CRADLEY HEATH
COBRAS
Sponsored by Midland Vale
HISTORY
While everything that has been is History, what it has been can define the future. The Cobras started out many season's ago in Sovereigns British speedway League here we give you a run down of the teams History.... So far.
After submitting plans to track a speedway team halfway through the SL 16 season, and talks with the governing body (the SLSA) and developers throughout the country, the Cradley Heath Cobras were born. The Cobras were to inherit the contracts of the riders from the 'Stoke Eagles' after hearing of their demise come the end of the SL 16 season. This initially gave the club eight riders, and after a few changes were ready to race in Division Three of the Sovereign S-League in the SL 17 season. This was providing a purpose built stadium would be up to scratch in time for the Pre-season fixtures.
After hiring some of the best stadium developers and track curators in the country, that worked around the clock, the Silverthorne Arena was established and racing was almost upon us.
Our first season in the sport was an instant success as we were crowned League Champions of Division 3 and also came runners up in the Divisional Cup Competition (see Club History).
The second season (SL 18) in Division 2 proved tough going against alot of well established teams, eventually seeing the club finish 9th out of 10 teams. This would normally see a team relegated to Division 3 but after a number of clubs folded we were given a reprieve.
In our third season in the sport we managed something that we thought was impossible after the previous season, promotion to the top tier of British Speedway. The Club finished second place in Division 2 in SL 19 and now entering our fourth season found ourselves competing with the very best teams in speedway in Division One.
In our maiden top flight campaign, the club managed to avoid relegation by finishing in a very respectable sixth place. The season didn't start to well but the riders and management dug deep and pulled off some huge victories throughout the season. Then last season the club finished in 6th place once again although survival was only confirmed in the last home meeting of the campaign. A tough middle of the season would see the Cobras in the relegation zone for almost three months but new signings Gavin Moss and Kieron Langmead helped the club climb the table. Moss would finish the season as World Champion for the second time whilst Langmead was crowned British Champion.
The SL22 would see the Cobras compete in the first division for a third successive season although the league placing was the same as the previous two campaigns. The club once again finished in sixth spot despite scoring ten more league points than the season before. The highlight of the season though was the club winning the first division cup. After coming through the group the Cobras defeated Telford over two legs in the semi final before defeating league champions Peterborough in the final after holding the Pirates to a draw away from home before completing the job with a 49-41 home victory in the second leg.
At the start of the SL 18 season the club would enter a team in the Academy League of the sport. The Academy League is for the development of British youngsters in the sport aged between 15-24 with an average of no higher than 5.00. The club had a mixed first season at this level by finishing 13th out of 20 teams.
In SL 19 we continued to track an academy team and added some new riders to our squad such as Brett Temple, Craig Dunwell and Alan Pickering. The 20 teams were split into two groups riding each other home and away. Our youngsters managed to finish in the top 5 of their group to take our place in division 1 after the league split into divisions.
After some tough matches and lots of good performance the club managed to finish in a very respectable 5th place.
In the SL20 season the club finished in 7th place out of 16 teams whilst making afew changes to the clubs academy riders in the process. The SL21 season would see the Cobras youngsters finish runners up in their group meaning they entered the first division in the second half of the season. A very good campaign meant that the club finished in second place in the division one standings as we provided afew upsets along the way. Loan riders Scott Quinn and Nathan Foster were instrumental to the squad whilst Nathan Greenwood, Nathan Hayward and Matt Williamson all improved.
The SL22 season would once again see the youngsters come through their qualifying group in second place meaning they were placed in division one once more. With twenty four teams now competing the team's were split into three leagues of eight after originally starting the season as two groups of twelve.
Another strong showing would see the team finish third place overall as Eastbourne once again showed their dominance by winning the league whilst Claygate pushed them all the way finishing just a point adrift. Ashley Power led the team very well in his debut season for the club whilst Nathan Greenwood and Joe Jordan increased their averages again.
We will continue to try and development our own asset base in order to make the team successful for many years to come, with the hope of unearthing some future stars of the sport. Three former apprentices are now part of our squad for the season ahead.