The Somerset Rebels were a British

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

team based in Highbridge,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. Founded in 2000, the club competed in the British

SGB Championship The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Championship is the second division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). ...

until 2019. Their home track was located at the

Oak Tree Arena The Oaktree Arena was a speedway racing track located near Highbridge, Somerset, England. It is in length, with banking around the edge for spectators and is built alongside the M5 motorway. There is also a restaurant used for weddings and ev ...

History

Origins & 2000s

Promoter Andy Hewlett had been searching for a venue in Somerset to host speedway for some time, when in 1999 he was offered a site by a local farmer. Former Australian rider

Glyn Taylor Glyn Clifford Taylor (born 24 August 1953) is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider, who went on to a career building and curating speedway tracks, tuning engines, and in speedway promotion and team management. Biography Glyn Taylor w ...

was called in to construct a 300 metres purpose-built speedway stadium ready for the 2000 season. The stadium called the

was subsequently opened for the

2000 Speedway Conference League The 2000 Speedway Conference League was the third tier/division of British speedway. Summary A new team called Somerset Rebels entered British speedway for the first time, racing at the Oaktree Arena. The title was won by Sheffield Prowle ...

and the Rebels finished 3rd in their inaugural season. After winning both the Conference Trophy and Conference League KO Cup in 2001 they moved up to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

(division 2) for 2002. After struggling for several seasons, the club signed

Magnus Zetterström Hans Magnus Zetterström (born 9 December 1971 in Eskilstuna, Sweden) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden. He earned 3 caps for the Sweden national speedway team. Career Zetterström's first season in the British leag ...

and together with Glenn Cunningham, Paul Fry and Ritchie Hawkins, the Rebels won the

Premier League Four-Team Championship The SGB Championship Fours formerly the Premier League Four-Team Championship is a contest between teams competing in the second tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. Teams are grouped into fours, with one rider from each team in each race. The ...

, which was held on 20 August 2005, at

Derwent Park Derwent Park is a Rugby League Stadium and former motorcycle speedway in Workington, England situated beside the Cumbrian River Derwent. It is used mostly for rugby league matches and is the home stadium of Workington Town who play in Leagu ...

. The 2006 season saw Somerset reach the Knockout Cup Final for the first time, finishing as runners up to

King's Lynn Stars King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Premiership. The nickname "Stars" was adopted from the defunct Norwich Stars team. The team was founded in 1965 and has been running continually since then, except for 199 ...

over two legs. Magnus Zetterström was the star of the season, winning both the Riders' Championship and setting the highest league average. The Rebels reached the KO Cup final for a second time in a row in 2007, losing out to King's Lynn again. The 2008 season proved to be successful, despite a major change in the club's line up after their number one rider for the past three seasons, Magnus Zetterstrom was replaced by

Jason Doyle Jason Kevin Doyle (born 6 October 1985) is an Australian motorcycle speedway rider. He became World Champion in 2017 after winning the 2017 Speedway Grand Prix. Doyle is a member of the Australia national speedway team and represented his coun ...

but the team finished second in the Premier League table behind the

Edinburgh Monarchs The Edinburgh Monarchs are a Scottish speedway team based in Armadale. They compete in the SGB Championship, racing on Friday nights during the speedway season. The club is run by a board of directors, chaired by Alex Harkess and also runs a ...

, after a season long battle with the Scottish side. Somerset won the

Premier League Knockout Cup The Premier League Knockout Cup was a motorcycle speedway Knockout Cup competition in the United Kingdom between 1995 and 2016, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB). History The teams from the Premier League, the top tier of league rac ...

(tier 2) for the first time in their history. After winning the first leg of the final at

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

43–46, the Rebels won the return leg at the Oak Tree Arena 52-41 for a 98-84 aggregate victory, with Jason Doyle and

Emil Kramer Emil Karl Leif Kramer (14 November 1979 – 9 December 2009) was a motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden. Career Kramer came to prominence in 2000 when he reached the final of the 2000 Speedway Under-21 World Championship, where he secured a sev ...

top scoring for Somerset. Prior to the 2009 season, the team was purchased by Bill Hancock, the owner of the Oaktree Arena.

2010s

In December 2009, Rebels rider Emil Kramer was killed in a road accident in his native Sweden. In his honour, the riders wore blue and yellow race suits for the 2010 season with Kramer's initials embroidered on the collar. Australian

Sam Masters Samuel Peter Masters (born 23 May 1991) is an Australian motorcycle speedway rider who won the Premier League Riders' Championship in 2011. Masters is an Australian Champion having won the Championship in January 2017. Career Masters was bor ...

was brought in as number 1 for the 2011 season and won the Riders' Championship. The 2012 season saw the Rebels achieve one of their most successful seasons since their formation. Jason Doyle returned to the club and spearheaded them to winning the Premier League Cup, beating

Ipswich Witches The Ipswich Witches are a British motorcycle speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30 ...

over two legs in the final. They also reached the play-off final, losing out on the Premier League Championship to

Scunthorpe Scorpions The Scunthorpe Scorpions are a motorcycle speedway team in the British SGB Championship. They have raced at various times since 1971, at three different venues. History Origins and 1970s Speedway in Scunthorpe began on 3 May 1971 at the ...

by a single point over two legs. In 2013, Steve Bishop announced that he would step down as team manager leaving the responsibility to Garry May and the Rebels went on to have the best season in their history by winning the league and cup double and the pairs championship. Jason Doyle and new signing

Josh Grajczonek Joshua Lee Grajczonek (born 5 February 1990) is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. He is a record eight times winner of the Queensland championship. Career Born in Townsville, Queensland, Grajczonek's big break in British Speedwa ...

won the

Premier League Pairs Championship The SGB Championship Pairs formerly the Premier League Pairs Championship (from 1997 to 2016) is a motorcycle speedway contest for the second tier teams in the United Kingdom to determine the Pairs champions. The teams consist of the top two ri ...

, held at the Oaktree Arena on 31 May. The Rebels then went on to lift the Premier League KO Cup for the second time in their history, defeating

in an entralling semi-final before beating the

Rye House Rockets The Rye House Rockets were a motorcycle speedway, speedway team based at Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon, England. They competed in various British speedway leagues from 1954 to 2018. History Origins & 1930s Rye House began life in 1934, host ...

in the final. To complete the treble, the Rebels finished top of the Premier League table and eventually met Edinburgh Monarchs in the play-off final. Edinburgh won the first leg 45–43 but the Rebels won the second leg 49-44, giving them an aggregate win of 3 points. 2014 saw the Rebels pick up more silverware, after the team defeated

Newcastle Diamonds Newcastle Diamonds were a motorcycle speedway team that raced in the British speedway leagues from 1929 to 2022. They were based at Newcastle Stadium on the Fossway, Byker. The Stadium was previously known as Brough Park. History Origins and ...

to win the Premier League Shield and Oliver Allen, Nick Morris,

Pontus Aspgren Pontus Aspgren (born 15 March 1991) is a Swedish motorcycle speedway rider. Speedway career He rode in the top tier of British Speedway for the Wolverhampton Wolves during the 2012 Elite League speedway season. The same year, he was part of the S ...

and Charles Wright won the

, held on 3 August 2014, at the

East of England Arena The East of England Showground is a large showground area (667,731sqm) located on East of England Way near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The Showground is owned by Bellway as of around 2019 and the site currently includes the East of E ...

. Somerset won the Premier League Knockout Cup for the third time in eight years in 2015, continuing the success experienced by the club. At the start of the 2016 season the Rebels promoter Debbie Hancock announced a change to the club logo, replacing the original American confederate logo for a logo representing the county of Somerset. In late 2016, the club announced that it would be moving up into the newly formed

SGB Premiership The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Premiership (sponsored by Sports Insure) is the top division of speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton Internation ...

for the 2017 season. In their first top flight season the Rebels endured a tough campaign, finishing sixth overall. The following season in 2018, the club signed 2017 world champion and former Rebels rider Jason Doyle as their number 1, following his release by

Swindon Robins The Swindon Robins are a motorcycle speedway team from England, established in 1949 that have competed primarily in the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom. They are five times league champions of the United Kingdo ...

. Doyle captained the Rebels to their first top flight trophy, defeating

Kings Lynn Stars King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Premiership. The nickname "Stars" was adopted from the defunct Norwich Stars team. The team was founded in 1965 and has been running continually since then, except for 199 ...

98-82 on aggregate in the final of the Premiership Knockout Cup. In November 2018, after two seasons in the top flight, the Rebels announced that they would be moving down to the

, the 2nd tier of British Speedway, for the 2019 season. They reached third in the league that year.

2020s

After sitting out the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

the promotion announced that they would not be running in 2021 despite already having named a squad. On 26 May 2021 the owners formally announced that they had sold the land and there would be no more racing at the site. In late 2022, it was announced that discussions had taken place between the North Somerset District Council and British Speedway Promoters Ltd for a possible return of speedway in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

and retaining the Rebels nickname.

Season summary

Notable riders

Riders previous seasons

2008 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * was injured before start of the season * 2009 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * (Released) * (Injured) * (No.8) 2010 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * (Released) * (With-held services) * (Retired) * (Injured) * (Injured) * (Released) * (Released) 2011 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * (released) * (short-term injury replacement) * (short-term injury replacement) * (released) 2012 team * * * * * * * Also Rode * * 2013 team * * * * * * * Also Rode * * * 2014 team * * * * * * * 2015 team * * * * * * * Also Rode * * 2016 team * * * * * * * 2017 team * * * * * * * Also Rode *(released) *(released) *(released) 2018 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * * 2019 team *

Chris Harris Chris Harris may refer to: Sportspeople * Chris Harris (basketball) (1933–2022), English basketballer * Chris Harris (cricketer) (born 1969), New Zealand cricketer * Chris Harris (darts player) (born 1977), Welsh darts player * Chris Harris (rowe ...

Rory Schlein Rory Robert Schlein (born 1 September 1984) is an Australian speedway rider. Career Born in Darwin, Northern Territory, Schlein, lived in the southern Adelaide suburb of Hallett Cove and won the Australian Under-16 Championship at the North ...

* Nick Morris * Nico Covatti * Anders Rowe * Luke Harris * Nathan Stoneman Also Rode: * * * 2020 team *

Luke Becker Luke Becker (born 11 February 1999) is a motorcycle speedway rider from the United States. Career Becker began his British career riding for Wolverhampton Wolves in 2019. Unable to ride during 2020 because of Covid-19 cancelled season, he conti ...

Ben Barker Ben Barker may refer to: * Ben Barker (racing driver) (born 1991), British racing driver * Ben Barker (speedway rider) (born 1988), British speedway rider * Ben Barka Mehdi Ben Barka (; 1920 – disappeared 29 October 1965) was a Moroccan nation ...

* Josh Bates * Anders Rowe *

Zach Cook Zach Cook (born 15 July 1999) is a speedway rider from Australia. Speedway career Cook signed for Plymouth Gladiators for the SGB Championship 2021 season. The following season in 2022, he rode for the Poole Pirates in the SGB Championship 2 ...

* Nathan Stoneman

Club honours

*SGB Championship Fours Championship Winners: 2019 *SGB Premiership Knockout Cup Winners: 2018 *Premier League Championship Winners: 2013, 2016 *Premier League Knockout Cup Winners: 2008, 2013, 2015 *Premier Shield Winners: 2014, 2016 *Premier League Cup Winners: 2012, 2016 *Premier League Pairs Championship Winners: 2013, 2016 *Premier League Fours Championship Winners: 2005, 2014 *Conference Trophy Winners: 2001 *Conference Knockout Cup Winners: 2001

References

{{SGB Championship SGB Premiership teams Speedway Premier League teams SGB Championship teams Sport in Somerset Defunct speedway teams in the United Kingdom Sports clubs and teams established in 2000 Motorcycle racing teams disestablished in 2021 2000 establishments in England 2021 disestablishments in England Sedgemoor