The Ipswich Witches are a British motorcycle speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm (first race 7.45pm).
The Witches are currently promoted by former Ipswich riders Chris Louis and Ritchie Hawkins. Chris Louis is the son of former rider and promoter John Louis[1]
History
1950s
Foxhall Stadium was purpose-built for speedway in 1950 and following the cancellation of a meeting on 24 March 1951, the venue first hosted speedway on 14 May 1951, when Ipswich competed against Yarmouth in a challenge match.[2][3] The inaugural league season was the 1952 Speedway Southern League, where the team finished 8th. The team adopted the nickname the 'Witches' because of the town's history, for their inaugural season.[4]
The early stars of Ipswich speedway were Junior Bainbridge, Tich Read and Bert Edwards.[5] Attendances approached 20,000 but the team remained in the second division until the merger of the National league in 1957. Despite signing riders such as Peter Moore the team struggled and dropped down to the 1959 Southern Area League.
1960s
The Witches moved back up to the highest division for 1960 and 1961 and led by Peter Moore, finished fourth and sixth respectively. However, after ten seasons of league speedway the team withdrew from the 1962 Speedway National League mid-season due to financial issues.[6][7] The 1962 season was the worst in the history of the club, they lost their new signing Olle Nygren to ill-health before the season even started and then Jack Unstead was killed in the first recorded fatal crash at Foxhall Stadium on 13 April 1962.[8]
After very little action, except for some junior matches the club returned under the promotion of Joe Thorley and John Berry in 1969.[9] Berry built a new smaller track inside the stock car circuit.
1970s
After signing John Harrhy and John Louis, the team won their first honours in 1970, winning the Knockout Cup. They repeated the success in 1971, before John Berry applied for membership of the British League in 1972. The Witches established their place in the league over the next three seasons and then won consecutive British League Championships in 1975 and 1976 and two Knock-Out Cup wins in 1976 and 1978.[10][11] The 1975 title saw Ipswich defeat Belle Vue Aces by a solitary point. John Louis and Billy Sanders scored heavily throughout the season for Ipswich. The following year in 1976, during Ipswich's second consecutive title, the team was once again headed by John Louis and Billy Sanders but this time Tony Davey also scored well with an average of 8.37, resulting in a comfortable league title success for the Suffolk team. The team then went on to claim the double on 28 October by winning the Knockout Cup.
1980s
The team enjoyed a successful period during the early 1980s, winning the Knockout Cup again in 1981 and then securing the league and cup double again in 1984, despite losing their leading rider Dennis Sigalos and Dane Preben Eriksen. Australian Sanders remained one of the team's main scorers and he was supported by strong season scoring from American showman John Cook, Finn Kai Niemi and the English international pair of Jeremy Doncaster and Richard Knight.[12] Just three matches into the 1985 season Sanders killed himself on 23 April. The news shocked the club and the wider speedway world.[13] Following the death Billy Sanders in 1985 and Berry's subsequent decision to quit, the club struggled and almost closed before being saved by a consortium which included former rider John Louis but they dropped to the National Lague in 1989.
1990s
During the National League seasons of 1989 and 1990, Chris Louis (the son of John Louis) emerged as the club's new star. When the Witches returned to the top tier for the 1991 British League season, Louis and Tony Rickardsson headed the team before Rickardsson left after the 1993 season and then returned in 1997 for the renamed Elite League.
In 1998, Ipswich signed Tomasz Gollob and along with Rickardsson, Louis and Scott Nicholls the team dominated British speedway, winning the Elite League, the Knock-Out Cup and the end of season Craven Shield tournament.[14] In addition, Rickardsson won his second World title, Louis was British champion and Nicholls was British Under-21 champion.[15]
2000s
Ipswich versus Oxford in 2007
The team spent the entire decade in the Elite League finishing third in 2000 and 2004 (the latter resulting in elimination in the play off semi finals). In 2008, they finished fourth and once again were eliminated in the play off semi finals.
The early part of the decade saw Scott Nicholls as their leading rider alongside Louis, with other notable seasons from Mark Loram, Jarosław Hampel and Hans Andersen. Chris Louis remained an ever present for 19 seasons from 1989 to 2008, with the exception of missing the 2003 season with a back injury.[16]
For 2013, a new number one rider, Ben Barker, with the team managing a second place finish.[18] behind Somerset Rebels. The following season in 2014, Richie Worrall joined as the new number one.[19] The Witches finished third in the Premier League and reached the Knockout Cup final.
The Witches finished seventh in the Premier League in 2015 but won the pairs with Danny King and Rohan Tungate.[20] In 2017, the team reached the play off final losing to Peterborough Panthers.[21] Shortly before 2019, Ipswich decided to move back to the top division of British speedway, reaching the play off final of the SGB Premiership 2019 season.[22][23]
2020s
Unfortunately, the 2020 season was cancelled in July 2020 as a result of the restrictions placed on sporting events by COVID-19 rules set by the UK Government.[24] In 2021, the Witches finished fifth in the SGB Premiership[25]
The Witches signed Jason Doyle in 2022 and he spearheaded the team when they won the 2022 Pairs championship[26] and finished second in the SGB Premiership 2022, losing in the play-off semi final. The resurgence continued in 2023, when Ipswich won the Knockout Cup (top division) for the sixth time. Led by Doyle, Danny King and Russian signing Emil Sayfutdinov they also reached the play offs.
