| Wimbledon Dons | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Wimbledon Dons captain Barry Briggs (centre) shaking hands with Oxford Rebels captain Gordon Kennett in 1975 | |||||||||||||||
| Club information | |||||||||||||||
| Track address | Wimbledon Stadium Plough Lane Wimbledon London | ||||||||||||||
| Country | England | ||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1928 | ||||||||||||||
| Closed | 2005 | ||||||||||||||
| Club facts | |||||||||||||||
| Colours | Yellow Star on Red | ||||||||||||||
| Track size | 355 yards (325 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Major team honours | |||||||||||||||
| 
 | |||||||||||||||
The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London.[1][2]
The track opened in 1928 and the Dons operated there from 1929 until 1991. They were closed during the Second World War but upon their reopening in 1946 there were 42,000 people in attendance with an estimated 10,000 more locked outside. The club were very successful at the highest level of British speedway during the 1950s and 1960s, and attracted numerous famous riders.
Having been defunct for eleven years, the team was reopened again in 2002 by Steve Ribbons & David Croucher in the Conference League[3] but were forced to close in 2005, with Ian Perkin, Dingle Brown & Perry Attwood being joint owners of the club, when the stadium owners insisted on dramatically increasing the rent paid by the team to the stadium.[4]
Honours
National League
National Trophy
KO Cup (formerly National League Trophy)
London Cup
Winners: 1938, 1939, 1961, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985
RAC Cup
Winners: 1954
Britannia Shield
Winner: 1959
Gauntlet Spring Gold Cup
Winners: 1979
Conference Pairs Champions
Winners: 2004, 2005
Notable riders
-   Cyril Brine Cyril Brine
-   Barry Briggs Barry Briggs
-  .svg.png.webp) Dicky Case Dicky Case
-   Billy Dallison Billy Dallison
-   John Davis John Davis
-  .svg.png.webp) Vic Duggan Vic Duggan
-   Andy Grahame Andy Grahame
-   Bert Harkins Bert Harkins
-   Sverre Harrfeldt Sverre Harrfeldt
-   Oliver Hart Oliver Hart
-   Trevor Hedge Trevor Hedge
-   Ron How Ron How
-  .svg.png.webp) Vic Huxley Vic Huxley
-   Gerry Jackson Gerry Jackson
-   Edward Jancarz Edward Jancarz
-   Tommy Jansson Tommy Jansson
-   Dave Jessup Dave Jessup
-   Roger Johns Roger Johns
-   Gordon Kennett Gordon Kennett
-   Jim Kempster Jim Kempster
-   Gus Kuhn Gus Kuhn
-  .svg.png.webp) Billy Lamont Billy Lamont
-   Wilbur Lamoreaux Wilbur Lamoreaux
-   Reg Luckhurst Reg Luckhurst
-   Cyril Maidment Cyril Maidment
-   Geoff Mardon Geoff Mardon
-   Ivan Mauger Ivan Mauger
-   Ronnie Moore Ronnie Moore
-   Ray Morton Ray Morton
-   Kai Niemi Kai Niemi
-   Göte Nordin Göte Nordin
-   Olle Nygren Olle Nygren
-   Bobby Ott Bobby Ott
-   Norman Parker Norman Parker
-   Geoff Pymar Geoff Pymar
-   Colin Richardson Colin Richardson
-   Larry Ross Larry Ross
-   Claude Rye Claude Rye
-   Malcolm Simmons Malcolm Simmons
-   Kelvin Tatum Kelvin Tatum
-   Ray Tauscher Ray Tauscher
-   Roy Trigg Roy Trigg
-  .svg.png.webp) Todd Wiltshire Todd Wiltshire
Season summary
References
- ↑ Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
- ↑ Jacobs, N. Speedway in London, ISBN 0-7524-2221-9
- ↑ Findon, Ben (1 May 2002). "Speedway: Rebirth of glory club". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 October 2008.
- ↑ . Oakes, P (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0.