The Plymouth Gladiators are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. The team competed during various seasons from 1932 to 1969, before reforming after a gap of thirty-six years in 2006.[1] In 2021, the club successfully applied to join the British second division, the SGB Championship. The team nicknames have included Tigers, Panthers, Devils and Bulldogs[2]
History
Origins and 1930s
The origins of speedway in Plymouth began when Western Speedways Ltd promoted the dirt track racing at Pennycross Stadium. The opening meeting was a challenge match against Exeter on 13 June 1931.[3] The general manager of the stadium Freddie Hore signed Australian Bert Spencer as the first star to ride at Plymouth.[4]
The speedway promotion suffered financial losses and put the entire team up for sale in early 1935, choosing to host a few open and challenge matches instead of cometing in the league.[7]
The team returned in 1936 under the promotion of Jack Colebatch, to compete in the Provincial League and also changed the name their name to Plymouth Panthers.[8] Another poor season resulted in no speedway (with the exception of one fixture) before the outbreak of war.
1940s
Although the Pennycross Stadium conducted greyhound racing meetings throughout the war,[9] the speedway did not return until 1947. Now known as the Plymouth Devils, they raced in the 1947 Speedway National League Division Three, under Jimmy Baxter (the chairman of the third division promoters' association).[10]
Pete Lansdale was signed as the club's number 1 rider in 1948 and he was joined by Peter Robinson. Later signings included George Wall and Alan Smith and they finally turned Plymouth into a team that were hard to beat at home.
1950s
The club also signed Wally Mawdsley in 1950, who together with Pete Lansdale would later become the best known speedway promoters in the country. In 1952, the team achieved their first major success, winning the Division Three section of the National Trophy. They defeated Rayleigh Rockets in the final and the Devils trio of Wall, Smith and Lansdale finished in the first three positions of the league averages at the end of the season.[11]
Seven years later in 1961, the Bristol Bulldogs were left without a home, following the sale of Knowle Stadium. The Bulldogs relocated to Plymouth and the Plymouth Bulldogs competed in the 1961 Provincial Speedway League. Australian Jack Scott led the team's averages in a season that saw the team finish runner-up in the league behind Poole Pirates.[14] After the 1962 season it would be another six year without speedway in Plymouth.
Speedway resurfaced again for two seasons (1968 an 1969) at Pennycross Stadium, with the Devils participating in British League Division Two. The 1968 season saw the Devils finish fourth and Mike Cake recorded an equal first league average of 10.22. Unfortunately after the 1969 season the speedway ended and Pennycross Stadium would close for good several years later in 1972.
2000s
Plymouth versus Oxford in 2007
In 2006, temporary planning permission was awarded for a new speedway track in Plymouth at the St Boniface College playing fields (later to become the Plymouth Coliseum).[15] The Plymouth Devils returned after a 36-year absence to compete in the 2006 Speedway Conference League. During the season the Devils finished first in the regular season table but lost in the play off final to Scunthorpe Scorpions.[16]
Two years later in 2008, they repeated the feat of topping the table but once again lost in the playoffs, this time to Weymouth Wildcats. They did however gain consolation when winning the Conference League Knockout Cup. One year later in 2009, the Devils reached the play off final and won the Division 3 national trophy during the 2009 National League speedway season.
In 2011, the club moved up to division 2 bringing in Ben Barker as number 1. The Devils continued to compete in the second tier and introduced a junior side called the Devon Demons in 2014, previously the Demons had been the junior side for the Exeter Falcons.[18]
In 2019, the club name was changed from the Devils to the Gladiators.
2020s
Following a season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gladiators returned to the second division for 2021, called the SGB Championship. In 2022, the club re-signed Ben Barker and also ran a NDL side called the Centurions.[20]
Ben Barker
View of the Plymouth Coliseum
