BRITISH CAREER
(1989) Poole; (1990-92) Swindon; (1993-95) Arena-Essex; (1996) London; (1997-9 Swindon; (1999-00) King’s Lynn; (2001-02) Oxford; (2003) Poole; (2004-07) Swindon.

Leigh Scott Adams was born in Mildura, Victoria, Australia on 28 April 1971.

Mildura is a small fruit town, which is famous for producing an outstanding crop of speedway riders, who all cut their teeth around the Olympic Park track. They include 1980s Swindon legend Phil Crump and, of course, his son Jason.

Adams has thus far enjoyed three spells with the Robins, completing nine full seasons during which he has endeared himself to the Blunsdon patrons with his brilliant performances. Indeed, the only time he has failed to finish a season as Swindon’s leading rider occurred in 1990 - only his second year on these shores, but his debut season in top-flight British League racing.

Leigh first came to England on vacation in 1988, and actually completed four matches for Poole in the National Junior League, the first of which was at Arena-Essex on 20 August. The potential was there for all to see as he gleaned 6 points and he was to average exactly 9.00 from his holiday stint with the club.

Adams had originally been recommended to Poole by that wonderful judge of Australian talent Neil Street, and it was the Pirates he subsequently joined for their National League Championship winning season of 1989, when he rode alongside Craig Boyce, Alun Rossiter, Gary Allan, Tony Langdon and Kevin Smart, among others.

To further his career, Leigh then moved up a league to join Swindon for a reputed £20,000 plus transfer fee in time for the 1990 campaign. He made his Robins’ debut when scoring 8+2 points from six rides against Oxford in a Gold Cup match at Blunsdon on 24 March.

Adams won the first of his nine Australian national titles in 1992, and also captured the World Under-21 Championship after beating Mark Loram in a title run-off at Pfaffenhofen, Germany on 23 August that same year.

With Swindon suffering relegation to Division Two after a difficult 1992 campaign, Leigh was to spend three years with Arena-Essex (1993-95), followed by a single season at London (1996). He then returned to Swindon in 1997, when he recorded a huge 9.96 average in the inaugural season of Elite League activity.

Adams was again on board with the Robins in 1998 and although his league average dipped slightly to 8.95, he still amassed a massive total of 418 points in the club’s cause.

With Swindon again dropping into the lower league for 1999, the super-smooth speedster found himself without a track until King’s Lynn swooped for his services at the end of April. The Aussie joined the Norfolk side as a replacement for Tomas Topinka, who had surprisingly been axed from the team by the then promotion.

Leigh also remained at the super-fast Saddlebow Road circuit for the 2000 campaign, a season when he topped the entire Elite League averages with a 10.24 figure.

In 2001, the man from Mildura linked with Oxford and, along with Todd Wiltshire, Brian Andersen, Steve Johnston, Andrew Appleton and the Dryml brothers (Ales and Lukas), he helped the Cheetahs to lift the Elite League Championship.

Renowned for his armchair style of riding, Leigh remained with Oxford in 2002, a year which also saw him help Australia to retain the British-staged Speedway World Cup, which they had won the previous year at Wroclaw, Poland. That being Leigh’s third such triumph with Australia as they had also taken glory in the 1999 World Team Cup final at Pardubice, Czech Republic.

The 2003 term saw Adams register a 9.97 league average back with Poole, and in a glorious season the Pirates scooped a terrific treble success, winning the Championship, Knock-Out Cup and British League Cup.

The year also saw him awarded a much-deserved testimonial, with his special meeting going ahead at Swindon on 31 July, when a packed Abbey Stadium paid tribute to one of