Scunthorpe Speedway | Speedway & Stockcars | Eddie Wright Raceway
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The Quibell Park Years
From 1971 until 1978
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, Scunthorpe Life & John Somerville Collection
Compiled by: Rob Peasley.
From 1971 until 1978 operated out of Scunthorpe’s main athletics and cycling stadium, Quibell Park, on Brumby Wood Lane.
Two hundred ton of shale was laid on the top of the 400 metre running track on a weekly basis and the first meeting took place on May 3rd 1971 when up to 4000 paying customers saw the Saints defeat the Hull Vikings 39-38 in a challenge match.
The promoters were former riders Vic White and Ivor Brown and they ran twelve home challenge matches and one at Boston that season with the Saints winning eight and drawing three of the meetings whilst using riders who were loaned from other clubs.
19-year old Geoff Bouchard, who normally rode for Long Eaton rode in all meetings (as did Roger Mills, Stuart Jay and Phil Whitaker) claimed five maximums and was the holder of the track record after the opening night with a winning time in heat 6 of 79.6 seconds.
1972
1972 saw the Saints move into the British League Division Two but they failed to produce a competitive side, finishing 13 points adrift at the bottom of the seventeen team league with just five wins.
With plenty of changes to the line-up Phil Bass was the only rider to reach 200 points for the side whilst Brian Maxted and Terry Kelly were the only two to get their averages up to the six mark. On the management side Brian Osborne quit as a rider to join the promotion team mid-season.
1973
1973 started with six thrashings for the Saints in their first seven meetings after Ray Watkins smashed his thigh the night before the season was due to open.
Another woeful season looked on the cards but the club signed former World Finalist Ken McKinley, Ian Hindle and Dingle Brown. The trio helped lead the club off the bottom to finish above both Rayleigh and Berwick in the eighteen team league.
1974
1974 once again saw a grim start to the season for the Saints as Hindle left to join parent club Belle Vue and Rod Haynes also moved up to the British League with his parent club, Sheffield.
McKinley, now aged 46, dropped a point-and-a-half from his average but still led the team with an eight-point plus average until the late season addition of Tony Childs saw the club climb above Weymouth and Sunderland at the bottom of the table.
1975
The Saints future looked bleak when the council refused permission for them to race on Sundays instead of Mondays and also declined to assist the club financially after substantial losses in the previous two seasons.
Incredibly there was a modicum of success on track as the Saints climbed to 13th out of 20 in the league and recorded their first ‘on-track’ win away from home in 53 attempts in the league (1974 had seen a win awarded after a result was changed after the season had ended).
Childs once again led the averages but Keith Evans had a breakthrough year whilst Andy Hines and Colin Cook performed superbly in their first full seasons. One sour note was when McKinley left the club mid-meeting after protesting about the state of the Quibell Park track.
1976
A early season fallout between the promotion and Tony Childs saw the rider leave the club but it did lead to Keith Evans finally agreeing terms. However, whilst Evans had an excellent season, the club were missing a strong second heat-leader. Andy Hines had another good season but Colin Cook went backwards and the club could only finish one off the bottom.
1977
Another season of relative success as 5 teams finished below the Saints in the 19-team National League.
For the first time the Saints had three riders finish with an average over seven as Nicky Allott, Arthur Browning and John McNeill led the team from the bottom of the table after the side picked up just two points from their first eleven league meetings.
The last meeting of the season was set to be the last ever at Quibell Park before a move to a new purpose-built track at Ashby Ville. The damage to the athletics track had led to it losing its ‘prestigious’ rating and the only way to regain it would be for the Saints to leave the parkland arena.
1978
With the £100,000 Ashby Ville stadium not ready for the new season the Saints were allowed to stay at Quibell Park for one more year.
Off track Ted Hornsby and Jim Street joined Brian Osborn as promoters whilst on track the team struggled to replace John McNeill. McNeill returned after a while but by this time Arthur Browning was injured and when ‘Big Arthur’ returned his form was inconsistent at best. The Saints finished second bottom, just above Barrow.
