Newcastle Diamonds

History

Origins and 1930s

The construction of a speedway track at Brough Park began in early 1929, under the supervision of Lindon Travers. The Newcastle team were inaugural members of the 1929 Speedway English Dirt Track League and following an open meeting on 17 May, the first league home fixture was held three days later on 20 May against Halifax Speedway. The team finished in fourth place during their debut season.

In 1930, both Brough Park and Gosforth speedway (the latter promoted by Tyneside Speedways Ltd) intended to compete in the Northern League but Gosforth signed the majority of Brough Park's riders and then Brough Park speedway closed. The team competed at the Gosforth Greyhound Stadium during 1930 but then Gosforth closed to speedway after the season and the city of Newcastle would not see a return of speedway until 1938, when they joined the National League.

The team in 1938 was coached by former rider Gordon Byers and consisted of four Canadians, a season that saw the Diamonds nickname first used. The outbreak of World War II ruined a potential league winning season in 1939.

1940s

After the war, the team raced as Newcastle Brough in 1946 before Jeff Lloyd topped the league averages in 1947 for the Diamonds. The Diamonds promotion moved the team to Saracen Park after the 1948 season to become Ashfield Giants but a new promotion formed the Newcastle Magpies from the disbanded Middlesbrough Bears.

1950s

After finishing last during the 1951 Speedway National League Division Two season, the promoter J. S. Smith pulled out and team disbanded and did not race in the league for the remainder of the decade.

1960s

|File:Ivan mauger.jpg |Ivan Mauger |File:Ole Olsen, World Champion.jpg |Ole Olsen Newcastle returned in 1961 competing in the Provincial League and gradually progressed from 1961 to 1963. In 1963, the team signed New Zealander Ivan Mauger, who would go on to become six times World Champion. Under Mauger's leadership the Diamonds thrived, winning the club's first major trophy by sealing the 1964 league title. In 1965, the team were founder members of the British League.

In 1967, 21-year-old Ole Olsen made his British debut for Newcastle and would later be a three times World Champion. Olsen arrived after Mauger persuaded the promoter Mike Parker to sign him.

The 1967 and 1968 seasons were one of the rare occurrences where two of the greatest riders of all-time rode for the same team, although Olsen was in his early part of his career at the time.

1970s

After competing in the British League from 1965 to 1970 the team's first division licence was transferred by Allied Presentations to Reading Racers leaving the Newcastle promoter Ian Hoskins without a league to race in. The Diamonds missed four seasons (1971–1974) but in November 1974, Ian Thomas bought the defunct Sunderland Gladiators licence and transferred it to re-form the Diamonds, entering the team to race in the 1975 New National League season. Brian Havelock and Tom Owen won the National League Pairs, held at Hyde Road on 17 May.

The following season they won the double of National League title and Knockout Cup, in addition to winning the fours. The 1976 team was Tom Owen, Brian Havelock, Ron Henderson, Joe Owen, Andy Cusworth, Phil Michelides and Robbie Blackadder. Tom Owen then topped the averages for three consecutive years in 1977, 1978 and 1979 becoming arguably the National League's leading rider during the period.

1980s

|File:Joe Owen 050476.jpg |Joe Owen |File:Tom Owen 050476.jpg |Tom Owen Another treble of league, cup and fours came their way during the 1982 National League season, when led by Joe Owen, Rod Hunter and Bobby Beaton. One year later, led by the same three riders they won their third National League title and the Fours title during the 1983 National League season. The Diamonds moved up a division to compete in the British League during 1984 but due to financial issues, the promoters Ian Thomas and Robin Stannard did not enter a team for 1985.

After missing 1985 they were brought back by Stannard and renamed the Newcastle Federation Specials for the 1986 National League season. After just two seasons they were once again disbanded for the 1988 season before returning in 1989.

1990s

David Bargh was re-signed in 1990 and helped the Diamonds finish third in 1991. The 1992 season was overshadowed by the death of Wayne Garratt after crashing at the track.

Following the merger of the divisions in 1995 and 1996, the Diamonds chose not to compete due to the expected increase in operational costs and the Diamonds' riders were put on the transfer list. The team returned when the league split again in 1997. The 1990s was a fractured existence for the club but the Diamonds did finish the decade with three full seasons of speedway.

2000s

Team changes for 2000 saw the signings of Bjarne Pedersen and Andre Compton and together with Jesper Olsen they steered Newcastle to their first league title for 18 years. Winning the 2001 Premier League was the Diamonds fifth league title in total.

A second successive league title in 2002 was denied by Sheffield Tigers on points difference. Czech rider Josef Franc topped the Diamonds averages from 2006 to 2008.

2010s

The 2010 season was a very successful campaign for the Diamonds. Although the Edinburgh Monarchs dominated the League, it was the Diamonds that took most silverware of the season by winning the Premier League play-offs, the Premier Trophy and the Premier League KOC (against Edinburgh Monarchs). The Diamonds also found success when the Dane Kenni Larsen won the Premier League Riders' Championship to add a fourth honour to the club's successful season. In recognition of their achievements the team was awarded the prestigious 'Team of the Year' award by Sports North-East, shortly before the 2011 campaign commenced, ahead of the Championship League winning football side Newcastle United.

Despite winning the season opening Premier Shield, the team struggled in 2011 but bounced back strongly winning the Knockout Cup for the fourth time in 2012. Steve Worrall was the Diamonds leading rider for several seasons until Robert Lambert took over as the number 1 rider in 2016, both experienced success with the Great Britain national speedway team. The Premier League became the Championship in 2017, with the Diamonds finishing 7th.

On 16 September 2018, Newcastle Diamonds legend Stuart Robson announced his retirement from the sport. He first rode for the Diamonds at the age of 16 in 1993. Newcastle Diamonds' celebrated their 90th anniversary season in 2019. After the 2019 season Rob Grant and former Stoke Potters promoter Dave Tattum took ownership of the club.

2020s

After the leagues were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team club came close to closing in 2021 before ultimately committing to the SGB Championship 2021, under Grant's ownership. Going into 2022, speedway clubs in the UK were challenged by the impacts of Brexit and European rider availability. Grant cited a rider shortage and low crowd numbers as reasons for temporarily closing the club in June 2022, with the goal of maintaining the club's financial resources to resume in 2023. Grant also cited his other business ventures, finances, and mental health as reasons to close the club before the completion of the league season. Speedway promoter and BSP Chairman Rob Godfrey stated that "[w]e had been working with the Newcastle promotion in an attempt to get them to the end of the season...but sadly that’s proved not to be the case."

Season summary

Season summary (juniors)

Previous season summaries 2006 to 2022

2006 season

Team

‡ Released.

† Injured.

2007 season

Team

Also Rode:

• ‡

2008 season

Team

Also Rode:

• ‡
• ‡
• ‡
• †

2009 season

2009 team and statistics

Also rode:

• (Released)
• (Released)
• (Released)

80th anniversary series In 2009 to commemorate the Diamonds 80th anniversary a series of 50 cigarette cards were produced by the club. Riders included:

• NZL Ivan Mauger
• DEN Ole Olsen
• DEN Nicki Pedersen
• DEN Bjarne Pedersen
• DEN Kenneth Bjerre
• SWE Anders Michanek
• NOR Dag Lovaas
• ENG Joe Owen
• ENG Tom Owen
• ENG Kenny Carter
• AUS Ken Le Breton
• ENG Frank Hodgson
• ENG Alec Grant
• ENG Derrick Close

** 2010 season**

Season overview: triple champions Performance in national competitions

2010 team and statistics Greensheet averages The following averages take into account league and trophy matches only, excluding playoffs, semi-finals, and finals. These averages are used for team building purposes and riding order.

Note: British riders have 2.5% reduction on their 2010 averages.

Also Rode: ‡ Released., [[File:Cruz Roja.svg|13px]] Injured.

All match averages The following averages take into account all matches including Knockout Cup and Playoffs.

Number of maximums

H/F: Full Home, H/P Paid Home, A/F Full Away, P/A Paid Away. Near Maximum: When the rider only dropped a single point from their rides.

Fastest times The following are the riders fastest times around the Brough Park track.

Note: Kenni Larsen set the current track record as 61.0 on 24/10/10.

2011 season

Season overview

Performance in national competitions

2011 team and statistics

Note: British riders have 2.5% reduction on their 2010 averages.

Also Rode: ‡ Released., [[File:Cruz Roja.svg|13px]] Injured., † Ferjan died on 22 May 2011.

2011 fixtures / results

Note: Top scorer in italics, indicates a full or paid maximum.

Fixtures: TTW: Tyne/Tweed Trophy, CHAL: Challenge, PS: Premier Shield, PL: Premier League

Coloring: Green: Won, Red: Lost, Yellow: Draw, Blue: Lost, but still gained league points (PL matches only)

2018 season

Personnel

• George English, Andrew Dalby & Martin Phillips (club owners)
• George English & Martin Phillips (club promoters)
• Boiler Technical Services (team sponsor)

Performance in national competitions

Team and statistics Averages below are green sheet averages based on BSPA (as at 1 October 2018):

2019 season

The full team was confirmed on 22 December 2018 with only Matthew Wethers retained from the 2018 season. Thomas Jorgensen joined the Diamonds following 2018 with neighbours and rivals Redcar Bears. Danny Phillips was on loan from the Diamonds at Scunthorpe during 2018. Max Clegg travelled south from Edinburgh Monarchs, while Steve Worrall and Simon Lambert were late additions to the team from Workington. Finally, Lasse Bjerre, younger brother of Newcastle legend Kenneth Bjerre who started his British career with the Diamonds in the early 2000s before going on to star in the Speedway Grand Prix series, was on the team.

Personnel

• George English, Andrew Dalby & Martin Phillips (club owners)
• George English & Martin Phillips (club promoters)
• Technical Services (team sponsor)

Team and statistics

• ENG Steve Worrall 7.97*
• DEN Thomas Jorgensen 7.66
• DEN Lasse Bjerre 7.08
• AUS Matthew Wethers 5.78
• ENG Simon Lambert 4.18
• ENG Max Clegg 3.17
• ENG Danny Phillips 2.00

2020 to 2022 seasons

The 2020 SGB Championship season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Newcastle entered a junior team, named the Newcastle Gems to compete in the National Development League National Trophy competition.

2021

Personnel

• Robert Grant Jnr (club owner)

• Robert Grant Jnr & Dave Tattum (club promoters)

• Grant's Event Catering (team sponsor)

• 2021 team

• ENG Ben Barker 7.07

• AUS Matthew Wethers 7.03

• ENG Max Clegg 4.98

• ENG Connor Mountain 4.95

• ENG Adam Roynon 4.00

• ENG James Wright 4.00

• ENG Archie Freeman 1.00

2022 season

• 2022 team
• NZL Bradley Wilson-Dean 8.21
• ENG Paul Starke
• AUS Matthew Wethers
• ENG Max Clegg
• ENG James Wright
• ENG Kyle Bickley
• ENG Lee Complin

Also rode:

• NZL George Congreve

Club honours

Team honours

19 Titles

• Provincial League Champions - 1964
• National League Champions - 1976, 1982, 1983
• Premier League Champions - 2001
• National League Knockout Cup Winners - 1976, 1982
• Premier League Knockout Cup Winners - 2010
• Premier Trophy Winners - 2010
• Premier League Playoff Winners - 2010
• Premier Shield Winners - 2011.
• Supernational Winners - 1982, 1983
• Gold Cup Winners - 1991, 1992
• National League Four-Team Championship Winners - 1976, 1982, 1983
• National League Best Pairs Winners - Tom Owen & Brian Havelock (1975)

Individual honours

• World Champions - Ivan Mauger (1968)
• National League Riders Championship - Joe Owen (1976, 1982)
• Provincial League Riders Championship - Ivan Mauger (1963, 1964)
• Premier League Riders Championship - Kenni Larsen (2010)

Regional honour

• Sport Newcastle Team of the Year - 2010

Riders

Notable riders

Rider of the Year

As nominated by supporters:

• 2006: AUS Christian Henry
• 2007: SCO Sean Stoddart
• 2008: ENG Jason King
• 2009: AUS Mark Lemon
• 2010: DEN Kenni Larsen
• 2011: ENG Stuart Robson

Hall of fame riders/managers

There are currently three inductees in the Diamonds hall of fame:

• NZL Ivan Mauger
• ENG Tom Owen
• DEN Kenni Larsen

References

References

1. (5 March 1929). "Dirt-Track racing for the North". Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
2. "1929 season".
3. "Newcastle Speedway (Gosforth)".
4. (26 September 1930). "Gosforth Speedway closed down". Chester-le-Street Chronicle and District Advertiser.
5. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)".
6. (25 April 1938). "Brough Park opening next week". Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
7. (22 December 1948). "3 Scots Tracks In Speed Div.II".
8. (27 October 1951). "Speedway". Liverpool Echo.
9. "Year by Year".
10. "1964 to 1969".
11. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. {{ISBN. 0-7524-2402-5
12. Presentations, Pictorial. (1980). "Ole Olsen's Speedway scrapbook". Souvenir Press Ltd.
13. (6 January 1971). "try division two says Hoskins". Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
14. (28 November 1974). "Ian Thomas buys out Sunderland". Hull Daily Mail.
15. "1975 season results".
16. Rogers, Martin. (1978). "The Illustrated History of Speedway". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
17. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)".
18. (13 October 1984). "Thomas plea for sponsor". Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
19. (29 September 1992). "Garratt dies". Liverpool Daily Post (Welsh Edition).
20. (26 January 1995). "New bid to save racing team". Newcastle Journal.
21. (27 February 1997). "Sports short". Heartland Evening News.
22. "Grant in Diamonds Takeover - British Speedway Archive Website".
23. (2022-06-21). "Newcastle Speedway Diamonds closes down for financial reasons".
24. James, Stuart. (2022-06-22). "Newcastle Diamonds speedway closes down for financial reasons".
25. "GRANT CONFIRMS NEWCASTLE CLOSURE - Speedway Star : Weekly Speedway Magazine and Xtra".
26. (3 March 2017). "MATEJ FERJAN - British Speedway Official Website".
27. (12 April 2011). "Double fracture horror for starlet Rene Bach".
28. "Archived copy".
29. (14 April 2011). "Injured Kyle Newman out of big final".
30. "Archived copy".
31. "Archived copy".
32. Bamford, R.(2004). ''Speedway Yearbook 2004''. {{ISBN. 0-7524-2955-8
33. (November 2010). "Diamonds complete a magnificent trophy treble".