Origins and 1940s The Oxford Motorcycle Speedway Club moved to Oxford Stadium in 1939 from a grass circuit in
Sandford-on-Thames. The Secretary Ted Mander orchestrated the move and the first individual meeting was held on Easter Saturday 8 April 1939 won by Roy Duke. The club contested team meetings against Smallford, Wisbech,
High Beech and Reading. Racing resumed on 28 April 1940, with guest teams racing. This was followed by just two meetings in 1941 before Mander announced that racing would be suspended for the duration of the
World War II. Despite the war ending in 1945 there was no racing from 1942 to 1948. However, during 1948 the stadium owner Leslie Calcutt unsuccessfully applied to the Speedway Control Board for a licence to race in the Third Division. After finishing bottom of the division two in
1952 they rode in the third division called the
Southern League in 1953 but following a league restructure, which included the signing of
Ronnie Genz, the Cheetahs returned to division two in 1954. Following a league merger the Cheetahs rode in the top tier for the first time in
1957. The team continued to race in the top tier but did not manage to gain any notable success.
1960s The Cheetahs headed
Arne Pander record a third place finish in 1960 and then after struggling in the top division for several years they dramatically won the top-tier league for the first time in
1964 despite finishing last the season before with many of the same riders. The winning team consisted of
Ron How, Arne Pander,
Jimmy Gooch, Ronnie Genz,
Colin Gooddy,
Jack Geran, Colin McKee, Eddie Reeves and John Bishop. They also completed a treble by winning the
National Trophy and Britannia Shield. The team failed to emulate the success in the following season, primarily due to the creation of the
British League and a division of 18 teams, which forced members of the team to depart under the Speedway Control Board rules. The results suffered and towards the end of the sixties, the team struggled. The takeover was by a new consortium, which included former riders
Bob Dugard and
Danny Dunton, Dave Lanning and the famous musician
Acker Bilk. The team under performed badly, finishing 17th from 18 teams despite the new image and failed to make any impact in subsequent seasons. Following the threat of track closure the promoters started a new team at
White City Stadium called the
White City Rebels leaving Oxford with no team or riders. A new Oxford team were formed after a committee of fans had created a "Save Our Stadium" campaign over the previous winter and entered the
1976 National League season (tier 2). The club dumped the unpopular name of Rebels and reverted back to the Cheetahs under new promoters
Harry Bastable and Tony Allsop and the venue was known again as Oxford Stadium. In 1977, Oxford Stadium was purchased by David Hawkins' Northern Sports for £250,000, ending the concern about permanent closure. The team continued to compete in the second division and saw the number riders include the likes of
Martin Yeates and
George Hunter. The Cheetahs broke all transfer fee records by signing Danish international
Hans Nielsen from Birmingham for a record £30,000,
Simon Wigg from Cradley Heath for £25,000,
Marvyn Cox for £15,000 from Rye House,
Melvyn Taylor for £12,000 from King's Lynn and Dane
Jens Rasmussen.
Midland Cup and pairs. The Oxford City council gave the team a civic reception and parade through Oxford on an open top bus. The following season, the team won a clean sweep of five trophies, winning the league, KO Cup, League Cup, Midland Cup and pairs. Hans Nielsen, was arguably the world's leading rider during the period, topping the league averages a remarkable seven consecutive seasons and being crowned world champion three times in 1986, 1987 and 1989. The Cheetahs won a third league championship in 1989, with
Martin Dugard supporting Nielsen and Wigg in the averages.
1990s Northern Sports parent company Hawkins of Harrow began to run into financial trouble and the team suffered lack of investment, Hans Nielsen left and the team applied to and raced in division two in 1993. They won the division two fours championship in 1994. Northern Sports were later liquidated, meaning the team was not financed by the stadium owners. Additionally in 1995 and 1996 there was only one division of British speedway meaning the Oxford Cheetahs returned to the top division under independent promoters.
2000s Promoter Steve Purchase signed Australian
Leigh Adams for the
2001 season and supported by Wiltshire,
Brian Andersen,
Steve Johnston and the Dryml brothers
Lukáš and
Aleš, the Cheetahs became
champions of Britain for the fifth time. The Oxford Cheetahs were renamed for three seasons as the Oxford Silver Machine from 2003 to 2005, under the promotion of Nigel Wagstaff. Again the renaming was not popular with the fans but number 1 rider
Greg Hancock was. However, in 2006 they reverted to their original name, which was apt because it would be their final full season as a top tier speedway team for 18 years. Until 30 May 2007, the Cheetahs rode in the Elite League and operated a junior side known as the
Oxford Lions which competed in the
Conference League. In a statement issued by the
British Speedway Promoters Association on 31 May 2007, their owner Colin Horton closed the club as a result of poor attendances and financial losses. In June 2007, businessman Allen Trump invested in the club (also sponsoring the club via LCD Publishing) to secure the lease on the track and the Cheetahs completed the 2007 season in the Conference League, replacing the Lions. After the 2007 season, owner Allen Trump planned to bring the Cheetahs back into the Premier League for 2008. However, Trump was unable to secure a deal with landlords, the
Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) to continue speedway racing at the Cowley and handed the promotion back to the BSPA. Further negotiations with the GRA were unsuccessful and Oxford had no speedway for 14 years. A number of committed fans keen to see the return of speedway to Oxford remained active. Two supporters groups, the Oxford Speedway Supporters Club (OSSC) and Save Oxford Speedway (SOS) held regular events and trips for Oxford fans and actively campaigned for the return of speedway to Oxford.
2020s On 11 November 2021, it was confirmed that the Cheetahs would return for the 2022 season in the
SGB Championship, after a 14-year absence from British Speedway. The stadium had been leased to Kevin Boothby, who was keen to bring back the sport.
Jamie Courtney would be the team promoter. The Cheetahs also ran a junior side called the Chargers for the
2022 NDL season and
2023 NDL season, winning the league title during the latter. In 2024, Oxford named three teams to compete in all three tiers of British speedway (the first time that a club had a team in each of the three leagues). The Cheetahs remained in the Championship, the Spires into the Premiership, and the Chargers remained in the NDL. The Cheetahs reached the play-off and knockout cup finals. == Previous teams (from 1949) ==