| Coventry Bees | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Club information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Track address | Brandon Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country | England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1928 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||
| Club facts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Colours | Yellow and Black | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track size | 301 metres (329 yd) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track record time | 57.6 seconds | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track record holder | Chris Harris | ||||||||||||||||||
| Major team honours | |||||||||||||||||||
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Coventry Bees are amotorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced atBrandon Stadium,Brandon nearCoventry, England.[1] They are eight times champions of Britain.
The first speedway in Coventry arrived during the inaugural year of UK speedway on 21 July 1928, at theLythalls Lane Stadium.[2] The racing was organised by Midlands Speedways (a Manchester company) with a series of open and challenge events. In September 1928, rival venueBrandon Stadium began to host events. The first match to feature a Coventry team was an away fixture to Liverpool on 24 October 1928.[3]
The first league speedway saw Coventry (based at Brandon Stadium) compete in the1929 Speedway Southern League, which was the inaugural season of theSouthern League. The team featuring some of the most famous names the era, includingJack Parker andTom Farndon finished third behindStamford Bridge Pensioners.[4]
After the1930 season, the team disbanded following financial difficulties experienced by the owners Motordromes Ltd.[5] They did however return mid-way through the 1931 season to replaceLeicester Stadium, who were liquidated in late May.[6]
Coventry were founder members of theNational League from 1932 to 1933. The team were all set to return to action in 1934,[7] but the Brandon proprietor C. W. East suddenly put the stadium up for sale.[8] Despite challenges matches taking place during 1934 and 1936, league speedway would not return to Coventry for 15 years.
Coventry was devastated during thewar and it was not until 1948 that speedway returned under Coventry Stadium Ltd.[9] Jack Parker became the technical adviser and a team entered the1948 Speedway National League Division Three.[10] The club also became known asThe Bees and Charles Ochiltree became the team manager.[11][12] In 1949 the Bees competed in the second division.[13]
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After two solid seasons in 1950 and 1951, the team won their first of elevenMidland Cups in 1952.[14] The Bees then won the1953 Speedway National League Division Two league title, with the team including ridersCharlie New andStan Williams.[15] The Bees continued to compete in the second division, finishing runner-up in 1955 before they took their place in division 1 in 1957.Per Olof Söderman,Ron Mountford andJim Lightfoot emerged as leading riders for the club,[16] andNigel Boocock was signed from Ipswich.[17]
After a second Midland Cup win in 1960,[18] the Bees experienced limited success, even after joining the new revampedBritish League in 1965. However, finally in 1967 the team won theBritish League Knockout Cup 1967 and finished runner-up toSwindon Robins in the league. The following season for the1968 British League, the Bees signed Czech riderAntonín Kasper Sr. to support Nigel Boocock and Ron Mountford and the consistency of other riders such asCol Cottrell,Les Owen andRick France resulted in the Bees becoming UK champions for first time.[19]
Despite winning a third consecutive Midland Cup in 1971[20] the Bees experienced several poor seasons. In an attempt to bring back success they signed the world championOle Olsen in 1976 and the Bees results began to improve. The team won back to back league titles in1978 and1979.[21] Olsen was imperious, withMitch Shirra andAlan Molyneux adding vital support, as did two DanesAlf Busk and 17 year-oldTommy Knudsen.
The 1980s saw smaller successes, with League Cup wins in 1981 and 1985 and Midland Cup wins in 1981 and 1982 but the Bees fell short when it came to challenging for the league title.
Tommy Knudsen became the number 1 rider and the club signedKelvin Tatum,Rick Miller andJohn Jørgensen in an attempt to compete withOxford Cheetahs andCradley Heath Heathens. The consistency of the four riders helped the Bees claim back to back league titles (1987 &1988) for a second time in the club's history.[22]
Charles Ochiltree continued to promote the speedway as he had done way back in the 1950s under Allan Sanderson's company Midland Sports Stadiums. Ochiltree was now managing director of the company.[23]
The club's fortunes somewhat declined during the 1990s, with the Bees achieving a best place finish of 3rd during the1998 Elite League speedway season. They did however claim aCraven Shield win in 1997. Many riders came in and out of the team with the pick of them beingHans Nielsen,Brian Andersen,Greg Hancock andBilly Hamill.
The American pairing of Hancock and Hamill led Coventry into the new millennium and the Bee's results were solid, twice finishing 3rd in 2001 and 2002 before finishing runner-up behindPoole Pirates in 2003. After a terrible 2004 campaign changes were made withScott Nicholls coming in to support number 1Andreas Jonsson. The pair were well supported by other new signingsJoonas Kylmäkorpi andSebastian Ułamek, which resulted in the Bees becoming the2005 champions.
On 28 October 2007, the Bees lifted theElite League Knockout Cup for the second year running, defeating theSwindon Robins in the final, completing a clean sweep of all three major trophies, having already annexed theCraven Shield by beating Swindon Robins and thePoole Pirates over the three leg final and winning the league title. Scott Nicholls remained with the team from 2005 and was well supported byChris Harris.[24]
In 2010, the Bees won theElite League Championship, defeating thePoole Pirates in both legs of the play-off grand finals.[25] The 2010 triumph was the eighth and last time that Coventry would be crowned champions of Britain.
The 2011 season brought continual problems starting on 24 November 2010, when changes to the rules for rider averages made at the AGM of theBSPA saw the Bees andPeterborough Panthers walk out of the meeting,[26] resulting in the BSPA omitting both teams from the 2011 season for failing to declare their intent to compete.[27][28] However, four months later on 8 April 2011, the BSPA reverted the decision.[29] Later, captainEdward Kennett was banned for six months, after it was deemed his silencer was 'illegal,[30] with Kennett blaming a fellow team member.[31][32] Then on 21 September, the Bees were put up for sale by owner Avtar Sandhu.[33] Businessman Mick Horton andColin Pratt took over the team.[34]
Five more seasons of Elite League racing ensued including a play off final in2014 before the racing ceased due to the closure of Brandon Stadium.
On 26 February 2017 it was announced by the BSPA that the club has had its licence frozen because they were unable to satisfy the BSPA that they could fulfil a full season of league racing. This was primarily due to having an agreement withLeicester Lions to only use their stadium for a handful of fixtures and not having any guarantees of being able to return to Brandon Stadium for the remaining fixtures.[35][36]
The Bees were reformed to compete in the junior2018 National League speedway season, with home meetings being staged at Leicester.[37] but once again became homeless in 2019 as the Leicester promotion decided to run their own National League junior team. Brandon Stadium today lies derelict with several planning applications having been made for redevelopment. Many club enthusiasts, supported by the local council, have campaigned for the return of speedway and stock car racing to the stadium.[38]
In early 2022, an organisation advocating the return of motorsport to the site, Save Coventry Speedway, proposed to the council that speedway be restored to the stadium, along with a museum and restaurant.[39] In January 2024, Brandon Estates appeal for planning application to redevelop the site was dismissed by the Inspector.[40]
Brian AndersenHans Andersen
Nigel BoocockAlf Busk
Dicky CaseCol CottrellSimon CrossTom FarndonRick FranceGary Guglielmi
Billy HamillGreg HancockChris Harris
Andreas JonssonJohn Jørgensen
Antonín Kasper Sr.
Krzysztof KasprzakTommy KnudsenJim Lightfoot
Ken McKinlayGarry MiddletonRick MillerAlan MolyneuxRon MountfordNick NichollsScott NichollsHans NielsenOlle NygrenOle OlsenLes OwenJack ParkerLee RichardsonRory Schlein
Mitch ShirraAndy SmithPer Olof SödermanJiří ŠtanclKelvin TatumJack YoungExtended content | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Coventry Storm made their competitive debut in the2013 National League season.[43] The Bees had previously run a team in the third tier of British speedway in 2004, under the name Coventry Cougars. The initial team line-up wasJoe Jacobs,James Sarjeant, Oliver Greenwood, Brendan Johnson, Richard Franklin, Trevor Heath, and Martin Knuckey, but a broken wrist for Greenwood sawRobert Branford replace him, with Tommy Fenwick also replacing Heath.[44]
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