Ipswich Witches
| Ipswich Witches | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track address |
Foxhall Stadium Ipswich |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | England | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1950 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team manager | Ritchie Hawkins | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team captain | Danny King | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | SGB Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club facts | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colours | Blue, White and Black | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track size | 285 metres (312 yd) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track record time | 55.8seconds | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track record date | 15 October 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track record holder | Danny King | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major team honours | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
The Ipswich Witches are a British speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Championship. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm (first race 7.45pm).
The Witches are currently promoted by former Ipswich rider John Louis, the father of former rider and Sky Sports presenter Chris Louis.
Foxhall Stadium was purpose-built for speedway in 1950, and meetings were held there from 1951 to 1965 when the track was resurfaced for . Attendances approached 20,000 people and made stars of riders such as Syd Clarke, Junior Bainbridge, Tich Read and Peter Moore.
In 1969 John Berry built a new, smaller track inside the stock car circuit and re-opened the club with a team which would soon include the current promoter John Louis. Speedway has been staged at Foxhall continuously since then.
In 1970 and 1971 the Witches won the British League Division II Knock-Out Cup, before John Berry took the decision to apply for membership of Division I in 1972. The Witches went on to become a dominant force in the top flight of British Speedway, winning the Division I Championship in 1975, 1976 and 1984, plus numerous Knock-Out Cup wins (doing "the double" in '76 and '84).
Following the tragic death of Billy Sanders in 1985 and Berry's subsequent decision to quit, the club struggled and almost closed - before being saved by a consortium, including returning local-hero John Louis. The new Witches began life in the National League (second tier) in 1989 and 1990, before joining the amalgamated British League and then, after a further restructuring of speedway in Britain, the Elite League.
In 1998 Ipswich won the Elite League Championship, the Knock-Out Cup and the end of season Craven Shield tournament. In addition, Ipswich riders won the World Championship (Tony Rickardsson), the British Speedway Championship (Chris Louis) and the British Under-21 Championship (Scott Nicholls). The team also included the Polish star Tomasz Gollob who finished third in the World Championship.
...
Wikipedia