The Plymouth Gladiators are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. The team competed during various seasons from 1932 to 1969, before re-forming after a gap of thirty-six years in 2006. 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.
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. The general manager of the stadium Freddie Hore signed Australian Bert Spencer as the first star to ride at Plymouth.
As the Plymouth Tigers the team were founder members of the first National League, competing in the 1932 Speedway National League. The team included seven Australian riders, including Spencer, Eric Collins, Frank Pearce and Clem Mitchell. The team performed woefully, only managing to win two league matches, but improved in 1933 and 1934.
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 competing in the league.
The team returned in 1936 under the promotion of Jack Colebatch, to compete in the Provincial League, and changed their name to Plymouth Panthers. 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, 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).
Pete Lansdale was signed as the club's number 1 rider in 1948, 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.
After another season in the Southern League (1953) they withdrew from the 1954 Speedway National League Division Two in July, due to financial losses.
1960s 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. After the 1962 season it would be another six year without speedway in Plymouth.
Speedway resurfaced again for two seasons (1968 and 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
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). 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.
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.
2010s
In 2010, Nicki Glanz and Mark Simmonds won the National League Pairs Championship, held at Hayley Stadium, on 7 August.
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.
During their final season in the second tier the Devils won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, held on 23 and 24 July 2016, at the East of England Arena. The team consisted of the Australian brothers Brady Kurtz and Todd Kurtz in addition to Jack Holder and Kyle Newman. The team dropped back down to division 3 for 2017.
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.
Season summary (1st team)
Year and leaguePositionNotes 1932 Speedway National League 9th Tigers 1933 Speedway National League 9th Tigers 1934 Speedway National League 8th Tigers 1936 Provincial Speedway League 5th Panthers 1947 Speedway National League Division Three 8th Devils 1948 Speedway National League Division Three 7th Devils 1949 Speedway National League Division Three 5th Devils 1950 Speedway National League Division Two 9th Devils 1951 Speedway National League Division Three 6th Devils 1952 Speedway Southern League 3rd Devils, National Trophy (div 3) winners 1953 Speedway Southern League 8th Devils 1954 Speedway National League Division Two N/A Devils, withdrew 1961 Provincial Speedway League 2nd Bulldogs 1962 Provincial Speedway League 6th Devils 1968 British League Division Two season 4th Devils 1969 British League Division Two season 15th Devils 2006 Speedway Conference League 1st Devils, play off final 2007 Speedway Conference League 3rdDevils 2008 Speedway Conference League 1st Devils, play off semi final & Knockout Cup winners 2009 National League speedway season 3rdDevils, play off final, national trophy 2010 National League speedway season 6th Devils, pairs 2011 Premier League speedway season 13th Devils 2012 Premier League speedway season 13th Devils 2013 Premier League speedway season 11th Devils 2014 Premier League speedway season 9th Devils 2014 National League speedway season 7th Demons (juniors) 2015 Premier League speedway season 6th Devils 2016 Premier League speedway season 12th Devils, fours 2017 National League speedway season 8th Devils 2018 National League speedway season 7th Devils 2019 National Development League speedway season 8th Gladiators SGB Championship 2021 10th Gladiators SGB Championship 2022 4th Play off QF, Gladiators 2022 National Development League speedway season 7th Centurions (juniors) SGB Championship 2023 9th Gladiators SGB Championship 2024 8th Gladiators SGB Championship 2025 8th Gladiators
Season summary (juniors)
Year and leaguePositionNotes 2025 National Trophy tbc Centurions
Notable riders
Riders previous seasons
2007 team
2008 team
2009 team
2010 team
Also rode
2013 team
Also rode
2014 team
Also rode
2015 team
Also rode
2016 team
Also rode
2018 team
Ellis Perks Henry Atkins Tim Webster Richard Andrews Ryan Terry-Daley Kelsey Dugard Macauley Leek
Also rode Adam Sheppard Adam Roynon James Cockle Bradley Andrews
2019 team Ben Wilson Nathan Stoneman Richard Andrews Adam Sheppard Tom Young Jamie Bursill Kris Andrews
2021 team
Also Rode
2022 team
(C)
Also Rode
References