Newcastle Diamonds were a motorcycle speedway team that raced in the British speedway leagues from 1929 to 2022. They were based at Newcastle Stadium on the Fossway, Byker. The Stadium was previously known as Brough Park.
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
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.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. 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
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
Year and leaguePositionNotes 1929 Speedway English Dirt Track League 4th 1930 Speedway Northern League 9th 1938 Speedway National League Division Two 6th 1939 Speedway National League Division Two 1st+ +when league was suspended 1946 Speedway Northern League 5th 1947 Speedway National League Division Two 5th 1948 Speedway National League Division Two 7th 1949 Speedway National League Division Two 10th 1950 Speedway National League Division Two 13th 1951 Speedway National League Division Two 16th 1961 Provincial Speedway League 11th 1962 Provincial Speedway League 9th 1963 Provincial Speedway League 6th 1964 Provincial Speedway League 1st champions 1965 British League season 12th 1966 British League season 5th 1967 British League season 10th 1968 British League season 5th 1969 British League season 13th 1970 British League season 17th 1975 New National League season 2nd pairs 1976 National League season 1st champions & Knockout Cup winners 1977 National League season 6th 1978 National League season 2nd 1979 National League season 6th 1980 National League season 2nd 1981 National League season 3rd 1982 National League season 1st champions & Knockout Cup winners 1983 National League season 1st champions 1984 British League season 16th 1986 National League season 19th 1987 National League season 11th 1989 National League season 15th 1990 National League season 12th 1991 British League Division Two season 3rd 1992 British League Division Two season 4th 1993 British League Division Two season 6th 1994 British League Division Two season 7th 1997 Premier League speedway season 4th 1998 Premier League speedway season 10th 1999 Premier League speedway season 5th 2000 Premier League speedway season 8th 2001 Premier League speedway season 1st champions 2002 Premier League speedway season 2nd 2003 Premier League speedway season 11th 2004 Premier League speedway season 15th 2005 Premier League speedway season 8th 2006 Premier League speedway season 9th 2007 Premier League speedway season 10th 2008 Premier League speedway season 14th 2009 Premier League speedway season 3rd 2010 Premier League speedway season 2nd PO Champions & Knockout Cup 2011 Premier League speedway season 12th 2012 Premier League speedway season 1st PO elimination & Knockout Cup 2013 Premier League speedway season 3rd 2014 Premier League speedway season 8th 2015 Premier League speedway season 9th 2016 Premier League speedway season 3rd SGB Championship 2017 7th SGB Championship 2018 8th SGB Championship 2019 10th SGB Championship 2021 11th SGB Championship 2022 N/Awithdrew, results expunged
Season summary (juniors)
Year and leaguePositionNotes 2002 Speedway Conference League 8th Gems 2003 Speedway Conference League 7th Gems 2004 Speedway Conference League 11th Gems 2021 National Development League speedway season N/A withdrew, results expunged
Previous season summaries 2006 to 2022
2006 season
Team
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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:
2010 season
Season overview: triple champions Performance in national competitions