Isle of Wight Warriors


The Isle of Wight Warriors are a motorcycle speedway team from England. They last competed in the 2019 National Development League and ride their home meetings at the Smallbrook Stadium. Since leaving the British Speedway leagues, the team has competed in various challenge matches and the amateur NORA league.

History

Origins and 1990s

Isle of Wight speedway began in 1996, at the Smallbrook Stadium, when the team signed up as a founder member of the newly formed Conference League. The league was for teams outside of the Premier League at the time and during their inaugural season the Ryde Wight Wizards finished in fourth place in the 1996 Speedway Conference League table.
The following season in 1997, the team entered the Conference League again, which was now the third tier of British speedway because a new Elite League had been formed as the top tier, with the Premier League becoming the second tier. However, in July the Premier League team Skegness Braves folded due to financial difficulties and the Smallbrook Stadium promotion stepped in to host the remainder of the fixtures. The team would be known as the Isle of Wight Islanders.
The team won their first silverware in 1998 after winning the Young Shield, an end of season event for the leading eight clubs in the league table. They defeated the league champions Peterborough Panthers in the final.

2000s

After several mediocre seasons they won the Young Shield again during the 2001 Premier League speedway season. In 2002, Adam Shields and Danny Bird won the Premier League Pairs Championship, held at Derwent Park on 19 July and the following season in 2003, the club won their best honour to date, when winning the Premier League Knockout Cup.
During the 2007 Premier League speedway season, the team reached the play offs and won both the Pairs and Fours Championships.
After the 2008 season the Islanders joined the third division finishing 5th.

2010s

After three seasons without National league success, the team won the National Trophy.
After a break of two years, the club reformed in 2016 under the promotion of Barry Bishop and Martin Widman. For the 2018 and 2019 seasons the team raced as the Isle of Wight Warriors.

2020s

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the 2020 season before the club announced they would not be competing during the 2021 season. However, a team would race as the Wightlink Warriors Shale Track Racing Club, separate from the British speedway leagues.
In 2024, the team won the amateur NORA league. On 30 May 2025 a fan forum is being held regarding the future of Warriors speedway.

Notable riders

Season summary

Year and leaguePositionNotes
1996 Speedway Conference League4thRyde Wight Wizards
1997 Premier League speedway season8thAs the Islanders
1997 Speedway Conference League3rdRyde Wight Wizards
1998 Premier League speedway season6thYoung Shield winners
1999 Premier League speedway season8th
2000 Premier League speedway season11th
2001 Premier League speedway season4thYoung Shield winners
2002 Premier League speedway season3rdPairs Championship
2003 Premier League speedway season3rdKnockout Cup winners
2004 Premier League speedway season5th
2005 Premier League speedway season6th
2006 Premier League speedway season8th
2007 Premier League speedway season5th
2008 Premier League speedway season11th
2009 National League speedway season5th
2010 National League speedway season7th
2011 National League speedway season9th
2012 National League speedway season3rd
2013 National League speedway season4th
2016 National League speedway season8th
2017 National League speedway season11th
2018 National League speedway season8thfirst season as Warriors
2019 National Development League speedway season6th