Lejonen

Infobox Speedway team
clubname =Lejonen


track = Axelent Arena
Gislaved
Jönköping County
Sweden
country = flagicon|SWE Sweden
founded = 1936
closed =
manager = Anders Fröjd and Jesper Lindroth
captain = David Ruud
league = Elitserien
website = [http://www.lejonen.se Official Website]
colours = Black, gold and red
nickname = Lions
tracksize = 380 metres
track record time= 65.5 seconds
track record date= 2008
track record holder= Nicki Pedersen
teamhonour = Allsvenskan Champions
teamyear = 2007

Lejonen is a speedway club from Gislaved in Sweden who compete in the Swedish Elitserien. Their home track is at the Axelent Arena which is Sweden's oldest track still in use.cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lejonen Speedway site | work = | publisher = Lejonen speedway | date = | url = http://www.lejonen.se | language = Swedish | accessdate = 2008-09-10 ]

History

In December 1929 Gislaved Motorclub was formed and by 1931 the track was built. The track was originally convert|6|m|ft wide and convert|400|m|yd long but in 1936 it was widened to convert|10|m|ft and during the 1980s the inside edge of the track was moved and the length was reduced to convert|380|m|ft. In 1963 the Lejonen team began racing in Division Three and became the champions in 1965. Lejonen finished at the top of Division Two (the Allsvenskan) in 2007 and defeated Valsarna in the play-off final to gain promotion to the Elitserien for 2008. [cite web | url = http://www.speedwayworld.tv/en/swedishleague/a8652 | title = Swedish Leagues | publisher = Benfield Sports International | year = 2007 | accessdate = 2008-09-11]

During the winter of 2007-08 track underwent major changes to accommodate Elitserien racing and the club announced the signing of Nicki Pedersen, the 2007 World Champion. [cite web | url = http://www.speedwayworld.tv/en/swedishleague/a8686 | title = Nicki makes the switch | publisher = Benfield Sports International | year = 2007 | accessdate = 2008-09-11]

2008 Squad

*flagicon|DEN Nicki Pedersen
*flagicon|SWE Anton Göthberg
*flagicon|AUS Chris Holder
*flagicon|SWE Christopher Öberg
*flagicon|POL Daniel Jeleniewski
*flagicon|SWE David Ruud
*flagicon|SWE Jonathan Normén
*flagicon|SWE Kim Almquist
*flagicon|POL Maciej Kuciapa
*flagicon|POL Mario Wegrzyk
*flagicon|SWE Mattias Nilsson
*flagicon|POL Piotr Swiderski
*flagicon|SWE Ricky Kling
*flagicon|POL Sebastian Ułamek
*flagicon|POL Tomasz Jędrzejak

References

External Links

* [http://www.lejonen.se Official Website]
* [http://www.speedway.nu/ Swedish speedway teams and results]