Scunthorpe Speedway | Speedway & Stockcars | Eddie Wright Raceway
- Normanby Road, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN15 8QZ
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The Ashby Ville Years
From 1979 until 1985
Speedway first took place in Scunthorpe on May 3rd 1971. Despite a host of problems ran continuously, albeit at two locations, Quibell Park and Ashby Ville, until May 13th 1985. Then on 27th March 2005 league racing returned to the town on what is now known as the Eddie Wright Raceway.
It is hoped this section will continue to evolve. Anyone who has information that ought to be included can e-mail: scunthorperaceway@virginmedia.com
Photos: if you took any of the photos in this section, please let us know so that either we can credit you, or remove the photo if you so wish.
1971 stats are from challenge matches. Stats from 1972 include league and cup matches only.
Text: Richard Hollingsworth.
Averages & league tables: John Eyre.
Photos supplied by: Andrew Skeels, Richard Hollingsworth. & The John Somerville Colletion.
Compiled by: Rob Peasley.
1979
Yet another winter of uncertainty with the strained relationship between Brian Osborn and Scunthorpe Borough Council seemingly at breaking point. After just three meetings at Ashby Ville the Speedway Control Board closed the track until the end of August whilst improvements were made.
It meant running a number of double headers to complete the newly named Stags fixtures whilst on track the side were dismal and finished ten points adrift in the National League. One major factor was new heat leader Arthur Price’s ability to nearly halve his starting average.
1980
1980 saw Richard Judge join as a co-promoter and the Stags improved to 13th out of 20. Phil White, in his fourth season with the club, took his average over nine whilst Arthur Browning and Nicky Allott gave the club three genuine heat leaders again.
Kevin Teager, Rob Woffinden and Ian Westwell were also regulars but the team really needed another decent second-string to allow Woffinden to ride at reserve.
1981
Phil White and Arthur Browning moved on and with the country in recession the team that took to the track was lacking a number one.
Kevin Teager added over two points to his average but with Mark DeKok as third heat-leader the club were cast adrift with Workington and Milton Keynes at the bottom of the league table.
Just six wins and a draw did see them finish third bottom but a whopping fifteen points adrift of Stoke who finished two places above them in 15th.
1982
The Stags were third bottom again but nearly doubled their previous seasons’ points tally and were just five points behind Milton Keynes who finished five places above them in 12th.
Wholesale improvements to the line-up saw Mike Wilding, Nigel Crabtree and Derek Richardson sign whilst Rob Woffinden, Julian Parr and Ian Gibson made significant improvements on their starting averages. As was often the case the team started slowly but five wins on the trot (including at Oxford and Edinburgh) saw a marked improvement towards the end of the season.
1983
By far the best season during the 1971-85 era as the Stags were unbeaten at home in the league and finished fifth despite Wilding, Teager and Woffinden moving on. In came Andy Fisher and Rob Hollingworth whilst Mark DeKok was effectively replaced by 16-year old Winterton lad Kevin Armitage mid-season.
Most riders made significant progress whilst seventh in the averages at the end of the season was Armitage on 5.29, a figure that would have been third heat leader in many of the previous seasons. However, with Britain in the midst of a recession crowds didn’t increase and there was still wrangling with the council over unpaid rent.
1984
With continuing financial problems Tony Nicholls joined Richard Judge at the helm of the club whilst number one, Nigel Crabtree, moved to Stoke. The Stags welcomed back Rob Woffinden and he joined Julian Parr, Andy Buck and Derek Richardson in averaging over 7.50.
Despite Paul Evitts leaving the club, after being withdrawn from a race, Mark Burrows stepped in to join Kevin Armitage and Ian Gibson at the bottom end of the side and, whilst the season didn’t match the previous one, a tenth place finish was the second best by a Scunthorpe side.
Sadly in the December former Promoter and sponsor Ted Hornsby died.
1985
Tony Nicholls took over the sole running of the club and the outlook for the club had never looked brighter. There was a large stretch of spectator cover on turn one, a stock car fence was installed and Eric Boocock had been employed as Team Manager.
The side retained the top four from the previous year and Steve Finch dropped out of the top flight to create a strong top five. Sadly, on track the team struggled to fire on all cylinders at once whilst the club was also losing money at an alarming rate.
When the meeting on 20th May didn’t take place the writing was on the wall and two days later there was an announcement that the club would have to withdraw from the league.
