Ellesmere Port Gunners were an English speedway team in

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south ...

, Wirral, which operated at the Ellesmere Port Stadium from 1972 until their closure in 1985.

History

The inaugural league season for the team was during the

1972 British League Division Two season The 1972 British League Division Two season was the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. Summary The league still consisted of 17 teams with two teams leaving the league and two teams entering. The Rochdale Hornets had disbanded ...

in which they finished in 15th place. The first track record on the 424 yard track was 76.0 seconds, set by John Jackson on 2 May 1972. The team continued to operate from 1972 until 1982 continuously competing in Division Two for 11 years, with a best place finish of 2nd in 1976. A rider died on the Ellesmere Port track on 3 December 1977. Stuart Shirley lost his life on a Saturday morning training school after a collision. The club was resurrected for one season in 1985 and went on to win the title during the

1985 National League season The 1985 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom. Team changes A new team called the Barrow Blackhawks entered the league but only staged a handful of fixtures. The team failed to meet the minimum ...

. They won the title after beating

Poole Pirates Poole Pirates (also known as Poole Speedway) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the List of United Kingdom speedway league champions, champions of the United Kingdom on ...

and Middlesbrough Tigers by just one point. The team also reached the final of the Knockout Cup but lost to

Eastbourne Eagles The Eastbourne Eagles were a British speedway team, based at Arlington Stadium, near Eastbourne, England, that raced in the SGB Championship. History Speedway was initially introduced to Eastbourne in 1929. During their first league season ...

. The eventual track record went twice on the same night during the Knock-Out Cup Final 1st-leg.

Gordon Kennett Gordon William Kennett (born 2 September 1953) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. In 1978 he won the World Pairs Championship with Malcolm Simmons. He also finished runner-up to Ole Olsen in the 1978 Speedway World Championship at Wemble ...

of Eastbourne clocked 69.2 only to be beaten by The Gunners Louis Carr in the very next heat with a time of 69.1. The speedway track was replaced by a

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

track in late 1987.

Notable riders

* Louis Carr *

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

Graham Drury Malcolm Graham Keith Drury (13 February 1952 – 26 January 2024) was a Welsh international motorcycle speedway rider and team manager. He earned one international cap for the England national speedway team (with no Welsh national team, Welsh ...

Steve Finch Steve Finch (born 8 January 1958) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Finch started his British leagues career during the 1974 British League Division Two season, where he rode for Long Eaton Invaders. He rode for Berwic ...

Colin Goad Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie * Colin (horse) (1905–1932), thoroughbred racehorse * Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...

* John Jackson *

Eric Monaghan Eric James Monaghan (born 31 October 1957) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Monaghan made his British leagues debut during the 1979 National League season, where he rode for Ellesmere Port Gunners. In 1979, he helped ...

Dave Morton David James Morton (born 24 September 1953 in Eccles, Lancashire, England) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who started his career with the Crewe Kings. He represented England at test level. His brother Chris Morton was also ...

Joe Owen Joseph William Owen (born 13 September 1956) is a British former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Born in Ormskirk, Owen took up speedway at the age of fourteen at the training school at Belle Vue and made his competitive debut f ...

* Chris Turner *

Paul Tyrer Paul David Tyrer (born 5 December 1952) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned one international cap for the England national speedway team. Biography Tyrer, born in Manchester, began his British leagues c ...

* David Walsh

Season summary

References

{{Reflist Defunct speedway teams in the United Kingdom Sport in Ellesmere Port