Georgie Wood

This article is about British Speedway rider 1993–. For the British actor and comedian 1894–1979, see Wee Georgie Wood.

Georgie Andrew Wood (born 8 September 1993) is a grasstrack^[1] and speedway rider from England.^[2]

Georgie Wood

Born	(1993-09-08) 8 September 1993 (age 30) Maidstone, Kent
Nationality	British (English)
Career history
2015–2019	Eastbourne Eagles
2017–2018	Sheffield Tigers
2019	Isle of Wight Warriors
Team honours
2017	SGB Championship
2018	National League
2015, 2016, 2017, 2018	National League Knockout Cup
2015	National League Gold Cup
2015	National Trophy

Career

2015-2016 seasons

Wood began speedway racing in 2015, signing for Eastbourne Eagles as one of their reserves after the team dropped down to the National League that season.^[3] During the season, he increased his average from the starting 3.00 to 5.90 and, after sitting August out with ligament damage to his knee, moved out of the reserve position to ride at number 2.^[4] Riding at number 2, he scored his first paid-maximum from 4 rides by scoring 11+1 on 12 September in a National Trophy fixture against Mildenhall Fen Tigers.^[5] Wood helped the Eagles win a National League treble, with the team winning the Knockout Cup, Gold Cup and National Trophy.^[6]

Following his successful first season, on 17 November 2015, it was confirmed that Wood would ride again for Eastbourne in the 2016 season.^[7] He had another good season, this time increasing his average to 7.62,^[8] spending most of the season riding as a heat-leader at number 3 or 4. Wood again won the Knockout Cup, with the Eagles defeating Birmingham Brummies in the final.^[9]

2017 season

Eastbourne

Wood signed for Eastbourne for the third season in a row on 17 November 2016,^[10] and he was also named team captain for the 2017 season. In July, Wood made it to the top of the Eastbourne's averages, meaning that he would ride at number 1 for the first time.^[11] He lost his place at number 1 to Jake Knight at the end of the month. He scored his first full maximum, getting 18 points from 6 rides, in the National League play-off semi-final against Kent Kings.^[12]

Wood finished the season with an average of 7.61, a slight decrease to his starting average.^[13] This was a consequence of having acquired the much trickier position of number 5 for most of the season. He also helped Eastbourne win the Knockout Cup for the third successive season; this time, the Eagles beat Mildenhall Fen Tigers in the final.^[14]

Sheffield

Due to his impressive start to the season with Eastbourne, on 19 July, Sheffield Tigers signed Wood as a replacement for the injured Nathan Stoneman at reserve, with a starting average of 2.00.^[15] Wood finished the season with an average of 2.31,^[16] and Sheffield won the SGB Championship by beating Ipswich Witches in the play-off final.^[17]

In heat 7 of the promotion/relegation meeting against Leicester Lions, Georgie Wood beat former British Speedway Champion Danny King.^[18][19]

2018 season

Eastbourne

On 21 December 2017, it was announced that Wood would ride for Eastbourne for the fourth successive season in the National League.^[20] Wood started in the number 5 position, but he regained the number 1 race jacket following the release of the first new set of averages.^[21] Wood lost the number 1 position to Tom Brennan for the month of July,^[22] but retook it in September; he stayed in it for the remainder of the season.^[23] For the fourth consecutive season, Wood won the Knockout Cup, with Eastbourne defeating Mildenhall Fen Tigers in the final.^[24] He also helped Eastbourne win their first league title in 18 years by winning the National League Play-Off Final against Mildenhall Fen Tigers.^[25]

Sheffield

Wood didn't start the season in the Sheffield septet; however, the Tigers had a poor start to the season and with Wood on top form for Eastbourne, Sheffield decided to make team changes. This saw Wood and Broc Nicol come into the side, on 20 June, to replace Jack Smith and Jan Graversen respectively.^[26] Wood gave up his Championship place on 27 July to focus on his racing with Eastbourne; he was replaced in the Sheffield side by Joe Lawlor.^[27]

2019 season

Eastbourne

Wood joined Eastbourne again for a fifth season in a row, and he continued with them in their move up to the SGB Championship.^[28] According to the Championship average declarations on 2 August 2019, Wood's average was 3.78.^[29] In late August 2019, according to Eastbourne Eagles and SpeedwayGB, Georgie Wood had been banned from racing in the leagues for 28 days because he had not been riding in certain speedway matches.^[30][31] His failure to ride in these matches was, in turn, due to medical problems.^[30]

Isle of Wight

With Eastbourne going into the Championship, Wood needed to find a new National League club. It was announced on 16 December 2018 that he had signed for the Isle of Wight Warriors.^[32] National League average declarations on 2 August 2019 gave him a 9.6 average.^[33]

References

1. "Georgie Wood". Grasstrack GB. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
2. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
3. "Eagles Make Double Signing". Speedway GB. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
4. "2015 National League Final Green Sheets Issue 25" (PDF). Speedway GB. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
5. "Eastbourne v Mildenhall" (PDF). Speedway GB. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
6. "Eagles celebrate the treble after last-race drama". The Argus. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
7. "Georgie Wood is first name on Eastbourne Eagles team sheet for 2016". Eastbourne Herald. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
8. "2016 National Development League Final Green Sheets Issue 27" (PDF). Speedway GB. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
9. "Eastbourne IT First Eagles end season in style with Knockout Cup win". The Argus. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
10. "Wood back at Eagles". Speedway GB. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
11. "2017 National Development League Issue 18" (PDF). Speedway GB. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
12. "Eastbourne v Kent" (PDF). Speedway GB. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
13. "2017 National Development League Final Averages Issue 33" (PDF). Speedway GB. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
14. "Eagles Retain KO Cup". Speedway GB. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
15. "Tigers Swoop For Georgie Boy". Sheffield Tigers. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
16. "2017 SGB Chamionship [sic] League Green Sheets - Final Issue" (PDF). Speedway GB. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
17. "Sheffield are Champions". Speedway GB. 1 October 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
18. "Leicester Vs Sheffield (Promotion/Relegation) 16/10/2017". Speedway Updates. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
19. "SpeedwayGB Scorecard - Leicester vs. Sheffield" (PDF). SpeedwayGB. 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
20. "Georgie signs on as Eagles take shape for 2018 season". Eastbourne Herald. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
21. "2018 National Development League Issue 11" (PDF). Speedway GB. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
22. "2018 National Development League Issue 18" (PDF). Speedway GB. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
23. "2018 National Development League Issue 31" (PDF). Speedway GB. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
24. "Eagles win again". The Eagles. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
25. "Just Champion". Eastbourne Eagles. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
26. "Double Swoop By Tigers". Sheffield Tigers. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
27. "Milestone Ningt at Owlerton". Speedway GB. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
28. "Eagles are Go!". Eastbourne Eagles. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
29. "Speedway Green Sheet Declarations" (PDF). SpeedwayGB. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
30. "TIME OUT FOR WOOD - British Speedway Official Website". www.speedwaygb.co.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
31. "Wood Hit With 28-day Ban". The Eagles. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
32. "Wood signs for Warriors". Speedway GB. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
33. "National League average declarations" (PDF). SpeedwayGB. Retrieved 4 August 2019.