Colin Trevor Meredith (born 24 January 1953) 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 from England, who later became a team manager and track curator.

Biography

Born in

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, Meredith first rode a speedway bike on Ainsdale Sands in 1970, and after second half rides at Belle Vue made his league debut in the second division with

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...

in 1971.Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) ''Who's Who of World Speedway'', Studio Publications, , p. 82 In 1972 he rode for

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

in the second division and

Wolverhampton Wolves Wolverhampton Wolves were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They were champions of the United Kingdom five times and raced at Monmore Green Stadium from 1928 to 2023. History 1928–1930 Speedway (known ...

in the first and continued this doubling-up arrangement until 1975. In 1974 he was selected in the Young England team against Czechoslovakia and Poland, and reached the Second Division Riders Final that year, finishing in seventh place. He rode again for Young England in 1975, against Scotland. In 1976 he rode for Wolves,

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

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 ...

, and went on to ride for Oxford for the next three seasons. In 1978 he also doubled up in the

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a British League Division Two, second division starting i ...

with

Leicester Lions Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. and again from 2011. The team race at the Beaumont Park Stadium (or Hydroscand Arena for sponsorsh ...

on loan, but his season was cut short after a crash at

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar'', Automedia, p. 157 He retired from racing in 1979. Meredith went on to become a track curator, working at Leicester and then at

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees are a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon, Warwickshire, Brandon near Coventry, England. They are eight times champions of Britain. History Origins and 1920s The firs ...

for seventeen years up to 1998, also acting as team manager of the Bees for two years. From 1999 to 2002 he was team manager and track curator at

, leading them to the Elite League title in 2001. In 2003 he became curator of the Peterborough Panthers track at the

East of England Showground The East of England Showground is a large showground area (667,731sqm) located on East of England Way near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The Showground is owned by Bellway as of around 2019 and the site currently includes the East of ...

. He later took over responsibility for the Belle Vue track. He went on to become an official for the

Speedway Control Bureau The Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), known as the Speedway Control Board between 1948 and 2002, governs the sport of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Auto Cycle Union (ACU). The directors are appointed by the ACU and Br ...

.Air fence for Bandits?
", ''Berwick Advertiser'', 14 January 2009, retrieved 2012-03-24

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Colin 1953 births Living people British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Sportspeople from Hereford Wolverhampton Wolves riders Stoke Potters riders Oxford Cheetahs riders Leicester Lions riders 20th-century English sportsmen