William Rogers (1911 – 5 March 1992) was a

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 from Australia. He was twice champion of Australia in 1932 and 1947 and earned 13 international caps for the

Australia national speedway team The Australia national speedway team is one of the leading teams in international motorcycle speedway, with the country regarded as the birthplace of the sport in the 1920s. The team are five times champions of the world having won the sports p ...

Biography

Rogers, born in

St Kilda, Victoria St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, southeast of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Port Phillip Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. St Kilda recorded a ...

, won the 1932

Australian Solo Championship The Australian Individual Speedway Championship historically known as the Australian Solo Championship is a motorcycle speedway championship held each year to determine the Australian national champion. It is organised by Motorcycling Australia ...

. He began his British leagues career after being persuaded by

Vic Huxley Victor Nelson Huxley (23 September 1906 – 24 June 1982 in Brisbane, Queensland) was an Australian speedway rider who won the Star Riders' Championship, the forerunner of the Speedway World Championship, in 1930 and finished runner-up in 1931 ...

to ride for

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 began riding for Wimbledon during the 1934 Speedway National League season, although he only made three appearances. He missed the 1935 season because of a broken leg but returned to England in 1936. Wimbledon then loaned him out to

Bristol Bulldogs The Bristol Bulldogs were a British motorcycle speedway team based at the Knowle Stadium, Bristol, England from 1928 to 1961Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. and later Eastville Stadium from 1977 to 1978. History ...

for the 1936 Provincial Speedway League season, where he achieved a 9.15 average. He became a popular rider at Bristol, spending two more seasons with them in 1937 and winning the league title with the club) and in 1938, but had his season ended in 1938 by another broken leg. It would be his last season in the United Kingdom for ten years, after missing most of them because of

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 wo ...

and then riding in Australia. He won a second Australian national title in 1947. In 1948, he returned to the UK to ride for

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, wit ...

and then had one final season in 1949 with Southampton Saints.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Bill 1911 births 1992 deaths Australian speedway riders Belle Vue Aces riders Bristol Bulldogs riders Australian expatriate speedway riders in England Southampton Saints riders Wimbledon Dons riders