Robert John Coles (born 12 February 1944) is a former international

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider from England. He earned one international cap for the

England national speedway team The Great Britain national speedway team (formerly the England speedway team) is one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by th ...

Biography

Coles first rode in the British speedway leagues for

Plymouth Devils The Plymouth Gladiators are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. The team competed during various seasons from 1932 to 1969, before reforming after a gap of thirty-six years in 2006. In 2021, the club successfully applied to join t ...

during the 1968 British League Division Two season. However, he was not a regular starter for the south west team until the following season in 1969. In 1970, Plymouth dropped out of the league, so Coles switched to rival club

Exeter Falcons The Exeter Falcons were a Motorcycle speedway, speedway team based in the city of Exeter. The Falcons operated from 1947 to 2005 at the County Ground Stadium in Exeter. History Origins & 1920s Speedway began at the County Ground in 1929, ...

in the British League (the highest division of the United Kingdom at the time). While at Exeter in 1971, he doubled up with Romford Bombers in division 2 and recorded an average of 8.06. However, his season was curtailed by an accident that saw him break his leg. The 1972 season was a turbulent one, in terms of his team place, he had a solid season for Exeter but in division 2 he followed the Romford relocation of the team to

West Ham Hammers The West Ham Hammers were a speedway team that raced at West Ham Stadium in London, England, from 1929 to 1971. The team were twice champions of the United Kingdom. History Origins and 1920s Speedway arrived at West Ham in 1928, the ina ...

. Then in mid-season West Ham folded and were replaced by Barrow Happy Faces (the name was courtesy of their sponsor at the time was Duckhams Oil - its happy face logo was prominently displayed on the team's race jackets). During the turmoil Coles recorded his best average to date, which was 8.61. After four seasons with Exeter he joined the Newport for the

1974 British League season The 1974 British League season was the 40th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the tenth season known as the British League. Summary The 1973 Champions Reading didn't compete as they no longer had a stad ...

and would double up for

Mildenhall Fen Tigers The Mildenhall Fen Tigers are a British speedway team, founded in 1975, who last raced in the National Development League during 2023. History 1970s The original track was built in 1971 on farm land owned by Terry Waters, with Bernie Kla ...

in the National League. He stayed with Mildenhall from 1975 to 1978, where he topped the Mildenhall team averages during three of his four seasons with the club and became the club captain. Coles joined

Weymouth Wildcats The Weymouth Wildcats were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Weymouth, England, who raced in the National League. The Wildcats won the first Conference League Championship in their history in 2008 after winning the Conference League ...

in 1980 but poor form as team captain in 1981 led to his transfer back to his old club Exeter. His form returned and he finally won a team honour during the 1983 National League season, when he helped Exeter win the Knockout Cup.

Personal life

His son Michael Coles and grandson

Connor Coles Connor Coles (born 7 September 1994) is a motorcycle speedway rider from England. Speedway career Coles began his speedway career riding for Rye House Raiders during the 2012 National League speedway season and then moved to Kent Kings for t ...

both became professional speedway riders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coles, Bob 1944 births Living people British speedway riders Barrow Bombers riders Bristol Bulldogs riders Cradley Heathens riders Exeter Falcons riders Hackney Hawks riders Mildenhall Fen Tigers riders Newport Wasps riders Plymouth Devils riders Poole Pirates riders Romford Bombers riders Weymouth Wildcats riders West Ham Hammers riders