William James Baden Dallison (20 June 1900 – 25 March 1946) 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 who rode in the earliest days of the sport in Britain.

Speedway career

Dallison, born in

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

, rode in the pioneer years of British speedway beginning his British leagues career riding for White City, Manchester during the

1929 Speedway English Dirt Track League The 1929 English Dirt Track League was the inaugural season of speedway in the United Kingdom, featuring from Northern England. In the same year, the 1929 Speedway Southern League also commenced, catering to teams from Southern England The spor ...

season. He helped the team set the pace and lead the league table, winning 18 of their 20 matches but following a dispute, Manchester withdrew from the league handing Leeds the title. He rode for Hall Green Bulldogs during the

1930 Speedway Southern League The 1930 Southern League was the second season of speedway in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams. The Northern teams also had their second season known as the 1930 Speedway Northern League. Summary White City had left the league ...

and would remain one of the sports leading riders until the outbreak 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 ...

. He later became captain of the Birmingham team. Dallison died suddenly at home, in Birmingham on 25 March 1946.

Players cigarette cards

Dallison is listed as number 11 of 50 in the 1930s Player's

cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible car ...

collection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dallison, Billy 1900 births 1946 deaths British speedway riders Birmingham Bulldogs riders Harringay Tigers riders High Beech speedway riders Lea Bridge speedway riders Southampton Saints riders White City Manchester riders Wimbledon Dons riders