Wimbledon Dons
Wimbledon Speedway – it began in the spring of 1928.
Whitsun Bank Holiday: – the weather was glorious, and the South London public was clamouring to be entertained. There was no television in those days for the masses; cinema had just ushered in the talkies; being late May, the football season was long over. And so they came: to see this brand new sport of dirt-track motor-cycle racing – imported from Australia only three months earlier, but already sweeping the towns and cities of the UK: 20 new tracks, five others in London alone! Stamford Bridge, Crystal Palace, White City, Harringay and Greenford.
On Plough Lane there it stood: Wimbledon Stadium – a brand new steel-framed structure with a covered stand which circled the entire track and was able to hold a capacity of 40,000. Within weeks, even that capacity was inadequate for the crowds that thronged to see this exciting new sport. After a first year of purely individual events, in 1929 League Speedway was born and the appropriately named Dons became one of the first teams in the world: competing initially in the Southern League.
1930 was significant for the staging of the first ever Speedway international at Plough Lane: England vs. Australia – with thousands decamping from Lord’s where earlier in the day the more traditional bat and ball rivalry was happening to see the first-ever Speedway ‘Test Match’ In 1932 the first National League was formed – the Dons adopted the iconic yellow star on red race jackets in 1937 and a year later won their first National Trophy; but then of course, came the War and an enforced six-year break plus some serious bomb damage to the Stadium. Eventually, all was repaired and then came the glorious Summer of Wimbledon Speedway known as the ‘fifties: five League titles; four National Trophies; and in New Zealanders, Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs two World Individual Champions!
The list of stars of that era is very long, one rider to mention here was Cyril Brine, who spent his entire career with one club, the Wimbledon Dons, which spanned 17 years, where he made over 460 league appearances and scored over 2700 points, a club record. However, one other rider- Mirac (as Ronnie Moore was known) takes centre stage: the youngest ever World Finalist at just 17 (in 1950), he was still good enough to win a World title (the Pairs) an incredible 20 years later; and rode for the Dons and only the Dons for 22 years from start to finish!
The ‘60s saw the great success continue. Briggo had moved on but Ronnie was reigning World Champ as the new decade opened. Two more League titles, two National Trophy wins plus three Knock-out Cups followed. After a brief retirement, Mirac was back, working his requisite magic; and enjoying the Indian Summer of all time as the ‘70s began: inspiring the Dons to complete a hat-trick of wins in the Knock Out Cup.
In 1971 a new young hero emerged – Swedish teenage sensation Tommy Jansson. Tommy was surely destined to emulate Mirac & Briggo as a Dons World Champ but (though he did win two World Pairs titles) tragically his life was cut short in a track crash in his home country in 1976. That loss cast a shadow over the Club throughout the next decade plus, save for one highlight, the talisman in Roger Johns, who from 1974 kept the spark alight and captained the team through till 1989 which also saw a drop down to the second tier, which failed to reverse the decline in crowds and interest for the sport in SW17. This led to the unthinkable happening in 1991 with closure and what seemed for so many years, to have been the end.
However, in the wild optimism of the dawn of a new century, somehow the impossible dream of the return of Speedway to SW17 became reality. Achieving what no-one in the sport’s hierarchy thought possible, Steve Ribbons persuaded the stadium owners to allow Speedway to reopen and in May 2002 incredibly the Dons were back! There were to be four more seasons, before the bitterness of a final eviction and ultimately went on to the demolition of the stadium when a Capital Risk company bought out the Greyhound Racing Association owners.
In the 2002-2005 era new names were to be carved in the legend of Wimbledon Speedway: the amazing Buzz Burrows (without question one of the most exciting riders to ride in the colours of the London club.
TheDonsDen
Jon Stevens formed TheDonsDen in 2016 with a mission to preserve and curate the history of Speedway in Wimbledon and form a long-term plan for Wimbledon Speedway into the 21st century, Jon explains; Since the closure of the old stadium, TheDonsDen have been collaborating with ‘Wimbledon in Sporting History’ [WiSH] to curate Speedway elements of their heritage projects. Working together with the head of WiSH, John Lynch we have come up with imaginative ideas and projects to honour the history of Wimbledon Speedway. We had a vision of doing something for British Speedway as a first. This is “The Ronnie Moore Statue”.
With WiSH having already unveiled the Wimbledon FC celebration carving, the Wombles bench and overseen the preservation of the Mick the Miller mosaic attention is now turned to the statue of the legendary Ronnie Moore. When one thinks of “Wimbledon Speedway”, lots of riders’ names may come up and get mentioned, but I think it’s fair to say that “Mirac” is one that stands out from the rest. In a first for British Speedway.
The statue follows the recycling ethics of ‘The Wombles’ The action-style statue will be made from old recycled Speedway motorcycle parts, from the old stadium fixtures and fittings. Renowned metal artist Jason Heppenstall is the main man working on this first-class statue to be located in the public gathering area outside of AFC Wimbledon’s ground. What is our vision beyond the statue? It certainly doesn’t stop here and time will unveil what we do next.