Midland Riders' Championship

Midland Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen five times champion
Sport	motorcycle speedway
Founded	1952
Ceased	1987
Country	United Kingdom

The Midland Riders' Championship was an individual speedway competition for top riders of teams from the Midlands. ^[1]

History

The Midland Riders' Championship was introduced in 1952. ^[2] It was restricted to the riders who represented teams from the Midlands area. The competition was a significant competition at the time, due to the speedway teams from the Midlands being some of the leading teams in the United Kingdom (particularly in the 1980s) when Oxford, Coventry and Cradley Heath dominated UK speedway. ^[3]

Past winners

Year	Winner	Team	Venue	Ref
1952	Len Williams ( )	Leicester Hunters	Leicester Stadium	[4]
1953	Graham Warren ( )	Birmingham Brummies	Brandon Stadium
1954	Ron Mountford ( )	Birmingham Brummies	Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium
1955	Ken McKinlay ( )	Leicester Hunters	Leicester Stadium
1956	Ken McKinlay ( )	Leicester Hunters	Brandon Stadium	[5]
1957 not staged due to consequences of the Suez Crisis				[1]
1958	Jack Geran ( )	Leicester Hunters	Oxford Stadium
1959	Ken McKinlay ( )	Leicester Hunters	Leicester Stadium
1960	Henryk Żyto ( )	Coventry Bees	Brandon Stadium
1961	Jack Geran ( )	Leicester Hunters	Abbey Stadium
1962	Nigel Boocock ( )	Coventry Bees	Brandon Stadium
1963	Arne Pander ( )	Oxford Cheetahs	Oxford Stadium
1964	Barry Briggs ( )	Swindon Robins	Oxford Stadium
1965 not included in the calendar				[1]
1966	Barry Briggs ( )	Swindon Robins	Brandon Stadium
1967	Barry Briggs ( )	Swindon Robins	Brandon Stadium
1968	Nigel Boocock ( )	Coventry Bees	Brandon Stadium
1969	Norman Hunter ( )	Wolverhampton Wolves	Brandon Stadium
1970	Barry Briggs ( )	Swindon Robins	Brandon Stadium
1971	Ole Olsen ( )	Wolverhampton Wolves	Brandon Stadium
1972	Ole Olsen ( )	Wolverhampton Wolves	Brandon Stadium
1973	John Boulger ( )	Leicester Lions	Brandon Stadium
1974	Dave Jessup ( )	Leicester Lions	Brandon Stadium
1975	Ole Olsen ( )	Wolverhampton Wolves	Brandon Stadium
1976	Ole Olsen ( )	Coventry Bees	Brandon Stadium
1977 final not staged due to bad weather				[6]
1978	Ole Olsen ( )	Coventry Bees	Brandon Stadium
1979	Hans Nielsen ( )	Wolverhampton Wolves	Brandon Stadium
1980	Scott Autrey ( )	Swindon Robins	Brandon Stadium
1981	Erik Gundersen ( )	Cradley Heathens	Brandon Stadium
1982	Erik Gundersen ( )	Cradley Heathens	Brandon Stadium
1983	Erik Gundersen ( )	Cradley Heathens	Brandon Stadium
1984	Lance King ( )	Cradley Heathens	Brandon Stadium
1985	Hans Nielsen ( )	Oxford Cheetahs	Brandon Stadium
1986	Tommy Knudsen ( )	Coventry Bees	Brandon Stadium

References

1. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 66. ISBN   0-86215-017-5.
2. "Leicester back Midland rider's championship" . Leicester Evening Mail. 4 February 1952. Retrieved 8 December 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
4. "Brilliant riding by Len Williams" . Leicester Evening Mail. 1 October 1952. Retrieved 11 October 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "This was the old Len Williams" . Leicester Evening Mail. 2 June 1956. Retrieved 11 October 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. Oakes, Peter (1978). 1978 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 43. ISBN   978-0904584509.