Berwick Bandits

The Berwick Bandits are a British speedway club, based in Berwick-upon-Tweed. They currently compete in the SGB Championship, racing at Shielfield Park, with home matches usually taking place on Saturday evenings. They used to run a second team in the National Development League, known as the Berwick Bullets. History 1960s The start of speedway in Berwick began in late 1967, when speedway promoter Danny Taylor left the Glasgow Tigers after one season due to travel problems from Glasgow to his chicken farm business in Jedburgh. He announced that he was in negotiation with Berwick Rangers to use Shielfield Park. Berwick's debut season coincided with the inaugural British League Division Two season in 1968. Berwick's first home fixture was a challenge match against Newcastle Colts on 18 May 1968. The team struggled during their first two seasons finishing last in 1968 and 14th in 1969. 1970s Berwick competed in all nine seasons of the British League division 2 or the National League as it was called from 1975. The team only achieved mediocrity but the fans saw several number 1 riders including Doug Wyer, Graham Jones and Steve McDermott. The team did manage a fourth place finish and a Knockout Cup final appearance in 1979. 1980s The team finally won their first silverware during the 1980 National League season after winning the Division 2 Knockout Cup. Strong performances from McDermott and Wayne Brown also saw the team finish fourth; Brown was also the national league riders champion in 1980. The success achieved in 1980 was remarkable because the team raced knowing that they had been given notice to leave the stadium in September. the team raced their final fixtures at Brough Park including the second leg of the Knockout Cup. The football team unsuccessfully attempted to buy the speedway team during October 1980. In 1981, the Bandits remained homeless and carried on riding home fixtures at Barrow, Workington and Glasgow before being forced to quit NL racing after a protest from Edinburgh boss Mike Parker. The Bandits were, however, allowed to defend their KO Cup, reaching the final against Edinburgh, which the Monarchs won. Work began in January 1982 on a new stadium at the Berrington Lough Stadium near Ancroft, Northumberland The first meeting was held on 24 April 1982, when Berwick defeated Edinburgh. From 1982 to 1988, Berwick were difficult to beat at home but gained little success, Bruce Cribb and Jim McMillan came and went by the time Mark Courtney and David Blackburn arrived. The pair helped the team win Knockout Cup for only the second time in their history but the team's talisman Steve McDermott had retired and missed the victory. McDerrmott was also national league riders champion in 1983. 1990s During the 1991 British League season (the team's only top flight season, whilst owned by Entrepreneur Terry Lindon) they won the Gold Cup. However, events deteriorated, with the club racing in tier 2 the following season and then missing the 1993 season only running two open meetings during that year. The team returned as an Academy team in 1994 and won two successive division three championships. The last meeting staged at Berrington Lough was the Academy League KO Cup Final against Stoke Potters on 21 October 1995. The team had raced 13 years at Berrington Lough but due to its remote location the club were always fighting an uphill battle to maintain good attendances and make a profit. They did however win the British League Division Two Knockout Cup and Gold Cup while at the stadium. When the greyhound racing lease at Shielfield Park was ended by Berwick Rangers in 1995, the Berwick speedway promoter Mike Hope took the lease and the Bandits left Berrington Lough for their original home. On 9 July 1995, bikes returned to Shielfield Park for the first time in 15 years so that council officials could carry out noise tests, and on 17 August 1996, the Bandits started their second spell at the Tweedmouth track. The team moved back to the second tier called the Premier League in 1997 and ran a junior team in the third tier. 2000s Stability had returned to the club and Berwick's quad of Paul Bentley, Adrian Rymel, Michal Makovský and Claus Kristensen won the Premier League Four-Team Championship in 2002. In 2005, the team finished 2nd in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the Knockout Cup and Young Shield. After an awful 2007, the Bandits made the final of the Young Shield, losing out to Workington Comets in what turned out to be promoter Peter Waite's last meeting in charge. In 2009, a new shortlived promotion came in, spearheaded by longtime supporter and North Berwick butcher John Anderson and Cornhill shopkeeper Linda Waite. 2010s Lynda Waite stepped down as promoter in 2010 and after her departure, John Anderson announced the new investor was George Hepburn, owner of Berwick building contractor George Hepburn and Son Ltd. It was then announced that Dave Peet (team manager, late-2008 to mid-2010) had departed from the club and had been replaced by the track curator and staff manager Ian Rae. Rae's association with speedway in Berwick-upon-Tweed extended back to his role as stadium manager at their Berrington Lough Stadium, followed by several years – up until 2001 – as team manager. The team recorded consecutive mid-table finishes from 2010 to 2014 but did win the Premier League Four-Team Championship for a second time in 2012. In 2015, the Bandits owner John Anderson announced mid-season, amid a run of poor results and dwindling attendances, that it was time for someone new to takeover or liquidate of the club's assets. Eventually three new associate directors (Michael Mullan, Dennis Hush and Darren Amers) came aboard, and the Bandits declared their intention to continue but the three resigned citing the incumbent owner's reluctance to change. In 2016, John Anderson and his fellow directors Ryan Anderson and George Hepburn sold the club to 2016 team manager Scott Courtney, his younger brother Jamie Courtney and 1992 world champion Gary Havelock. The turmoil at the top was mirrored on the track with continual team changes and a bottom of the league finish in 2017. In 2018, Havelock left the club and in 2019, Scott Courtney took a 'back-seat role' in the club, leaving his brother Jamie, along with new co-promoters Gary Flint and Steven Dews. In 2019, Berwick narrowly missed out on a play-off spot for the second season running. 2020s Following a season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic,(The only meeting that year being the British U21 final ran behind closed doors and live streamed) the Bandits returned to race in the SGB Championship. The track underwent changes in specifications during 2024. Season Summary (Bandits) Season Summary (Juniors) Riders previous seasons Notable riders See also Category:Berwick Bandits riders References