| Plymouth Gladiators | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Club information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Track address | Plymouth Coliseum Coypool Road Plymouth PL7 4NW | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country | England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1932 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Promoter | Mark Phillips | ||||||||||||||||||
| Team manager | Garry May | ||||||||||||||||||
| Team captain | Kyle Howarth | ||||||||||||||||||
| League | SGB Championship | ||||||||||||||||||
| Website | https://plymouth-speedway.com | ||||||||||||||||||
| Club facts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Colours | Blue, Yellow and Black | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track size | 216 metres | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track record time | 49.19 sec | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track record date | 12 May 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track record holder | Ben Barker | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Major team honours | |||||||||||||||||||
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The Plymouth Gladiators are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. Under several names Plymouth has 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[1] In 2021 ,the club successfully applied to join the British second division, the SGB Championship. The team names included Tigers, Panthers, Devils and Bulldogs[2]
History
1932–1937
Plymouth's original home was Pennycross Stadium. As the Plymouth Tigers they competed in the first National League season in the 1932 Speedway National League.[3] 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. They defeated Rayleigh Rockets in the final. [4] After another season in the Southern League (1953) they withdrew from the 1954 Speedway National League Division Two.[5][6]
1961–1969
The track re-opened for a couple of years in the 1961 Provincial Speedway League (as the Plymouth Bulldogs) and 1962. It re-opened in 1968 and had spells in the British League Division Two.
2006–present
Temporary planning permission was awarded for a new speedway track in 2006,[7] but in August 2007 the club was granted full planning permission.[8] During the 2006 Speedway Conference League 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.
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.[9] 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. In 2022, the club also ran a NDL side called the Centurions.[10]
Season summary
Notable riders
- Ben Barker
- Bill Clibbett
- Eric Collins
- Frank Goulden
- Les Gregory
- Pete Lansdale
- Peter Robinson
- Jack Sharp
- Alan Smith
- Bert Spencer
- George Wall
Riders previous seasons
Extended content |
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2007 team
2008 team
2009 team
2010 team
2013 team
2014 team
2015 team
2016 team
2018 team
2019 team
2021 team
2022 team Also Rode
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References
- ↑ Bamford, Robert (1 March 2007). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 978-0-7524-4250-1.
- ↑ "Plymouth Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ↑ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ↑ "1952 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
- ↑ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ↑ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ↑ "Speedway back on track". BBC. 6 January 2006. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
- ↑ "Bowden Delighted with Green Light". Plymouth Herald. 3 August 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
- ↑ "Devon". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ↑ "CENTURIONS ARE LAUNCHED". Official British Speedway website. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
