The Isle of Wight Wightlink Warriors (formerly Islanders) are a British

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. 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 the Smallbrook Stadium in the 1996 Speedway Conference League. The team known as the Ryde Wight Wizards finished 4th in the table. The following season they entered two teams for the league seasons; the Isle of Wight Warriors competed in the

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 ...

(division 2) and the Wizards became the junior team competing in the Conference League. The Islanders continued to participate in the Premier League until 2009. They won the Premier League Pairs Championship in 2007 when

Chris Holder Christopher Robert Holder (born 24 September 1987 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian speedway rider currently riding for Lejonen in the Swedish Elitserien and for Apator Toruń in the Polish Speedway Ekstraliga. He became the Austra ...

and Jason Bunyan beat

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in the final. They also won the

Premier League Four-Team Championship The Premier League Four-Team Championship was a contest between teams competing in the Premier League in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is ...

at Peterborough in 2007 with a team of

, Jason Bunyan, Krzysztof Stojanowski, Glen Phillips and

Cory Gathercole Cory James Gathercole (born 2 December 1986 in Irymple, Victoria) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Australia. Career Gathercole first came to British speedway when he joined the Swindon Robins squad in the Elite League for the 2 ...

defeating King's Lynn,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and Rye House in the final. In 2010, they joined the third division and after a break of two years (2014 and 2015), the club reformed in 2016 under the promotion of Barry Bishop and Martin Widman and ran until the cancelled 2020 season. In 2021, the club announced they would not be competing during the year.

Notable Riders

* * * * * * * * *

Season summary

Riders previous seasons

2020 team * Ben Morley * Connor Coles * Tom Woolley * Scott Campos * Chad Wirtzfeld * Connor King * Macauley Leek 2019 team * Georgie Wood * Ben Morley * Danno Verge * Scott Campos * Connor King * Chad Wirtzfeld * Chris Widman 2016 team * Mark Baseby *

James Cockle Sir James Cockle FRS FRAS FCPS (14 January 1819 – 27 January 1895) was an English lawyer and mathematician. Cockle was born on 14 January 1819. He was the second son of James Cockle, a surgeon, of Great Oakley, Essex. Educated at Charte ...

* Nathan Stoneman * Lee Smart * Chris Widman * Kelsey Dugard * Layne Cupitt 2013 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 ...

* Ben Hopwood * Tom Perry * Darryl Ritchings *

Byron Bekker Byron Anthony Bekker (born 2 July 1987, in Johannesburg) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from South Africa, who rode in the British Premier League. Career Bekker started his British racing career in 2005 with Newcastle Gems where he rod ...

* Danny Stoneman * Brandon Freemantle * Tom Young (replaced Byron Bekker) 2012 team * Danny Warwick * Aaron Baseby *

Paul Starke Paul Simon Starke (born 18 November 1990) is an English speedway rider. Career Born in Hereford, Starke started his career with the Buxton Hitmen in 2007, before going on to have spells at a variety of different clubs during his development i ...

* Ben Hopwood * Kyle Hughes * Danny Stoneman *

Also Rode * Mark Baseby * Ross Walter * Steven Jones * Nick Simmons * Marc Owen * Rikki Mullins 2011 team *

* Rob Smith * Lee Smethills * Brendan Johnson * Nick Simmons * Tom Hill * John Rech 2009 team * Tom Brown * Ben Hopwood * Chris Johnson * Brendan Johnson * Nick Simmons * Scott Meakins * Tom Hill 2008 team * Jason Bunyan * Glen Phillps * Krzysztof Stojanowski * Paul Fry *

James Holder James (Jim) Holder (born 5 May 1986 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian speedway rider. He is the older brother of 2012 Speedway World Champion and five times Australian Champion Chris Holder, and Jack Holder, who is also a speed ...

* Andrew Bargh *

Richard Sweetman Richard Sweetman (born 28 July 1990 in Maitland, New South Wales) is an Australian speedway rider who rode for several British teams.

References

{{Speedway National League Speedway Premier League teams National League speedway teams Sport on the Isle of Wight