Clive G. C. Featherby (6 April 1933 – 28 August 2019) was an international

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 England. He earned one international cap for the

Great Britain 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 ...

Biography

In 1959, Featherby was signed by the

Norwich Stars Norwich Stars were a motorcycle speedway team based in Norwich, England, which operated from 1930 until their closure in 1964.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History Origins and 1930s Speedway came to Norwich ...

manager Gordon Parkins after impressing in a try out. He moved on to

Yarmouth Bloaters The Yarmouth Bloaters were a motorcycle speedway team who operated from Yarmouth Stadium in Caister-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, from 1948 to 1962. History In January 1948 the Speedway Control Board considered licence applications from 17 n ...

and then

Stoke Potters The Stoke Potters previously the Hanley Potters were a British speedway team. As Hanley Potters they raced at the Sun Street Stadium from 1929 to 1963 and as Stoke, the team raced at Loomer Road Stadium in Newcastle-under-Lyme from 1973 to ...

and

Cradley Heathens Cradley Heathens were a motorcycle speedway team from Dudley, England. The team was founded in 1947 and competed primarily at the top level of British speedway at Dudley Wood Stadium until its closure in 1995. The team was revived as Dudley Heath ...

all during 1960. It was not until 1961 that he found stability, signing for

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield Tigers (sponsored by Tru Plant) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. They were founded in 1929 an ...

for the

1961 Provincial Speedway League The 1961 Provincial Speedway League was the second season of the Provincial League. Summary Eleven speedway teams took part. Liverpool, Yarmouth and Bristol had all folded at the end of the previous season and Bradford were unable to take t ...

and produced a 9.59 average for the season. The following season he performed even better, recording the second best average in the league at 10.21 and becoming Sheffield's leading rider and captain. Following five successful seasons at Sheffield, Featherby was forced to join Cradley Heath for the

1966 British League season The 1966 British League season was the 32nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second season known as the British League. Halifax Dukes won the league and then secured the league and cup double. Summary The Lea ...

due to the restrictions imposed on teams by the Control Board. He spent an unhappy season at the club before joining the

King's Lynn Stars King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Premiership. The nickname "Stars" was adopted from the defunct Norwich Stars team. The team was founded in 1965 and has been running continually since then, except for 199 ...

in 1967. He ended his career at King's Lynn in 1972, after six years with the West Norfolk club. His last race was in May 1972 because of a badly broken leg, suffered during a World Championship qualifying round. His son Craig Featherby later became a professional speedway rider but was killed in a speedway league crash during 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Featherby, Clive 1933 births 2019 deaths British speedway riders Cradley Heathens riders King's Lynn Stars riders Norwich Stars riders Sheffield Tigers riders Yarmouth Bloaters riders Sportspeople from King's Lynn