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The Beginning |
| Cycle
speedway racing is reputed to have been born on
the "bomb sites" of London, after the Second
World War. Leicester, fortunately was not high
on the list of targets for the Luftwaffe but
nevertheless waste ground was readily available
and tracks sprang up in locations all around the
city and in surrounding areas. |
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The 1940's |
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The 1950's |
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It is believed that there
were thirty two teams operating in the
late 1940's. Many of the tracks were
built on sites without the owners
permission and the clubs were concerned
at the insecurity of their locations, so
the Leicester Cycle Speedway Association
decided to approach Leicester City
Council for a permanent site to develop.
Members of several clubs joined together
and the Slater Street site came into
being in 1950. Aylestone "Aces" and
Belgrave "Red Devils" were early users
of the track, but when Coalville "Stars"
closed down, several riders transferred
and Leicester "All Stars" was formed. |
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Through
the 1950's there was the inevitable
decline in the number of clubs
operating, and the rebuilding of
industry after the war deprived the
clubs of their track locations.
Conversely, Blackbird "Monarchs" were
successful and ambitious and moved to
take over the Slater Street track. Top
riders from the area were recruited and
the club set its sights on national
competition. The facilities at the track
were improved and a challenge match was
arranged against a top London club to
impress the authorities that the club
was ready for entry into the top flight.
Hence in 1962, Leicester "Monarchs" as
the club was now known, became members
of the British Cycle Speedway
Federation. There was at that time a
parallel organisation, the National
Amateur Cycle Speedway Association with
their two separate leagues and separate
individual championships. |
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The 1960's |
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The 1970's |
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Leicester side of the 1960's was very
strong and dominated the B.C.S.F
competitions, winning the English League
Gold Cup in 1964 and 1965, and the
English League Championship in 1965 and
1966. The English League Riders
Individual Championship was won by Harry
Glover in 1964 and by Grant Warwick in
1967 with Grant twice, Harry, Ken Adams
and Wilson Burns gaining rostrum places
over the five years 1964-8. The eventual
unification of the administrative
organisation followed, but the British
Team Championship, the Holy Grail of
cycle speedway, eluded this team whose
only final appearance at that period was
a losing one to Offerton by 53 points to
43 in 1969. The following year saw the
first Leicester rider to gain a rostrum
place in the unified National individual
championships when Phil Swain was
runner-up in the Junior (under 18)
event. |
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As we
move to the 1970's the track has been
rebuilt at 90 degrees to its original
position to accommodate the new St
Margaret's Way The team competing in the
English League, which is divided into
East and West divisions and in 1972 we
reach the play off but lose out. We
transfer to the Northern Premier League
in 1973, to cut down on travel, and
remain in the League until 1977. It's
back to the English League in 1978 and
we reach the Gold Cup Final only to lose
to Wednesfield. The following year
Slater Street gains recognition as a top
track when we staged our first National
Individual championship final. |
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The 1980's |
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The 1990's |
| The
1980's dawned with the club very well
served numerically with three teams
racing every week but with only average
success. There was a migration away from
the sport through the later 80's, but
there were signs that things could be
due to change. The departure of Dave
Skinner to Australia was a major blow,
but the return of Chris Harrison to join
Mick Skinner and Neil Mason, plus the
emerging talents from the juniors,
suggested a healthier future. David
Hemsley became British Junior Champion
in 1987 at Poole and then Indoor Junior
Champion later in the year. Geoff
Burrell took the Indoor Junior title the
following year. Hemsley took the Indoor
Youth title in 1988 and 1989, along with
the Indoor Senior title in 1988, 1989
and 1991. The team won the Indoor Team
Championship in 1989, to bring the club
to the threshold of the 1990's which
were to be the most successful in the
Club's history. |
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The loss to the sport of
the Whitley Club at Coventry proved a
very profitable day for the Leicester
outfit as Norman Venson, one of the
sport's most respected and able riders,
made the trip up the M69 to join the
"Monarchs" This completed a strong top
six in the team, and soon we were
challenging for major honours again. We
were runners up in the British Team
Championship final in 1993 losing to
Poole in the Thurrock mud. But it all
came right the following year when we
became champions with a narrow win over
Ipswich in a good final at Sandwell. The
title was ours again in 1996 with a
comprehensive victory over Wednesfield
at Thurrock. Two more runner-up places
were gained in 1997 and 1999. We were
almost permanent champions of the
British League (Midlands) through the
1990's until 1999 when Stoke pushed us
into second place. We won the midland
Gold Cup in 1994 and 1995, the English
League in 1997 and the newly formed
Premier League in 1998. Again Stoke
edged us into second place in 1999. |
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Individual Honours |
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The Future.... |
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addition to team successes in the 1990's
we also enjoyed outstanding individual
honours. David Hemsley won the World
Masters in 1991 and was runner up in
Australia in 1993 and Norman Venson was
runner up at Leicester in 1996. David
Hemsley was also the British Individual
champion in 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1998,
runner up in 1993 and third in 1997.
Norman Venson was third in 1999
repeating his 1987 position. Mick
Skinner won the British Veteran title in
1988. Appearances in the British Final
were once rarities but have recently
become frequent with the club
represented in each of the last twelve
finals the high point being in 1994 when
we had no fewer than four finalists. |
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Towards
the end of the 1990's there was a
falling away of numbers but this trend
has been reversed and since the year
2000 new faces have been seen both on the
track and in support. The future for the
club looks healthy. |
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