Arthur Atkinson (speedway rider)

Arthur Atkinson (12 November 1911 – July 1993)[1] was a former international motorcycle speedway rider and promoter who appeared in the first Speedway World Championship final in 1936.[2][3]

Arthur Atkinson
Born12 November 1911 (1911-11-12)
Nelson, Lancashire
DiedJuly 1993 (aged 81)
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1929Leeds Lions
1930Wembley Lions
1931-1939, 1951West Ham Hammers
1952-1953Harringay Racers
Individual honours
1930WA State Champion (Aus)
1930Australian Champion (2 miles)
Team honours
1929English Dirt Track League Champions
1930Southern League Champions
1937National League Champions
1930, 1952, 1953London Cup
1938ACU Cup
1937Coronation Gold Cup Best Pairs
1952National Trophy
1953Coronation Cup

Career

Atkinson began riding motorcycles at the age of thirteen.[4] He rode in trials and grasstrack before taking up speedway in 1928 with Blackpool.[4] In 1929 he joined Leeds, captaining the team, and in 1930 won the Western Australia Championship.[4] In 1930 he joined the Johnnie Hoskins-managed Wembley Lions.[4] The team won the Southern League[5] but in the last league meeting of the season Atkinson was left unconscious after a crash. He missed the most of the 1931 season after a dispute with Wembley but in September 1931 he joined the West Ham Hammers.[6]

Atkinson toured Australia in 1929/30, winning both the first of two Australian 2 mile Championship's held at the Exhibition Speedway in Melbourne,[7] and the Western Australian Championship at the Claremont Speedway in Perth.

1936 saw Atkinson selected for England against Australia in the test series and was a regular up to the war.[8] He would go on to earn 30 international caps.[3]

In 1937 the Hammers won the National League Championship and in 1938 they won the ACU Cup. Atkinson remained with Hammers until the outbreak of World War II, in which Atkinson served in the Royal Air Force.[4][6]

After the war he managed the West Ham Hammers alongside Stan Greatrex from 1946 until 1949.[6] In 1950 Atkinson and his wife Eileen 'Tippy' Thorpe (whom he married in 1937 - they met while she was working as Johnnie Hoskins' secretary) became promoters at the newly formed Rayleigh Rockets.[9] Whilst promoting at Rayleigh he returned to riding again, for West Ham, but the twelve years away from competitive riding showed in his scoring. In 1952 he was signed by the Harringay Racers for £80 and scored reasonably well but after a poor start to 1953 Atkinson retired from racing for ever.[10]

In addition to his speedway career, he ran a farm with his wife.[4]

World final appearances
  • 1936 - England London, Wembley Stadium - 16th - 3pts + 6 semi-final points
  • 1937 - England London, Wembley Stadium - 14th - 6pts + 8 semi-final points
  • 1938 - England London, Wembley Stadium - 11th - 5pts + 5 semi-final points [2]

Players cigarette cards

Atkinson is listed as number 2 of 50 in the 1930s Player's cigarette card collection.[11]

References
  1. Bamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) Speedway - The Pre War Years, Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2749-0
  2. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
  3. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  4. Sandys, Leonard (1948) Broadside to Fame! The Drama of the Speedways, Findon, p. 15
  5. Jacobs, N & Lipscombe, P (2005). Wembley Speedway : The Pre-War Years. Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-3750-X
  6. Belton, Brian (2003). Hammerin' Round. Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-2438-6
  7. "Individual Australian Championship". Historia Sportu Zuzlowego. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  8. Foster, P. (2005) History of the Speedway Ashes, The History Press Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-3468-3
  9. Jacobs, Norman (2000). Speedway in East Anglia. Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-1882-3
  10. Jacobs, Norman (2001). Speedway in London. Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-2221-9
  11. "Speedway Riders". Speedway Museum Online. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
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