The Exeter Falcons were a speedway team based in the city of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. 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 fourth during the 1947 Speedway National League Division Three. The following season they won the 1948 Speedway National League Division Three. The next success came in 1951 when the club won the Division 3 National Trophy. After a five year absence the team returned to league action 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 ...

and the following year won the 1962 Provincial League Knockout Cup. In 1973, the club signed New Zealander Ivan Mauger, a multiple world champion who would lead the club from 1973 to 1977 and bring Exeter their greatest success to date, when winning the 1974 British League title. In 1995 and 1996, the club ran a junior side called the Devon Demons. The Demons reappeared in 2014 as the junior side for the Plymouth Gladiators. The Exeter Falcons then had a long wait for silverware and it was not until 2000 that Exeter won the Division 2 title during the 2000 Premier League speedway season.

Track

The County Ground track was unique in as much that it had a solid sheet metal safety fence. The fence combined with the high speeds down the narrow track made the track unpopular with many riders, but riders who liked it thrived on it. The club were forced to close at the end of 2005 after the stadium owners, Exeter Rugby Union club, sold the stadium to developers. The track record time of 64.3 seconds was set by

Mark Loram Mark Roysten Gregory Loram (born 12 January 1971) is a former British motorcycle speedway rider who won the World Speedway Championship in 2000 and won the British Championship in 1997, 1999, and 2001. Career Born in Mtarfa, Malta, Mark Lo ...

on 29 April 1996. Speedway promoter Allen Trump received permission from

Teignbridge Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Newton Abbot. Other towns in the district include Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish and Teignmouth. It is named for the old Teignbridge hundred. ...

council officials in 2008 to construct a new track at the

Exeter Racecourse Exeter Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located near the city of Exeter, Devon, England. Locally it is known as Haldon racecourse because of its location on top of the Haldon Hills. Until the early 1990s it was officially known as ...

, Haldon. The new track was expected to open for the start of the 2009 speedway season, and Trump had applied to the

British Speedway Promoters' Association The British Speedway Promoters Limited (BSPL) organises the domestic motorcycle speedway competitions in the United Kingdom. They are also responsible for the promotion and running of the FIM meetings staged in Britain. Each club has a promot ...

for permission to enter a team for the 2009

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. However, the plans fell through.

Season summary (1st team)

Season summary (juniors)

2015 to 2021

At a public meeting in July 2015, a month after the team participated in their first full 15-heat meet in a decade, the Exeter Falcons announced talks were underway about the development of a new track near Exeter. In January 2016 the team reported clearing the first hurdles towards this goal, passing noise tests at the site, and are preparing their planning application to submit to the council. In 2018, an Exeter team participated in the junior league called the Southern Development League but were once again left without a home in 2021, following the closure of speedway at Somerset Rebels.

Notable Exeter riders

References

External links

The County Ground years
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007184233/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speedwayyears/index.html , date=7 October 2008 Defunct British speedway teams Sport in Exeter