Harry Whitfield

Last updated

Harry Whitfield
Born9 May 1908 (1908-05-09)
Middlesbrough, England
Died14 September 1988(1988-09-14) (aged 80)
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1929-1935 Wembley Lions
1936-1937 Harringay Racers
1939 Sheffield Tigers
Individual honours
1930 Scottish Champion
Team honours
1932 National League Champion
1930, 1931 Southern League Champion
1931, 1932 National Trophy Winner
1930, 1932, 1933 London Cup Winner

Henry Whitfield (9 May 1908 - 14 September 1988) was a British motorcycle speedway rider who went on to manage Middlesbrough Bears. He earned one international caps for the England national speedway team. [1]

Career

Originally from Middlesbrough, Whitfield was one of the top British riders of the early 1930s, riding for Wembley Lions [2] and also for the England national team, competing in the Test series against Australia in 1931. [3] He was one of the first British riders to challenge the dominance of Australian riders. [3] He was also one of the first riders recognised as developing team riding (where both riders attempt to hold the front of the race together), forming a successful partnershp with George Greenwood. [4]

He won the Scottish Championship in 1930 and an unofficial World Championship event at the Sydney Showground Speedway in Australia on 4 March 1933. [5] Whitfield had earlier won the first qualifying round for the 1933 Final at the Claremont Speedway in Perth, Western Australia on 3 December 1932. All four qualifying rounds were held in Australia.

During World War II, while serving with the Royal Air Force in North Africa, he created makeshift tracks in the desert with petrol tins as crash barriers and organised racing with dispatch riders. This led to meetings being held in the Trani Stadium, in South-Eastern Italy in 1944 and 1945. [6]

After the war, Whitfield became manager of the Middlesbrough Bears, leading them to the Northern League title in 1946. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluey Wilkinson</span> Australian speedway rider (1911–1940)

Arthur George "Bluey" Wilkinson was an Australian speedway rider. Wilkinson was Speedway World Champion in 1938 after narrowly missing out on winning the inaugural Championship in 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Ormston</span> British motorcycle speedway rider

John Glaholme Ormston was a motorcycle speedway rider who finished runner-up in the Star Riders' Championship in 1935, the forerunner to the Speedway World Championship. He also competed in the first ever World Final in 1936. He earned 14 international caps for the England national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Moore (speedway rider)</span> New Zealand speedway rider (1933–2018)

Ronald Leslie Moore was a New Zealand international motorcycle speedway rider. He twice won the Individual World Speedway Championship, in 1954 and 1959. He earned 13 international caps for the Australia national speedway team, 50 caps for the New Zealand national speedway team and 21 caps for the Great Britain national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speedway World Championship</span> Motorcycle speedway competition

The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championships were held in 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Boocock</span> British motorcycle speedway rider

Eric Henry Boocock is a former motorcycle speedway rider who appeared in three Speedway World Championship finals. He was the joint manager of the Great Britain national speedway team with Colin Pratt and earned 53 international caps for the England national speedway team and 37 caps for Great Britain.

John Robert Vickers (Ken) McKinlay was a British international motorcycle speedway rider. He earned 23 caps for the Scotland national speedway team, 92 caps for the England national speedway team and 23 caps for the Great Britain team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aub Lawson</span> Australian speedway rider

Aubrey "Aub" Lawson was an Australian international speedway rider who featured in ten World Championship finals including the 1939 final which was never run due to the outbreak of World War II.

The Middlesbrough Bears were a British speedway team which operated under various names from 1929 until their closure in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Parker (speedway rider)</span> British motorcycle speedway rider

John (Jack) Parker was an international motorcycle speedway rider who made his debut at the Whitsun meeting at High Beech in 1928. He won the British Riders' Championship in 1949 and finished second in the 1949 World Championship. He earned 89 international caps for the England national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Kitchen (speedway rider)</span> English speedway rider (1908–1994)

William Kitchen was an international speedway rider who started his career with the Belle Vue Aces in 1933. He earned 41 international caps for the England national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwich Stars</span> Motorcycle speedway team based in Norwich, England

Norwich Stars were a motorcycle speedway team based in Norwich, England, which operated from 1930 until their closure in 1964.

William George Henry Pitcher was an international motorcycle speedway rider who rode in the first ever World Championship final in 1936. He earned 7 international caps for the England national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoff Pymar</span> British motorcycle speedway rider

Geoffrey Pymar was an English international motorcycle speedway rider who rode in the World Championship final in 1938. He earned 12 international caps for the England national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Harrison (speedway rider)</span> British motorcycle speedway rider

Robert Edwin Harrison was an international speedway rider who featured in the first Speedway World Championship in final in 1936.

John Walter Denton Oliver was an international motorcycle speedway rider who qualified for the Speedway World Championship finals three times. He earned 19 international caps for the England national speedway team.

Derick Tallentire Close was a British motorcycle speedway rider, who reached the final of Speedway World Championship in 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Boothroyd</span> English speedway rider (1927–2022)

Eric Boothroyd was an international motorcycle speedway rider from England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Greenwood (speedway rider)</span> British speedway rider

George Greenwood was an international motorcycle speedway rider from England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliff Parkinson</span> English speedway rider

George Clifford Parkinson was a motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned 17 international caps for the England national speedway team and 7 caps for the Great Britain team.

Norman Evans was an international motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned one international cap for the England national speedway team.

References

  1. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "Harry Whitfield Wembley's New Star Rider" . Rugby Advertiser. 7 June 1929. Retrieved 11 October 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. 1 2 3 Morgan, Tom (1947) The People Speedway Guide, Odhams Press, p. 73, 83
  4. ↑ "Speedway Riders 16 George Greenwood". Speedway Museum Online. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Speedway World Champions", Speedwaychampions.com, retrieved 2012-02-04
  6. ↑ "Radio Appeal" . Weekly Dispatch (London). 22 July 1945. Retrieved 10 October 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.