Isle of Wight Warriors (formerly Islanders)
Club information
Track addressSmallbrook Stadium
Ashey Road
Ryde
Isle of Wight PO33 4BH
CountryEngland
Founded1996, 2016 (re-founded)
Club facts
ColoursBlue and Yellow
Track size385 metres (421 yd)
Track record time66.1 secs
Track record date13 April 2017
Track record holderStefan Nielsen
Major team honours
Premier League Knockout Cup2003
Premier League Pairs2002, 2007
Premier League Fours2007
Young Shield1998, 2001
National Trophy2013

The Isle of Wight Warriors (formerly Isle of Wight Islanders) are a motorcycle speedway team from England. They last competed in the 2019 National Development League and ride their home meetings at the Smallbrook Stadium.[1] As of 2023, the team currently race various challenge matches outside of the league system.[2]

History

Isle of Wight speedway began in 1996, at the Smallbrook Stadium, when the team signed up as a founder member of the newly formed Conference League.[3] The league was for teams outside of the Premier League at the time and during their inaugural season the Ryde Wight Wizards finished in fourth place in the 1996 Speedway Conference League table.[4]

The following season in 1997, the team entered the Conference League again, which was now the third tier of British speedway because a new Elite League had been formed as the top tier, with the Premier League becoming the second tier.[5] However, in July the Premier League team Skegness Braves folded due to financial difficulties and the Smallbrook Stadium promotion stepped in to host the remainder of the fixtures. The team would be known as the Isle of Wight Islanders.[6]

The team won their first silverware in 1998 after winning the Young Shield, an end of season event for the leading eight clubs in the league table. They defeated the league champions Peterborough Panthers in the final.[7] After several mediocre seasons they won the Young Shield again during the 2001 Premier League speedway season.

In 2002, Adam Shields and Danny Bird won the Premier League Pairs Championship, held at Derwent Park on 19 July[8][9] and the following season in 2003, the club won their best honour to date, when winning the Premier League Knockout Cup.

During the 2007 Premier League speedway season, the team reached the play offs and won both the Pairs (Chris Holder and Jason Bunyan beat Glasgow in the final)[10] and Fours Championships (Holder, Bunyan, Krzysztof Stojanowski, Glen Phillips and Cory Gathercole).[11]

In 2009, they joined the third division (the National League) and in 2013 won the National Trophy (a supplementary tournament, during the 2013 National League speedway season).[12]

After a break of two years (2014 and 2015), the club reformed in 2016 under the promotion of Barry Bishop and Martin Widman. For the 2018 National League speedway season the team were renamed the Isle of Wight Warriors and ran until the cancelled 2020 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic .

In 2021, the club announced they would not be competing during the 2021 season[13] but would race as the Wightlink Warriors Shale Track Racing Club, separate from the British speedway leagues.[14]

Notable riders

Season summary

References

  1. ↑ Bamford, R & Jarvis, J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
  2. ↑ "2023 fixtures". Warriors Speedway. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  3. ↑ "More variety for the Tigers". Cambridge Daily News. 15 March 1996. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "Is this the end for the Braves?". Boston Target. 25 June 1997. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "1998 season fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "2002 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "2002 Premier League Pairs at Workington". YouTube. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "ISLANDERS TAKE PAIRS TITLE". Sheffield Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "2007 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  12. ↑ Oakes, P (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0.
  13. ↑ "Warriors withdraw from National League". Warriors Speedway. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "New speedway club owners say sport on Island is 'All Wight'". Isle of Wight County Press. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
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