Great Britain national speedway team

The Great Britain national speedway team (formerly the England speedway team) is one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by the Tai Woffinden.

Great Britain
Team captainTai Woffinden
Nation colourBlue
SWC Wins10 (inc SON) (1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1989, 2021, 2024)
Squad
  • Robert Lambert
  • Dan Bewley
  • Tom Brennan
  • Tai Woffinden

The team raced as England from 1928 to 1961 and again from 1974 to 2000. They have raced as Great Britain from 1962 to 1973 and since 2001.

History

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The national speedway team held test matches against the Australia as early as 1928, although the first official test match is listed as 30 June 1930 at Wimbledon Stadium.[1]

The team won the Speedway World Team Cup on five occasions as England and four times as Great Britain from 1968 to 1989. They were a major force in the 1970s, winning five consecutive tournaments, two as England and three as Great Britain.[2] Key riding members of the title wins include Peter Collins (five wins), Malcolm Simmons (four wins), New Zealand born Ivan Mauger and Ray Wilson (all three wins).[3] Prior to 1974, the Great Britain team often consisted of riders from other Commonwealth Nations including Australia and New Zealand.[4]

The cup eluded the team after 1989, although they came close in 2000, missing out when Mark Loram fell in a race-off and 2004 where a team of Mark Loram, Lee Richardson, Gary Havelock, David Norris and Scott Nicholls missed out by one point. Both the 2000 and 2004 narrow defeats were at the hands of Sweden and both in somewhat controversial fashion.

In June 2018, Great Britain competed as one of 15 nations in the inaugural Speedway of Nations tournament and in August 2018, Great Britain hosted a top-level international test match for the first time in over 15 years when they took on Australia at Glasgow's Peugeot Ashfield Stadium.

At the 2021 Speedway of Nations in Manchester, Team GB ended a 32 years drought. After finishing third in qualifying, they beat Denmark 6–3 in the Grand Final qualifier and then beat Poland in the Grand Final 5–4. The winning team included Robert Lambert, Dan Bewley and Tai Woffinden.[5] The team subsequently won the 2024 Speedway of Nations.[6]

Major tournament wins

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World Team Championships

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Year Venue Standings (Pts) Riders Pts
1968  
London
Wembley Stadium
1.   Great Britain (40)
2.   Sweden (30)
3.   Poland (19)
4.   Czechoslovakia (7)
Ivan Mauger (NZ) 12
Nigel Boocock 10
Martin Ashby 8
Barry Briggs (NZ) 7
Norman Hunter 3
1971  
Wrocław
Stadion Olimpijski
1.   Great Britain (37)
2.   Soviet Union (22)
3.   Poland (19)
4.   Sweden (18)
Ray Wilson 12
Ivan Mauger (NZ) 10
Jim Airey (AUS) 9
Barry Briggs (NZ) 6
Ronnie Moore (NZ) dnr
1972  
Olching
Olching Speedwaybahn
1.   Great Britain (36)
2.   Soviet Union (21)
3.   Poland (21)
4.   Sweden (18)
Ivan Mauger (NZ) 11
John Louis 9
Terry Betts 9
Ray Wilson 8
Ronnie Moore (NZ) dnr
1973  
London
Wembley Stadium
1.   Great Britain (37)
2.   Sweden (31)
3.   Soviet Union (20)
4.   Poland (8)
Peter Collins 12
Terry Betts 9
Malcolm Simmons 8
Ray Wilson 8
Dave Jessup dnr
1974  
Chorzów
Stadion Śląski
1.   England (42)
2.   Sweden (31)
3.   Poland (13)
4.   Soviet Union (10)
Peter Collins 12
John Louis 12
Dave Jessup 10
Malcolm Simmons 8
Ray Wilson dnr
1975  
Norden
Motodrom Halbemond
1.   England (41)
2.   Soviet Union (29)
3.   Sweden (17)
4.   Poland (9)
Peter Collins 12
Malcolm Simmons 11
Martin Ashby 10
John Louis 8
Dave Jessup dnr
1977  
Wrocław
Stadion Olimpijski
1.   England (37)
2.   Poland (25)
3.   Czechoslovakia (23)
4.   Sweden (11)
Peter Collins 10
Michael Lee 9
Dave Jessup 9
John Davis 6
Malcolm Simmons 3
1980  
Wrocław
Stadion Olimpijski
1.   England (40)
2.   United States (29)
3.   Poland (15)
4.   Czechoslovakia (12)
Michael Lee 11
Chris Morton 11
Peter Collins 10
Dave Jessup 8
John Davis dnr
1989  
Bradford
Odsal Stadium
1.   England (48)
2.   Denmark (34)
3.   Sweden (30)
4.   United States (8)
Jeremy Doncaster 13
Paul Thorp 12
Kelvin Tatum 12
Simon Wigg 11
Simon Cross 0
2021  
Manchester
National Speedway Stadium
1.   Great Britain (64+6+5)
2.   Poland (74+4)
3.   Denmark (68+3)
4.   Australia (49)
5.   France (47)
6.   Latvia (42)
7.   Sweden (30)
Robert Lambert 32+4+3
Dan Bewley 11+2+2
Tai Woffinden 14
Tom Brennan 7
2024  
Manchester
National Speedway Stadium
1.   Great Britain (35+5+7)
2.   Australia (36+2)
3.   Sweden (27+4)
4.   Germany (26)
5.   Poland (24)
6.   Denmark (21)
7.   Latvia (20)
Robert Lambert 22+3+4
Dan Bewley 13+2+3
Tom Brennan dnr

Titles

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Preceded by World Champions
1968 (1st title)
Succeeded by
Preceded by
  Sweden
World Champions
1971 (2nd title)
1972 (3rd title)
1973 (4th title)
1974 (5th title)
1975 (6th title)
Succeeded by
Preceded by
  Australia
World Champions
1977 (7th title)
Succeeded by
Preceded by World Champions
1980 (8th title)
Succeeded by
  Denmark
Preceded by
  Denmark
World Champions
1989 (9th title)
Succeeded by
Preceded by World Champions
2021 (10th title)
Succeeded by
  Australia
Preceded by
  Poland
World Champions
2024 (11th title)
Succeeded by

World Pairs Championship

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Year Venue Standings (Pts) Riders Pts
1972  
Borås
Ryavallen
1.   England (24)
2.   New Zealand (24)
3.   Sweden B (22)
4.   Sweden A (22)
5.   Poland (15)
6.   Czechoslovakia (12)
7.   Hungary (6)
Ray Wilson 15+3
Terry Betts 9
1976  
Eskilstuna
Snälltorpet
1.   England (27)
2.   Denmark (24)
3.   Sweden (22)
4.   Australia (16)
5.   New Zealand (15)
6.   Scotland (12)
7.   Poland (10)
John Louis 17
Malcolm Simmons 10
1977  
Manchester
Hyde Road
1.   England (28)
2.   Sweden (18)
3.   West Germany (18)
4.   Czechoslovakia (17)
5.   New Zealand (17)
6.   Finland (14)
7.   Australia (12)
Peter Collins 15
Malcolm Simmons 13
1978  
Chorzówr
Stadion Śląski
1.   England (24)
2.   New Zealand (24)
3.   Denmark (21)
4.   Czechoslovakia (18)
5.   Poland (15)
6.   West Germany (13)
7.   Sweden (11)
Malcolm Simmons 15+3
Gordon Kennett 9
1980  
Krsko
Matija Gubec Stadium
1.   England (29)
2.   Poland (22)
3.   Denmark (21)
4.   Sweden (18)
5.   New Zealand (16)
6.   Finland (14)
7.   Yugoslavia (6)
Dave Jessup 15
Peter Collins 14
1983  
Göteborg
Ullevi
1.   England (25)
2.   Australia (24)
3.   Denmark (19)
4.   United States (18)
5.   Sweden (16)
6.   West Germany (12)
7.   New Zealand (11)
Kenny Carter 15
Peter Collins 10
1984  
Lonigo
Santa Marina Stadium
1.   England (27)
2.   Denmark (25)
3.   New Zealand (25)
4.   United States (19)
5.   Australia (14)
6.   Czechoslovakia (10)
7.   Italy (6)
Chris Morton 14
Peter Collins 13

International caps (as of 2022)

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Since the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix era, international caps earned by riders is largely restricted to international competitions, whereas previously test matches between two teams were a regular occurrence. This means that the number of caps earned by a rider has decreased in the modern era.[7]

Rider Caps for England Caps for Great Britain Total
Abbott, Joe 30 - 30
Airey, Jim   - 17 17
Allen, Oliver - 2 2
Andrew, Bill   - 7 7
Andrews, Bob 21 12 33
Ashby, Martin 49 21 70
Ashworth, Ricky - 1 1
Atkinson, Arthur 30 - 30
Auffret, Frank 6 - 6
Bales, Billy 12 1 13
Barker, Ben - 5 5
Barker, Dean 14 4 18
Bastable, Steve 18 - 18
Beaton, Bobby   - 1 1
Betts, Terry 55 19 74
Bird, Danny - 1 1
Blackbird, Carl 8 - 8
Boocock, Eric 53 37 90
Boocock, Nigel 90 64 154
Boothroyd, Eric 2 1 3
Boss, Chris   5 - 5
Boulger, John   - 5 5
Bounds, Reg 2 - 2
Bradley, Dick 24 - 24
Brett, Brian 3 4 7
Bridger, Lewis - 5 5
Briggs, Barry   - 57 57
Brine, Cyril 12 - 12
Broadbank, Mike 28 8 36
Broadbelt, Eric 17 14 31
Brown, Ivor 1 - 1
Burton, Squib 7 - 7
Bush, Arthur 5 - 5
Byers, Gordon 3 - 3
Byford, Howdy 6 - 6
Carr, Peter 12 - 12
Carter, Kenny 51 - 51
Cartwright, Ian 6 - 6
Clarke, Tony 11 2 13
Clarke, Phil 5 - 5
Clarke, Ron 9 - 9
Clark, Pat 2 - 2
Clibbett, Bill 1 - 1
Close, Derick 2 - 2
Cole, Howard   10 1 11
Coles, Bob 1 - 1
Coles, Michael 2 - 2
Collins, Les 31 - 31
Collins, Neil 19 - 19
Collins, Peter 118 9 127
Collins, Phil 55 1 56
Cottrell, Col 1 - 1
Courtney, Mark 5 - 5
Cox, Marvyn 25 - 25
Craven, Gil 1 - 1
Craven, Malcolm 11 - 11
Craven, Peter 48 12 60
Cresp, Ray   - 6 6
Cribb, Bruce   - 3 3
Croombs, Tommy 30 - 30
Cross, Simon 33 - 33
Crutcher, Brian 23 - 23
Cunningham, Glenn 2 - 2
Davey, Tony 11 - 11
Davis, John 64 - 64
Dent, Russ 1 - 1
Doncaster, Jeremy 52 - 52
Drury, Graham   1 - 1
Dugard, Martin 41 - 41
Edwards, Bert 7 - 7
Elliott, Bryan 6 - 6
Erskine, Jon 1 2 3
Etheridge, Laurie 1 - 1
Evans, Norman 1 - 1
Evitts, Neil 27 - 27
Farndon, Tom 21 - 21
Featherby, Clive - 1 1
Fisher, Dick 1 4 5
Forrest, Arthur 26 - 26
France, Rick 1 4 5
Francis, Joe 6 - 6
French, Eric 8 - 8
Frogley, Roger 3 - 3
Galvin, Andy 1 - 1
Gamble, Tommy 1 - 1
Genz, Ronnie 7 1 8
Gifford, Dave   - 2 2
Gilbert, Bill 6 - 6
Glover, Carl 1 - 1
Gofffe, Lloyd 1 - 1
Golden, Alby - 1 1
Gooch, Jimmy 10 3 13
Gooddy, Colin 1 - 1
Goulden, Frank 1 - 1
Grahame, Alan 42 - 42
Grahame, Andy 16 - 16
Gray, Dennis 1 - 1
Greatrex, Stan 5 - 5
Green, Richard 1 - 1
Green, Wally 6 - 6
Greenwood, George 2 - 2
Greer, Richard 4 - 4
Gregory, Eric 2 - 2
Gregory, Les 1 - 1
Grifiths, Syd   1 - 1
Hagon, Alf 4 - 4
Haigh, Dusty 15 - 15
Haley, Arnie 33 6 39
Harkins, Bert   7 4 11
Harris, Chris - 22 22
Harris, Dick 5 - 5
Harrison, Bob 10 - 10
Hart, Oliver 16 - 16
Havelock, Gary 54 12 66
Hedge, Trevor 16 17 33
Hemus, Dave - 1 1
Herbert, Hal 1 - 1
Hill, Roger 1 - 1
Holden, Kevin 5 7 12
How, Ron 44 12 56
Howe, Ben 8 - 8
Howe, David - 4 4
Hull, Wally 2 - 2
Hunt, Alan 26 - 26
Hunt, Tim 1 - 1
Hunter, George   17 16 33
Hunter, Norman 9 13 22
Hurry, Paul 12 5 17
Hussey, Gerry 2 - 2
Jackson, Syd 8 - 8
Jay, Alan 1 - 1
Jervis, Arthur 2 - 2
Jessup, Dave 97 - 97
Johns, Roger 2 - 2
Jolly, Kevin 6 - 6
Jones, Graham 3 - 3
Kelly, Peter 1 - 1
Kempster, Jim 4 - 4
Kennett, Edward - 10 10
Kennett, Gordon 53 - 53
Kentwell, Greg   - 1 1
Key, Nobby 11 - 11
Kilby, Bob 37 5 42
King, Danny - 6 6
Kitchen, Bill 41 - 41
Kitchen, Jack - 2 2
Knight, Richard 20 - 20
Kuhn, Gus 4 - 4
Landels, Bill   1 8 9
Langton, Eric 44 - 44
Langton, Oliver 1 - 1
Lawson, Louis 7 - 7
Leadbitter, Tom 2 - 2
Lee, Michael 72 - 72
Lees, Ginger 22 - 22
Levai, Sandor   1 1 2
Lightfoot, Jim 1 3 4
Lloyd, Jeff 5 - 5
Lloyd, Wally 8 - 8
Lomas, Tony 12 - 12
Loram, Mark 36 10 46
Louis, Chris 41 3 44
Louis, John 54 4 58
Luckhurst, Reg 4 7 11
McAuliffe, Leo   - 1 1
McGillivray, Les 2 - 2
McGregor, Gordon   19 1 20
McKinlay, Ken   92 23 115
McMillan, Jim   28 31 59
Maidment, Cyril 6 16 22
Mardon, Geoff   - 1 1
Mauger, Ivan   - 47 47
Mear, Robert - 2 2
Middleditch, Ken 5 - 5
Middleditch, Neil 7 - 7
Miller, Tommy   5 - 5
Milner, Keith 1 - 1
Molyneux, Alan 1 - 1
Monk, Charlie   - 15 15
Moore, Peter   - 3 3
Moore, Ronnie   - 21 21
Morton, Chris 115 7 122
Morton, Dave 18 - 18
Morton, Ray 1 - 1
Mountford, Ron 25 4 29
Mudge, Geoff   - 1 1
Mullett, Dave 3 - 3
Neath, Chris - 1 1
Newton, George 12 - 12
Nicholls, Nick 5 - 5
Nicholls, Scott 8 27 35
Norris, David 20 8 28
Oakley, Bob 1 - 1
Oliver, Dent 19 - 19
Ormston, Jack 14 - 14
Owen, Joe 3 - 3
Owen, Les 2 1 3
Owen, Tom 1 - 1
Parker, Dennis 5 - 5
Parker, Jack 89 - 89
Parker, Norman 36 - 36
Parkinson, Cliff 17 7 24
Paulson, Bob 3 - 3
Pawson, Fred 5 - 5
Phillips, Wal 27 - 27
Pitcher, Bill 7 - 7
Plant, Graham 5 1 6
Pratt, Colin 14 7 21
Price, Arthur 3 - 3
Price, Tommy 23 - 23
Pusey, Chris 51 - 51
Pymar, Geoff 12 - 12
Richardson, Colin 1 - 1
Richardson, Lee 1 25 26
Rigg, Eddie 14 - 14
Roger, Bert 11 - 11
Roger, Cyril 25 - 25
Rogers, Fred 1 - 1
Roper, Tommy 4 - 4
Rossiter, Alun 8 - 8
Roynon, Adam - 1 1
Rye, Claude 4 - 4
Schofield, Steve 12 - 12
Scott, Jack   - 1 1
Screen, Joe 37 7 44
Sharpe, Les   - 2 2
Sharples, Ken 8 - 8
Silver, Andrew 22 - 22
Simmons, Malcolm 73 5 78
Small, Terry 1 - 1
Smith, Andy 29 - 29
Smith, Kevin 3 - 3
Smith, Pete 7 2 9
Squibb, Jimmy 4 4 8
Standing, Dean 4 - 4
Statham, Alec 22 - 22
Stead, Simon - 11 11
Stevenson, Tiger 27 - 27
Stobbart, Rol 2 - 2
Stonehewer, Carl 7 5 12
Street, Neil   - 1 1
Sweetman, Tommy 6 - 6
Tatum, Kelvin 65 - 65
Taylor, Chum   - 1 1
Thomas, Barry 26 - 26
Thorp, Paul 31 - 31
Trigg, Roy 31 5 36
Trott, Reg 1 - 1
Tyrer, Paul 1 - 1
Unstead, Jack 2 - 2
Varey, Frank 21 - 21
Warwick, Arthur 7 - 7
Waterman, Split 32 - 32
Watkin, Mike 1 1 2
Watson, Colin 9 - 9
White, George 19 - 19
White, Keith 7 - 7
Whitfield, Harry 1 - 1
Wigg, Simon 57 - 57
Wilkinson, Alan 12 - 12
Wilkinson, Fred 2 - 2
Wilks, George 9 - 9
Williams, Eric   23 - 23
Williams, Freddie   28 - 28
Williams, Ian   8 - 8
Wilson, Ray 72 36 108
Wilson, Reg 7 16 23
Wilson, Sean 23 2 25
Woffinden, Tai - 11 11
Woods, Paul 2 - 2
Wotton, Les 13 - 13
Wright, Arthur 7 - 7
Wyer, Doug 46 14 60
Young, Jack - 1 1
Younghusband, Dave 8 3 11

Managers

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References

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  1. ^ "United Kingdom international matches". International Speedway. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 134. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  4. ^ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 99. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  5. ^ "Speedway: Great Britain claim first world title since 1989 with win over Poland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Great Britain wins FIM Speedway of Nations World Title in manchester Thriller". FIM Speedway. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  7. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Boocock quits". Nottingham Evening Post. 26 November 1993. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "New boy dave aims to heal the old wounds". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 21 March 1998. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Lyon named GB Boss". Wolverhampton speedway. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Alun Rossiter: Great Britain Speedway boss leaves role". BBC. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Team Managers revealed". British Speedway. Retrieved 22 December 2023.