Simon Stead

Simon Stead
Born (1982-04-25) 25 April 1982 (age 42)
Sheffield, England
NicknameSteady
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
Great Britain
1998, 2002Peterborough
1998Buxton
1999–2002, 2013-2016Sheffield
2003–2004Workington
2003–2004Wolverhampton
2005–2007, 2015Belle Vue
2008–2009Coventry
2009–2012Swindon
2013King's Lynn
2014Leicester
Poland
2000, 2011Lublin
2006Toruń
2007Gniezno
2008Bydgoszcz
2009Ostrów
2010Piła
2013Kraków
Sweden
2001–2002Örnarna
2003Gasarna
2008Masarna
Individual honours
2001, 2002, 2003British Under 21 Champion
2014Premier League Riders Champion
Team honours
2006Elite League Pairs Champion
2003Premier League Pairs Champion
2008Craven Shield winner
2012Elite League Champion
1999, 2000, 2004Premier League Four-Team Championship

Simon Trevor Stead (born 25 April 1982)[1] is a retired motorcycle speedway rider and team manager.[2] He earned 11 international caps for the Great Britain national speedway team.[3] From 2019, he has been joint manager of the Great Britain team with Oliver Allen.

Career Summary

Born in Sheffield, Stead started his career at local track Sheffield Tigers before riding for Buxton Hitmen, Peterborough Panthers and Workington Comets.[4][5]

In 1999 and 2000, he was part of the Sheffield four that won the Premier League Four-Team Championship.[6]

Stead was British Under-21 Champion three times in the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 and also won the Premier League Pairs Championship with Carl Stonehewer in 2003.[7]

Stead reached the final of the 2004 Premier League Riders Championship won by Andre Compton. Going into the final, Stead was unbeaten and was involved in a crash with Compton, which caused multiple injuries to both riders. Compton was awarded the title.[8] Also in 2004, he was part of the Workington four that won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 21 August 2004, at the Derwent Park.[9]

Stead signed for Belle Vue Aces prior to the start of the 2005 season and had three seasons with the club. In those three seasons he progressed from a reserve to a heat leader. He was chosen to represent Great Britain in the 2005 Speedway World Cup and the 2006 Speedway World Cup. Additionally, he was given the wildcard spot for the 2006 British Speedway Grand Prix, where he scored 3 points from 5 rides[7] and won the 2006 Elite League Pairs Championship along with then teammate Jason Crump.

He went on to represent Great Britain again in the 2007 and 2008 Speedway World Cups. For the 2008 season Stead joined the Coventry Bees on loan.

Stead riding for Belle Vue in 2007
Stead (back, far left) celebrating the league win with Swindon in 2012

In 2009, he signed a contract which involved him moving from Coventry to the Swindon Robins and won the 2012 Elite League with Swindon.[10]

He re-signed with Sheffield Tigers in 2013 with the option of doubling up with King's Lynn Stars, his season was cut short by a broken leg sustained while practising in June, and signed for Sheffield Tigers again in 2014 doubling up with Leicester Lions.[11]

In 2014, he won the Premier League Riders Championship, held on 21 September at his home track of Owlerton. It was reward for the misfortune experienced the year before and also made up for the disaster in the same event ten years earlier.[12] He won the Riders' Championship for the second time in 2016.[13]

In 2017, Stead moved in to team management, and won the SGB Championship with Sheffield Tigers. In 2018 he took on the team manager role for both Tigers and Leicester Lions. In September 2019 he was appointed as joint team manager (with Oliver Allen) of the Great Britain speedway team.[14]

Speedway Grand Prix results

2006 Speedway Grand Prix Final Championship standings
(Riding No 16)
Race no. Grand Prix Pos. Pts. Heats Draw No
4 /10 United Kingdom British SGP 15 3 (0,0,0,2,1) 16
  permanent speedway rider
  wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
  rider not classified (track reserve who did not start)

See also

References

  1. ^ Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6
  2. ^ "Simon Trevor Stead". Polish Speedway Database. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  3. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  4. ^ "2008 Rider index" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  5. ^ Oakes, P (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0.
  6. ^ "Wasps speed way to Premier Fours runners-up spot". South Wales Echo. 30 August 1999. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ a b Bamford, Robert (1 March 2007). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 978-0-7524-4250-1.
  8. ^ "Controversial Compton claims PLRC". Crash.net. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Comets set to host biggest ever meeting". Whitehaven News. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  10. ^ "You Muddy Heroes!!". Swindon Web. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Lions Complete with Stead", speedwaygb.co, 14 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  12. ^ "SIMON STEAD WINS PLRC". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  13. ^ "Simon Stead interview: Sheffield Tigers supremo on his life as a speedway rider, Great Britain success and the sport's future". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  14. ^ "GB Team Managers Revealed", gbspeedwayteam.com, 21 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019
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