. Two years later in 2008 they repeated the feat of topping the table but once again lost in the playoffs. They did however gain consolation when winning the Conference League Knockout Cup. One year later they reached the play off final during the
2009 National League speedway season The 2009 National League speedway season was the third tier/division of British speedway and was contested by ten teams. Bournemouth Buccaneers were champions. It was the first season under the new name after previously been known as the Conferen ...
. In 2011, the club moved up to division 2 and in 2014 they ran a junior side called the Devon Demons, previously the Demons had been the junior side for the
Exeter Falcons The Exeter Falcons were a speedway team based in the city of Exeter. The Falcons operated from 1947 to 2005 at the County Ground Stadium in Exeter. History In 1947, the Falcons competed in a league for the first time when they finished four ...
. They stayed in division 2 until 2017 when they dropped back down to division 3. In 2019, they changed their name from the Devils to the Gladiators and in 2021 competed in the second division again, called the
SGB Championship The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Championship is the second division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). It ...
. In 2022, the club also ran a NDL side called the Centurions.


Season summary


Riders previous seasons

2007 team * * * * * * * * * * * 2008 team * * * * * * * * * * 2009 team * * * * * * 2010 team * * * * * * * *Also rode * * * * 2013 team * * * * * * * *Also rode * * * 2014 team * * * * * * * *Also rode * * * 2015 team * * * * * * * *Also rode * * * 2016 team * * * * * * * *Also rode * * 2018 team *
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 ...
* Henry Atkins * Tim Webster * Richard Andrews * Ryan Terry-Daley * Kelsey Dugard * Macauley Leek *Also rode * Adam Sheppard * Adam Roynon * James Cockle * Bradley Andrews 2019 team * Ben Wilson *
Nathan Stoneman Nathan Mark Stoneman (born 17 September 1996) is a Motorcycle speedway, speedway rider from Wales. Career Stoneman began his speedway career in 2012 with the Mildenhall Fen Tigers, where he picked up a league and cup double as the team dominated ...
* Richard Andrews *
Adam Sheppard Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
* Tom Young * Jamie Bursill * Kris Andrews 2021 team * * * * * * * *Also Rode * * * * * 2022 team * (C) * * * * * * Also Rode * * * *


References

{{Speedway Premier League National League speedway teams Speedway Premier League teams Sport in Plymouth, Devon