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Wimbledon Dons
The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London from 1929 until 1991. The team were seven times champions of Britain. History Origins The speedway track opened at Wimbledon Stadium during the pioneer days of speedway in the United Kingdom on the Bank holiday of 26 May 1928 with an open meeting. The stadium had been opened one year previous for greyhound racing and the speedway track was constructed inside the greyhound track. The Wimbledon Dons were founder members of the 1929 Speedway Southern League and held their first home league fixture on 6 May against Birmingham Brummies, Birmingham Perry Barr. 1930s The Dons improved to a fourth place finish in 1930 and then finished 5th in 1931, struggling to match fellow London team, the Wembley Lions (speedway), Wembley Lions who dominated the league. Wimbledon signed some of the sports early stars, such as Jim Kempster, Dicky Case, Billy Lamont (sp ...
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Wimbledon Dons Speedway Logo AI Generated
Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * Wimbledon (ecclesiastical parish) * Wimbledon (UK Parliament constituency) * Municipal Borough of Wimbledon, a former borough Other places * Wimbledon, New South Wales, Australia, see Georges Plains * Wimbledon, New Zealand, a locality in the Tararua District of New Zealand * Wimbledon, North Dakota, a small town in the United States Sport * Wimbledon RFC, an amateur rugby club * Wimbledon F.C., a former football club (1889–2004) * AFC Wimbledon, a professional football club * AFC Wimbledon Women, a women's football club * Wimbledon Dons, a former motorcycle speedway team * Wimbledon Hockey Club, a field hockey club based in Wimbledon * Wimbledon Stadium, a now-demolished dog and motor cycle racing track * Imperial Meeting or Wimbledo ...
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Belle Vue Aces
The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 14 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, with home matches usually taking place on Monday evenings. They also run a second team in the National Development League, known as the Belle Vue Colts. History Origins Racing in Belle Vue first took place on 28 July 1928 at the Belle Vue greyhound stadium in Kirkmanshulme Lane. Mr G. A. Hunting, manager of the International Speedways Ltd was the promoter but the season was restriced to various open meetings and there was no league structure. The season ended early in September following problems with the track surface. The following year in 1929, the North Manchester Speedway Club, who had previously arranged fixtures for the International Speedways Ltd moved the speedway to the recently built 40,000 capacity Hyde Road stadium nearb ...
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Geoff Mardon
Geoffrey Cyril Mardon (24 November 1927 – 6 August 2015) was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He earned 10 caps for the New Zealand national speedway team. Career Mardon began riding at the Aranui Speedway in Christchurch in 1949, the same track that would later start the careers of World Champions and fellow Christchurch natives Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger. He moved to England in 1951 and joined the third division team, Aldershot Shots. He qualified as second reserve for the 1951 World Final. The following year he moved up the first division to ride for the Wimbledon Dons. He rode in the 1953 World Final and finished in 3rd place. In 1954 Mardon was the third highest individual points scorer in the National League. He rode in the World final again and he won the Brandonapolis at Coventry. Later in the year he married Valerie Moore, the sister of Ronnie Moore. At the beginning of 1955 he decided to retire and live in New Zealand. After a four-year break Sout ...
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West Ham Stadium
West Ham Stadium existed between 1928 and 1972 in Custom House, Newham, Custom House, east London, England, on Prince Regent Lane, near the present-day Prince Regent DLR station. The venue was used for Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing and motorcycle speedway, speedway on weekdays and had no connection with West Ham United F.C., West Ham United football club, who played at the nearby Boleyn Ground, Upton Park, London, Upton Park from 1904 until 2016. Greyhound racing Origins Plans for a very large stadium in a rural area near Plaistow Marsh, east of Canning Town were unveiled in the late 1920s and work began on the structure where an old sports ground (built in 1855) was situated that had belonged to the workers of the custom house of Royal Victoria Dock. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch, responsible for most of the major football stadia at the time including Goodison Park and Arsenal Stadium, Highbury. There was a large two tier stand a ...
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Ernie Roccio
Ernest Thomas Roccio (16 September 1927 – 22 July 1952) was a motorcycle speedway rider from the United States. Speedway career Roccio was a leading speedway rider in the early 1950s. He reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in the 1951 Individual Speedway World Championship. He rode in the top tier of British Speedway, riding for Wimbledon Dons. Previously he had raced for the Shelbourne Tigers in Dublin along with his brother John Roccio. While riding for Wimbledon on 22 July 1952 he was killed after crashing into the fence at high speed at West Ham Stadium, it has been reported that he died instantly but the newspaper report states he died in hospital. World Final Appearances * 1951 - London, Wembley Stadium - 15th - 2pts See also Rider deaths in motorcycle speedway This article lists riders who have died competing at motorcycle speedway events. During the mid-2000s air fences were installed at most oval cinder/shale tracks, which consequently and sig ...
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Ronnie Moore (speedway Rider)
Ronald Leslie Moore (8 March 1933 – 18 August 2018) 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. Biography Moore was born in Hobart, Tasmania in 1933. He moved with his family to New Zealand when he was still a child, and although he was born in Australia, Moore always considered himself to be a New Zealander and rode under the flag of his adopted home. Moore began riding at the Aranui Speedway in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1949 at the age of 15. He moved to England and rode for the Wimbledon Dons from 1950 to 1956. In 1950 at the age of 17, Moore was the youngest rider ever to qualify for the final of the Speedway World Championship. Moore represented Australia in Test Match series in England in 1951 ...
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Cyril Brine
Cyril Harry Brine (6 February 1918 in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, EnglandAddison J. (1948). ''The People Speedway Guide''. Odhams Press Limited – 1988) was an international motorcycle speedway, speedway who qualified for the Speedway World Championship finals twice.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Career Brine began speedway racing in 1938. He initially rode at the training track at Rye House Rockets, Rye House. Brine spent his entire career with one club, the Wimbledon Dons,Jacobs, Norman (2001). ''Speedway in London''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing where he made over 460 league appearances and scored over 2700 points, a club record. In his seventeen-season career with the Dons, he won the National League (1932–1964), National League Championship seven times and the Knockout Cup (speedway), National Trophy seven times. During the speedway winters, he built bike frames in a Boreham Wood garage, with ...
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Alec Statham
Alec George Statham (30 May 1912 Coventry, England – 8 March 1977) was a Speedway rider who won the London Riders' Championship in 1949. He earned 22 international caps for the England national speedway team. Biography Statham began grasstrack racing at the age of sixteen. He first rode in speedway as a novice at the Brandon track, going on to ride for Coventry, signed for Birmingham in 1932, and then Southampton, riding as a hobby with his garage business his main priority.Morgan, Tom (1949) ''Who's Who in Speedway 1949'', Sport-in-Print, p. 68 He rode for the Harringay Tigers in 1935 before dropping down a division to the Southampton Saints. He gave up racing, thinking he was not good enough to progress, but due to financial difficulties with his garage business in 1937 he returned to the National League with Harringay, soon rising to heat leader status.Storey, Basil (1947) "Once Rode Just for Fun", in ''Speedway Favourites'', Sport-in-Print, p. 7 After the Second Wor ...
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Norman Parker (speedway Rider)
Norman Parker (14 January 1908 – 27 April 1999) was an international speedway rider who rode in the inaugural Speedway World Championship in 1936 as a reserve. He earned 36 international caps for the England national speedway team. Career Born in Birmingham, England, Parker joined Coventry in 1929, and remained there until 1933 when he moved on to join the Southampton Saints.Storey, Basil (1947) "Carpentry to Cinders", in ''Speedway Favourites'', Sport-in-Print, p. 8 He then moved to Clapton Saints and then the Harringay Tigers. He and his older brother Jack rode in the same teams until the outbreak of war.Jacobs, Norman (2001). ''Speedway in London''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing In 1934 Parker made his international debut for England. After the war Parker joined the Wimbledon Dons and was appointed captain. In 1948, he finished runner up in the Australian Championship. In 1949, he finished fourth in the Speedway World Championship and made his last World Final appea ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ...
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British Newspaper Archive
The British Newspaper Archive website provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011. History The British Library's Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London until 2013, and is now divided between the St Pancras and Boston Spa sites. The library has an almost complete collection of British and Irish newspapers since 1840. This is partly because of the legal deposit legislation of 1869, which required newspapers to supply a copy of each edition of a newspaper to the library. London editions of national daily and Sunday newspapers are complete back to 1801. In total, the collection consists of 660,000 bound volumes and 370,000 reels of microfilm containing tens of millions of newspapers with 52,000 titles on 45 km of shelves. After the closure of Colindale in November 2013, access to the 750 million original printed pages was maintained via an automated and climate-controlled storage fac ...
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Eric Collins (speedway Rider)
Eric Francis Collins (5 October 1910 – 23 February 1954) was an Australian international motorcycle speedway rider who rode in the early days of speedway in the United Kingdom. Career Collins rode for Lea Bridge during the 1931 Speedway Southern League. In 1932, he then switched to Plymouth Tigers, after the formation of the National League. It was during the 1932 season that he also reached the final of the 1932 Star Riders' Championship, which was considered at the time to be the World Championship of speedway. After staying in Australia for two seasons he joined Wimbledon Dons and rode for them from 1935 to 1939. He also doubled up for Bristol Bulldogs in 1936. He won the National Trophy with Wimbledon during the 1938 Speedway National League, where he top scored during the home leg of the final. Players cigarette cards Collins is listed as number 9 of 50 in the 1930s Player's cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobac ...
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