Scunthorpe Speedway | Speedway & Stockcars | Eddie Wright Raceway
- Normanby Road, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN15 8QZ
- info@scunthorpe-speedway.co.uk
The Normanby Road Years
From 2002 to present
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.
Compiled by: Rob Peasley.
2004
The search for a new home was over as North Lincolnshire Council offer a 10-acre plot of land on Normanby Road. A long lease was signed and at the end of May Rob Godfrey and his co-promoter, Norman Beeney, started to build the track.
Once the track was complete it was then a case of building the pits, all of the fencing, installing toilets, a track shop, a bar and gravelling the car park and pits. The track opened with a practice session on Sunday September 19th and the sessions carried on throughout the winter.
2005
Easter Sunday, 27th March, saw over 1500 people brave the Arctic conditions to see the Scunthorpe Telegraph Trophy won by Danny Norton. The crowds kept coming back as the Scorpions finished a creditable eighth out of twelve in the Conference League, just six points behind third-place Weymouth.
Norton was joined by Wayne Carter, Richie Dennis, Benji Compton, Byron Bekker, Ashley Johnson and Grant Hayes as the mainstays of the team. Late in the season the British Under-15 Champion Josh Auty joined the side.
The summer saw two stands built. They at least provided shelter until they could be terraced.
2006
Wayne Carter, Richie Dennis, Benji Compton, Byron Bekker, Josh Auty and Scott Richardson returned. Andrew Tully and Tai Woffinden joined them and the team swept all before them.
Woffinden and Auty set the league on fire with ten point averages in their first full seasons whilst Carter and Dennis would be number ones in many teams and Tully rapidly developed into a heat leader standard rider.
With the league title decided by playoffs for the first time the Scorpions won the quadruple of league, cup, Trophy and Shield whilst Compton and Paul Cooper (coming in for the injured Carter) won the CL Pairs.
Conference League Play-Offs
Semi-Final
1st Leg: Rye House 38 Scunthorpe 52
2nd Leg: Scunthorpe 62 Rye House 32 (On Agg: Scunthorpe won 114 – 70)
FINAL
1st Leg: Scunthorpe 67 Plymouth 25
2nd Leg: Plymouth 36 Scunthorpe 58 (On Agg: Scunthorpe won 125 – 61)
2007
The club needed another year in the Conference League, as the stadium needed further investment, before applying to enter the Premier League.
With Auty, Woffinden and Tully joining Compton as doubling up riders the ten-man squad system was fully utilised. British U-15 Champion Joe Haines came in for Carter who had to retire through injury but the remainder of the side was retained and once again they swept all before them.
They won all three major titles and claimed the Fours title from Plymouth on their own track. In fairness it was perhaps one year too many in the Conference League as the side regularly thumped opponents at the newly-named Eddie Wright Raceway.
Conference League Play-Offs
Semi-Finals
1st Leg: Scunthorpe 63 Boston 30
2nd Leg: Boston 36 Scunthorpe 56 (On Agg: Scunthorpe won 119 – 66)
FINAL
1st Leg: Oxford 42 Scunthorpe 47
2nd Leg: Scunthorpe 61 Oxford 31 (On Agg: Scunthorpe won 108 – 73)
2008
Promoter Rob Godfrey, with Kenny Smith (who replaced Norman Beeney as co-Promoter the previous season), changed the race day from Sunday afternoon to Friday night (because of the number of Sunday tracks) and were accepted into the Premier League.
From the off the racing produced was undoubtedly some of the best in the country. The team won 15 and lost 15 in their first league season to finish a creditable 10th out of 16. They finished fourth in the PL Fours at Workington and lost in the Quarter-final of the Young Shield.
A very impressive first season back in the second tier of British speedway. Away from league racing January 2008 saw the very first amateur meeting at Scunthorpe. In the years to come the meetings would become highly successful and one of the back-bones of Scunthorpe and British speedway.
2009
The club captured Wolverhampton’s GB international David Howe, Jerran Hart and Simon Lambert to replace Richard Hall, Emiliano Sanchez and Ben Powell but after a bright start in the Premier Trophy form started to elude several riders. In the end Byron Bekker was replaced and after two further changes the club ultimately settled on Ritchie Hawkins. From that point the Scorpions’ season improved and they finished the season strongly. Although they were once again 10th they were just five points behind 5th, having won 13 and lost 13 of their league fixtures.
Three semi-final appearances (Trophy, Knockout Cup and Young Shield) set a new bar for the club whilst the Saints side did well in the newly-named National League with a very young side. There was a fantastic advert for the club and the quality of racing on offer at the Eddie Wright Raceway with an outstanding meeting, against Sheffield, shown on Sky Sports TV but the season will ultimately be remembered for the sad loss of ‘King’ Kenny Smith, the club’s co-promoter and team manager, on Monday 13th July, just two days after he bravely led his side out for one last time. He, and his contribution to Scunthorpe Speedway, will always be remembered.
2010
There was just one change to the team over the winter with Joel Parsons replacing Ritchie Hawkins and the season started reasonably well with a second place finish in their Premier Trophy group, behind the invincible Birmingham side, just failing to net them a semi-final spot. Sadly Parson’s Scunthorpe career only lasted a month though because he tangled with Berwick’s Paul Clews on 23rd April and’ broke’ his back. Ultimately this would end his career. Then, the following night, Victor Bergstrom, badly burned his leg on his exhaust whilst trapped under the Stoke air fence and ended up missing a large number of meetings. Tero Aarnio came in and proved a crowd favourite but the three home losses in the league weren’t quite cancelled out by the win at Glasgow and draw at Rye House. It meant the Scorpions finished in ninth place but just four points away from fifth spot.
With Richard Hollingsworth taking over the Scorpions Team Managing duties it was Stuart Parnaby who took control of the National League Saints side when Malcolm Vasey moved to Stoke to manage in the Premier League. Parnaby only had Scott Richardson and Adam Wrathall from the previous season’s team but with the addition of raw teenagers Ashley Birks and Steve Worrall at reserve, plus Gary Irving, the team put a lot of emphasis on developing new riders. They finished 8th out of 10 in the league but once again the real benefits would been seen in future seasons.
2011
With Magnus Karlsson, Jerran Hart and Jan Graversen (a late season reserve upgrade in 2009) replaced by Thomas Jorgensen, Ben Wilson and Steve Worrall the Scorpions continued to nich their way up the Premier League table. After finishing 10th, 10th and 9th they achieved their first top half finish with 7th place. Three away wins (two at Leicester and one at Newport) out weighed two losses at home (to Workington and Leicester) and were acheived despite having to bring in another seven-point assessed rider, Michael Palm Toft, after Carl Wilkinson broke his leg and the initial replacement, Joe Haines, struggled to find form after coming back from a bad winter crash in Australia. The last change saw Richard Hall come in when Viktor Bergstrom was injured.
Crowds improved as the season went on whilst the Saints National League side (which was effectively run as a Scunthorpe side but officially names Scunthorpe/Sheffield Saints because of financial and track time input) actually won the league title. With second season riders Steve Worrall and Ashley Birks joined by rookies Richie Worrall and Stefan Nielsen the side had a very youthful core. Gary Irving and Adam Wrathall made up the core of the side whilst the final spot was mostly filled by a combination of Paul Cooper, Greg Blair and Lee Smethills. The side finished in second place knowing it qualified them for the playoffs before defeating Belle Vue 92-88 and Mildenhall 93-92 in epic two-leg playoff battles. The final against Mildenhall saw a 62-33 home win but the 29-point lead was nearly blown at Mildenhall when only a 5-1 from Birks and Richie Worrall in heat 15 retrieved the situation.
League Championship Play-Off Semi-Finals
1st Leg Belle Vue Colts 46 Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 41
2nd Leg Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 51 Belle Vue Colts 42
On agg: Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 92 Belle Vue Colts 88
League Championship Play-Off Final
1st Leg Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 62 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 33
2nd Leg Mildenhall Fen Tigers 59 Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 31
On agg: Scunthorpe Saints (Sheffield) 93 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 92
2012
2012 will live long in the memory of Scunthorpe Speedway fans. It was the year when all the hard work came together with the ingredient any successful speedway team needs, a bit of good fortune at the right time. The side looked like playoff contenders from the point they made a couple of team changes in mid-season and went on to claim the Premier League title by 1 point (92-91) over two legs against Somerset in the last week of October. However, near the end of June things didn’t look so good. Josh Auty, Ashley Birks and Tom Armstrong had come into the side at the start of the season in place of Ben Wilson, Richard Hall and Steve Worrall. Returning were David Howe, Thomas Jorgensen, Tero Aarnio and Michael Palm Toft but Armstrong had a bad crash in only his third ride of the season. Jerran Hart filled in during his absence but when he returned ten weeks later Armstrong’s confidence had completely disappearred. After a torrid few meetings he decided to return to Australia and then the Scorpions’ first stroke of good fortune occurred. Nick Morris became available and although it meant losing Tero Aarnio there was no denying that Morris’ signing was a real coup. Then Workington made a bizarre decision to release Gary Irving from their side despite him having around a five point average for the Comets. In a shot Irving signed for the Scorpions and a 5.48 average from 21 meetings at the end of the season from the club’s number 7 showed just how strong they had become.
However, as with any speedway season there were downs as well as ups. David Howe injured his shoulder in April and despite a couple of brief comebacks he was out for the rest of the season. Guests and rider replacement covered for him and long-term that is rarely a fruitful solution. However, the remaining six were going so well that they took it in their stride and went through their home league campaign upbeaten. Away from home there were victories at Ipswich, Sheffield and Edinburgh along with a draw at Redcar. Plenty of bonus points were accumulated and by season end their 15-1-8 record saw them on 50 points, just one behind Newcastle.
By the playoffs Thomas Jorgensen was out injured and Nick Morris also missed the two away matches in the playoff group. However, sterling efforts from Kevin Doolan and Sam Masters at Edinburgh saw the Scorpions grad a vital away bonus point for losing by less than 7 points. It was enough to see them into the final against Somerset but a number of shed chains and mechanical gremlins saw the Rebels eke out a five point lead from the first leg when the Scorpions could easily have won. Two days later and the second leg of the final was rained off but then, on Monday 29th October, the Scorpions managed to win the home leg by six points. A nerve-wracking heat 15 saw Josh Auty and Nick Morris keep a charging Richard Hall at the back to ensure the celebrations could begin. There is actually a whole page of information regarding the final in the Scorpions section of the website.
In the National League the Saints were led by Steve Worrall and Gary Irving whilst Tom Young was signed from Newport. The club gave NL debuts to Oliver Greenwood, Max Clegg, Tommy Fenwick and Danny Phillips as they sought to develop the next batch of Premier League riders. Due to Premier League commitments Worrall was only able to do three meetings but Young added three points to his average and Greenwood, despite injury keeping him out for a while, recorded seven-point averages both home and away. The team finished sixth, just four points behind third-placed Isle of Wight. However, with poor weather conditions hitting the season’s crowds the club decided to take a season out of the National League in 2013 to try and save costs.
League Championship Play-Off Final
1st Leg Somerset Rebels 49 Scunthorpe Scorpions 44
2nd Leg Scunthorpe Scorpions 48 Somerset Rebels 42
On agg: Scunthorpe Scorpions 92 Somerset Rebels 21
2013
There was tremendous excitement when the Scorpions put together a side that had just one change from the title-winning line-up. Australian Ryan Douglas was coming in to replace his friend Nick Morris. However, then Gary Irving received a not-to-be-missed job offer that meant he retired from the sport. It meant that were fewer options available and in the end Josh Bates was selected to fill the reserve berth. It didn’t work out for Josh and Michael Palm Toft’s form also suffered. Lewis Blackbird and Nicolai Klindt both came in and made a big difference to the team but David Howe’s average dropped below seven after returning from injury and the Scorpions, despite winning more than they lost, failed to make the playoffs. They finished eighth, a previously acceptable position, but after 2012’s exploits it felt like a anti-climax. Early in the season there was also a change of Team Manager for the Scorpions with Richard Hollingsworth stepping back to concentrate on the amateur meetings, practices and second halves. Former referee Dave Peet, who had managed at Hull and Berwick, stepped in to help Rob Godfrey with the duties.
2014
After a better financial year in 2013, and Poole speedway’s financial support, the club were able to return to National League racing with Richard Hollingsworth running a controversial team that had six rookie riders plus seasoned second-string Steve Jones. However, the club wanted to develop new assets and did not move away from that philosophy. They only won one meeting, their last one, at home to Buxton but the improvement of riders was there for all to see. Sam Chapman and Arron Mogridge made great strides forward whilst Ellis Perks, who made a couple of late season appearances, earning a 2015 Premier League place with the Scorpions.
In the Premier League the Scorpions added Anders Mellgren and Matt Williamson in place of Lewis Blackbird and Nicolai Klindt but Mellgren was badly injured in only his second meeting (away at Redcar). After a period with guests the club re-signed Klindt to cover and, apart from a brief trial with Tom Perry in place of Williamson that was how the team stayed until the end of the season. With only one home loss and thirteen points picked up on their travels the Scorpions easily made the playoffs in fifth place (13 points ahead of 7th place Peterborough who didn’t make the playoffs). Whilst Williamson found it tough at times the experience was invaluable for him and with Ryan Douglas, Thomas Jorgensen, David Howe and Ashley Birks all having spells at reserve there was invariably a strong reserve to cover.
The team were really shaping up well heading into the playoffs but one-by-one Ashley Birks, Ryan Douglas and Nicolai Klindt got injured, all with broken scaphoids, and despite winning their two home meetings they were unable to offer enough resistance at Ipswich and Somerset.
