Newcastle Diamonds
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Newcastle Diamonds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Club information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track address | Newcastle Stadium Fossway Byker Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 2XJ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Founded | 1929 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team manager | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team captain | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
League | SGB Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | newcastle-speedway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Colours | Black & White | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track size | 300 metres (330 yd) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track record time | 61.0 seconds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track record date | 24 October 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track record holder | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Major team honours | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Newcastle Diamonds were a motorcycle speedway team that raced in the SGB Championship, every Sunday night during the season (March–October) from their home at the Newcastle Stadium on the Fossway, Byker. The Stadium, previously known as Brough Park, is primarily used for greyhound racing with the speedway track built in the centre.
Facilities
The stadium has a large grandstand located on the home straight and a fully licensed bar which is located on the first floor of the grandstand providing unrestricted views of the stadium.
History
Early history
The club were inaugural members of the 1929 Speedway English Dirt Track League finishing in fourth place and then raced a single season of Northern League in 1930. The club did not race league speedway again until 1938 when they joined the National League.[1] In 1946 the team raced as Newcastle Brough and in 1949 as Newcastle Magpies. from 1952 to 1960 the team did not race in the league.[2]
1960–1990
Newcastle returned in 1961 competing in the Provincial League and later won their first major trophy, winning the 1964 Provincial Speedway League, led by Ivan Mauger who would go on to become six times World Champion. In 1967, Ole Olsen made his British debut for Newcastle and would later be a three times World Champion.[3] After competing in the British League from 1965 to 1970 the team missed four seasons (1971–1974) before returning in 1975. The following season they won the double of National League title and Knockout Cup.[4] Another double of league and cup came their way during the 1982 National League season and one year later they won their third National League title. After missing 1985 they were renamed the Newcastle Federation Specials for the 1986 season.
National League Champions 1976
- 1976 National League Team
- Tom Owen
- Ron Henderson (speedway)
- Joe Owen
- Andy Cusworth
- Brian Havelock
- Phil Michelides
- Rob Blackadder
1991-2009
In 1992, rider Wayne Garratt died in hospital after crashing at the track, the fourth person to do so since 1946, including Chris Prime in 1978. Newcastle won their fifth league title during the 2001 Premier League speedway season.
2010-2022
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 (Against Sheffield Tigers), the Premier Trophy (against Birmingham Brummies) and the Premier League KOC (against Edinburgh Monarchs). The Diamonds also found success in the Super7even events, when the Dane Kenni Larsen won the Premier League Riders Championship to add a fourth honour to the club's successful season. Fellow Dane Rene Bach encountered further success away from the club by helping Denmark to win the under 21 world cup with a 15-point maximum, and by winning the Danish Under 21s Championship. 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.[5] Robert Lambert, who rode for the Diamonds during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, was crowned both British Under 21 and European Under 19 Champion in 2017. He, alongside Steve Worrall (who rode for the Diamonds in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017) represented Great Britain in the World Team Cup during the 2017 season. GB won event one at King's Lynn where both Lambert and Worrall scored 13 points each, helping the team to qualify for the World Team Cup Final in Leszno, Poland.
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.[6]
Going into 2022, speedway clubs in the UK were challenged by the impacts of Brexit and European rider availability.[7] The club had already come close to closing in 2021 before ultimately committing to a second league season under Grant's ownership.[8] 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.[8] 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."[9]
2006 season
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Team
‡ Released. |
2007 season
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Team
Also Rode: |
2008 season
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Team
Also Rode:
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2009 season
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2009 team and statistics
Also rode: 80th anniversary series In 2009 to commemorate the Diamonds 80th anniversary a series of 50 cigarette cards were produced by the club. Riders included:
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2010 season
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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. 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
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Season overview Performance in national competitions
2011 team and statistics
Note: British riders have 2.5% reduction on their 2010 averages. 2011 fixtures / results
Note: Top scorer in italics, indicates a full or paid maximum. |
2018 season
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Personnel
Performance in national competitions
Team and statistics Averages below are green sheet averages based on BSPA (as at 1 October 2018):
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2019 season
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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
Team and statistics Averages below are based on BSPA (as at March 2019):
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2020 season
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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 season
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Personnel
Team and statistics Averages below are based on BSPA (as at July 2021):
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Season summary
Season summary (juniors)
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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[19]
- 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, awarded ahead of the Championship League winning football side Newcastle United.[5]
Notable Newcastle riders
Highest averaged rider
- 1997:
Paul Bentley 8.81
- 1998:
Nicki Pedersen 9.97
- 1999:
Jesper Olsen 9.68
- 2000:
Bjarne Pedersen 9.70
- 2001:
Bjarne Pedersen 10.16
- 2002:
Kenneth Bjerre 8.61
- 2003:
Bjarne Pedersen 10.17
- 2004:
Jason Lyons 10.13
- 2005:
James Grieves 8.78
- 2006:
Josef Franc 8.34
- 2007:
Josef Franc 8.42
- 2008:
Josef Franc 7.89
- 2009:
Mark Lemon 9.17
- 2010:
Kenni Larsen 10.00
- 2011:
Stuart Robson 9.43
Rider of the Year
As nominated by supporters:
- 2011:
Stuart Robson
- 2010:
Kenni Larsen
- 2009:
Mark Lemon
- 2008:
Jason King
- 2007:
Sean Stoddart
- 2006:
Christian Henry
Hall of fame riders/managers
There are currently three inductees in the Diamonds hall of fame:[20]
Ivan Mauger
Tom Owen
Kenni Larsen
References
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ a b http://www.worldspeedway.com/artman/publish/article_14972.shtml
- ^ "GRANT IN DIAMONDS TAKEOVER - British Speedway Archive Website". www.speedwaygb.net. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ James, Stuart (22 June 2022). "Newcastle Diamonds speedway closes down for financial reasons". PlymouthLive. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Newcastle Speedway Diamonds closes down for financial reasons". ITV News. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "GRANT CONFIRMS NEWCASTLE CLOSURE - Speedway Star : Weekly Speedway Magazine and Xtra". www.speedwaystar.net. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ^ "MATEJ FERJAN - British Speedway Official Website". 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Double fracture horror for starlet Rene Bach". 12 April 2011.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Injured Kyle Newman out of big final". 14 April 2011.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Newcastlediamonds.co".
- ^ a b "Newcastlediamonds.co".
- ^ "Newcastlediamonds.co".
- ^ Bamford, R.(2004). Speedway Yearbook 2004. ISBN 0-7524-2955-8
- ^ "Diamonds complete a magnificent trophy treble". November 2010.