SOS - The Story So Far

SOS was formed in January 2000 at a time when Oxford Speedway was facing closure. A long time supporter, Brian Hamilton launched an appeal on local radio where he pleaded for Oxford Speedway supporters to pledge £100 to bridge the gap which would see Oxford Speedway continue in 2000. Crowds at Oxford had been poor, averaging only 950 for Elite League racing and promoter Steve Purchase had suggested that he could no longer face the losses sustained at Oxford.

At a forum held at Oxford Stadium, over 60 people came forward to pledge £100 to ensure the survival of Oxford Speedway. Martin Morbey and Chris Brown joined Brian as trustees of these donations and a group known as Save Oxford Speedway (SOS) was formed. This coupled with a new initiative known as the 'Patrons Club' enabled Steve Purchase to declare that the  Oxford Cheetahs would run in 2000.

A successful season ensued where crowds rose by 30% on the previous two seasons and as it became clear that Oxford Speedway had a long term future the initial role of SOS had been fulfilled. Indeed, Oxford kicked off the season with the Euro Classic individual meeting sponsored by SOS. However by this stage additional people had come forward willing to help and SOS was beginning to develop into a fund raising group raising funds to support Oxford Speedway in to the future. The future of Oxford Speedway had been secured and it felt that Saving Oxford Speedway was no longer what we were about. The logical step was therefore to change the name to Support Oxford Speedway, maintaining the SOS acronym. SOS became about supporting the development and promotion of the fact that Oxford Speedway existed and to date all the funds raised by SOS have been channeled into exactly that. No cash has been handed over to the promoters of Oxford Speedway and SOS has worked along with the promoters to target the money in ways that further enhance the Oxford Speedway brand. At the end of 2000 the SOS group was 10 strong. The members of the group were Brian Hamilton, Martin Morbey, Chris Brown, Colin Pollard, Jackie Pollard, Ian Robinson, Sandy Robinson, Graham Darling, Mary Darling and Margaret Young. 

The 2001 season saw SOS reduce in numbers with 7 active members of the group who are involved in the tireless work involved in organising and running the events that you see advertised elsewhere on this site. The fund raising activities and expenditure of SOS are detailed elsewhere on the site.

2002 saw the active members fall again with Ian and Sandy Robinson moving from the area and Graham and Mary Darling being unable to commit the time to the group. However, Richard Watson  has since joined the group and his help at the BBQ's has been invaluable along with that of Laura Pollard and Paula Cooper in decorating the venue and selling sweepstakes. 

2004 saw a number of new faces joining the SOS team with Tina Cooper and Alan Keen joining the crew. As in previous years the focus of SOS attention was the ever popular BBQ's which continue to grow in attendance. A new sound system was installed at the venue at SOS expense which allowed further improvement to the event. In addition SOS and the Oxford Speedway Supporters Club joined forces to organise the end of season social events for both the Elite League team and a second event for the Conference League team. The final BBQ of the season saw a fun night and the coming together of the 4 Waggy's, pictured below who performed on Karaoke for the crowd

2005 was a major fundraising year for the SOS team as Nigel Wagstaff had a desire to purchase a Road Blade to assist with track preparation. With the help of Walker Machinery we were able to source a grader at a very considerable cost of £6000. Clearly this was a major investment and was in fact one which SOS committed to raise funds for over a 2 year period.

2006 saw another change in promotion and due to the commitments on paying for the grader Aaron Lanney was unfortunate in that SOS were unable to support him financially other than the payments for the grader.

2007 again saw a new promotion as Colin Horton took the reigns. SOS committed to pay for the kevlars used by the Oxford side in 2007 and the intention was that at the end of the season these would be returned to SOS for auction with the funds going back into the club. £1000 was paid to Colin Horton and the rest is history !! Fortunately Allen Trump has now come in and SOS have indicated their intention to support Allen in how he wishes and this will be developed as the season progresses

SOS is indebted to many people in its short life. These are too many to mention but a few deserve special mention

- All the Supporters who donated money in January 2000 (without who Oxford Speedway would have died)

- All the people who have supported SOS events so magnificently over the past years

- Brian Hamilton (whose insight began it all)

- Steve & Vanessa Purchase (for their support while promoting at Oxford)

- Nigel Wagstaff for his enthusiasm for what SOS done at his time at Oxford

-  Aaron Lanney for his presence at SOS events

- Kidlington Green Road Club (for their never ending support in the use of facilities for Social Events)

- Unipart for the loan of vital Audio Visual equipment for the BBQ's

- Dave Hammond for his help with a SKY aerial

So as it enters its 9th year, SOS will be running more events in 2007 than ever before and it is with the support of the SOS members that this is possible. Today's SOS team is:

Colin Pollard, Jackie Pollard, Laura Pollard, Alan Keen, Richard Watson, Neil Cutter, Allie Joyce, Chris Brown