Andrew George Grahame (born 10 September 1957 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England) is a former

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider. He earned 16 international caps for the

England national speedway team The Great Britain national speedway team (formerly the England speedway team) is one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by th ...

Career

Grahame began his British leagues career when he joined his older brother Alan Grahame at

Birmingham Brummies Birmingham Brummies are a British Motorcycle speedway, speedway team founded in 1928. They were inaugural members of the Southern League (1929–31), Southern League in 1929. The team have twice finished runner-up in the highest tier of Britis ...

for the

1976 British League season Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

. Over the next three seasons he would only make a handful of appearances for the Midlands club so doubled up with

Milton Keynes Knights The Milton Keynes Knights are a former Motorcycle speedway, Speedway team, which operated from 1978 until their closure in 1992. The team were revived from 2012 to 2018 racing at various venues outside of Milton Keynes. History Origins and ...

in 1978, where he managed a 6.17 average. In 1979, he significantly improved his average for Birmingham and was the top rider at Milton Keynes. He also won the 1979 National League Pairs, partnering Bob Humphreys, during the

1979 National League season The 1979 National League was contested as the second division/tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom. Summary The league was reduced from 20 teams to 19 from the previous season. White City Rebels closure saw their riders move to Eastbourne ...

. From 1980 to 1983 he only rode for Birmingham and finished second in the team averages three seasons running behind Danish superstar Hans Nielsen. Grahame won the

British Speedway Championship The British Speedway Championship is an annual motorcycle speedway competition open to British national speedway riders. The winner of the event becomes the British Speedway Champion. History Inaugurated in 1961 as a qualifying round of the S ...

in 1982 and made it to the World Final in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

as reserve but did not ride. In 1984, he rode for Wolverhampton before being signed by

Oxford Cheetahs The Oxford Cheetahs are a British Motorcycle speedway, speedway teamLawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. based at Oxford Stadium, in Oxford, England. They were founded in 1939 and are five times champions of Britain, in 1964 Speed ...

for the 1985 British League season. At Oxford he teamed up again with Hans Nielsen and the pair formed a formidable partnership at positions 1 and 2 in the team. He was part of the league and cup double winning team in both

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

. In 1987, he teamed up with Nielsen to win the

British League Pairs Championship The British League Pairs Championship was a motorcycle speedway contest between the top two riders from each club competing in the British League in the United Kingdom, or the top division thereof when it had multiple divisions. History The me ...

, held at Smallmead Stadium. He spent a year at Wolverhampton in 1988 after signing fo £12,000 before returning to Oxford again for the 1989 British League season, where he won another league title. In 1990, he left Oxford to drop down a division and joined

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 ...

. He won the

National League Riders' Championship The National League Riders' Championship is an annual motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti ...

, held on 15 September 1990 at

Brandon Stadium Brandon Stadium, also known as Coventry Stadium, is located 6 miles east of Coventry in Brandon, Warwickshire, England. It was the home of the Coventry Bees motorcycle speedway team. It also hosted BriSCA F1 Stock Car Racing on the 1st Saturd ...

and also topped Wimbledon's averages. He would reach his seventh British final in 1993 and continued to ride until the end of 1994.

World Final Appearances

, Memorial Coliseum - Reserve - did not ride

Brothers

His brother Alan Grahame also rode for the Oxford Cheetahs in 1993 and 1994 and both rode together for the Cradley Heathens in 2009."Ermolenko keen to renew rivalry"
''BBC Sport'', 10 March 2009 Another brother

John Grahame John Gillies Mark Grahame (born August 31, 1975) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes. He won the Stanley Cup with t ...

also rode professional speedway.

Popular culture

Andy's image is depicted on

Proof of Youth ''Proof of Youth'' is the second studio album by English band The Go! Team. Released It was released on 10 September 2007 in the United Kingdom by Memphis Industries and a day later in the United States by Sub Pop. ''Proof of Youth'' was pre ...

an album released in 2007 by the Brighton band

The Go! Team The Go! Team are an English indie rock band from Brighton, England. The band initially began as a solo project conceived by Ian Parton; however, after the unexpected success of the Go! Team's debut album, '' Thunder, Lightning, Strike'', Parton ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grahame, Andrew 1957 births Living people Motorcycle racers from Birmingham, West Midlands British speedway riders English motorcycle racers British Speedway Championship winners Birmingham Brummies riders Cradley Heathens riders Eastbourne Eagles riders Milton Keynes Knights riders Oxford Cheetahs riders Wimbledon Dons riders Wolverhampton Wolves riders 20th-century English sportsmen