For 30 years, the roar of speedway bikes has been part of life at Smallbrook Stadium – producing trophy-winning Isle of Wight teams, memorable Tuesday nights and providing the British starting point for 2 riders who would go on to become World Champions.
Speedway arrived at Smallbrook in 1996, when the Wight Wizards competed in the newly formed Conference League.
Just a year later, the Isle of Wight Islanders stepped up to the Premier League – then the second tier of British speedway – beginning an era which would establish Smallbrook as a nationally recognised speedway venue.
The Islanders remained at Premier League level until 2008, regularly welcoming some of Britain’s best-known clubs and riders to Ryde.
Success first arrived in 1998 when the Islanders won the Young Shield, but it was the early 2000s which would become one of the team’s golden periods. The Islanders finished 4th in the Premier League in 2001 before winning the Young Shield for a 2nd time, defeating Edinburgh in the final.
A year later, Australian star Adam Shields became Premier League Riders’ Champion, while Shields and Danny Bird combined to win the Premier League Pairs Championship.
The success continued in 2003 when the Islanders finished 3rd in the league and lifted the Premier League Knockout Cup after defeating Sheffield in the final.
It was an era which featured riders still fondly remembered by supporters including Shields, Bird, Davey Watt, Ray ‘Ripper’ Morton, Glen Phillips and Sebastien Trésarrieu.
Tuesday nights at Smallbrook
For many supporters, however, the memories of the Islanders’ heyday extend far beyond results and trophies.
For much of the past 30 years, the roar of speedway bikes between March and October has formed part of the soundtrack of a Tuesday night in Ryde, with generations of residents becoming accustomed to hearing the racing from Smallbrook.
For those inside the stadium, the soundtrack was just as distinctive – from the familiar starting jingle before the tapes went up to the music played between races, all adding to the atmosphere of a night at the speedway.
For the biggest meetings, the grandstand and grass banking would fill with supporters while cars packed the stadium’s car parks. Occasionally, meetings would be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Long-serving announcer and press officer Bryn Williams became one of the voices associated with Smallbrook, while start marshal Les Hughes was affectionately known to supporters as ‘Five Laps Les’ after a never-to-be-forgotten mistake one night.
Track photographer David Valentine was another familiar figure, capturing the action and selling photographs and speedway memorabilia from the clubhouse.
Throughout much of that history, Isle of Wight ferry operator Wightlink has been a constant presence, providing long-running sponsorship which has seen its name carried by both the Wightlink Islanders and, more recently, the Wightlink Warriors.
From Smallbrook to the World stage
Perhaps the most remarkable legacy of the Premier League years is the calibre of rider who passed through Smallbrook.
Davey Watt began his British league career with the Islanders in 2001 before becoming an established top-flight rider and Australian international, while Adam Shields also progressed to a lengthy Elite League career.
Former World Championship bronze medallist and Australian Champion Craig Boyce later became an Islander, while Jason Bunyan, Glen Phillips, Nick Simmons, Danny Bird, Ray Morton and Krzysztof Stojanowski were among those to build lengthy associations with the club.
But 2 young Australians would go further still…
Jason Doyle made his British league debut with the Isle of Wight in 2005. He would eventually reach the pinnacle of the sport, becoming Speedway Grand Prix World Champion in 2017.
Chris Holder followed him to Smallbrook in 2006. Holder rapidly developed into one of the Premier League’s leading riders and played a starring role in another of the Islanders’ greatest seasons in 2007.
Holder and Bunyan won the Premier League Pairs Championship before the Islanders added the Premier League Fours title, with Holder, Bunyan, Phillips, Cory Gathercole and Stojanowski forming the victorious squad.
Holder later moved into the Elite League and, just 5 years after his final season as an Islander, became Speedway Grand Prix World Champion in 2012.
It means 2 future individual World Champions began their British league careers racing for the Isle of Wight.
Islanders to Warriors
The Islanders’ 12-season spell in the Premier League ended after 2008, with the club subsequently competing at a lower level.
There was further success, including the National Trophy in 2013, but financial difficulties eventually brought the Islanders era to an end and the Isle of Wight was left without league speedway.
Barry Bishop and Martin Widman led efforts to resurrect the sport, with plans unveiled in 2015 to return to the National League the following year – and ultimately reach the Premier League by 2018.
The Wightlink Warriors duly brought league speedway back to Smallbrook in 2016, but the ambition of returning the Isle of Wight to the level occupied during its heyday was never realised.
Following the COVID-hit 2020 season, the Warriors later moved away from the conventional British league structure and developed a different programme of racing under NORA. That reinvention has helped keep bikes on the Smallbrook shale, alongside opportunities for younger riders to develop.
Now, 30 years after the Wight Wizards first took to the track, another chapter is beginning.
A new Board of Directors has taken charge at Smallbrook with ambitions to regenerate the stadium and develop it as a year-round community venue, as previously reported by Island Echo.
The world of speedway has changed considerably since those packed Premier League nights, but Smallbrook’s place in Isle of Wight sporting history is firmly established – not least as the Island track where 2 future World Champions began their journey to the top.
