The Crewe Kings was a British

Speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

team which operated in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

from 1969 until its closure in 1975.

History

Origins

A speedway track operated for a short time in the late 1920s / early 1930s, at the

London Midland Region The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

(L.M.R) Sports Ground, as it was known at the time. Previously also used as a cycling, athletics track and cricket pitch.

1960s

In 1969, Maurice Littlechild of Allied Presentations formed a team to compete in the British league system. The set up costs exceeded £10,000 and the team were given the nickname the Crewe Kings. The track was a banked shale surfaced oval and was built on what was previously an athletics ground. Littlechild also promoted the

Rayleigh Rockets The Rayleigh Rockets were a Motorcycle speedway, Speedway team which operated from 1949 until their closure in 1973 from the Rayleigh Weir Stadium in Rayleigh, Essex, Rayleigh, Essex . History Origins and 1940s In June 1948, the Speedway ...

, the Sunderland Stars and the Reading Racers. The team joined division two for their inaugural season and finished 7th during the 1969 British League Division Two season. Geoff Curtis starred with a 10.10 average for the year and helped the Kings reach the final of the Div 2 Knockout Cup.

1970s

The Kings placed 7th in both the 1970 and 1971 seasons, the latter after signing Australian

Phil Crump Philip John Crump (born 9 February 1952 in Mildura, Victoria) is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. who attained third place in the 1976 World Championship. He also won the 1976 Speedway World Team Cup with Australia in the same ...

for his first season in British speedway. Littlechild died on 12 July 1972 - a year when the Kings achieved the League and

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

double, led by Crump, John Jackson, and Garry Flood. Crump also won the Division Two riders championship and Ken Adams took over the team until the end of the season. In 1973, Len Silver took over on behalf of Allied Presentations but Crump left and the team failed to emulate the success of 1972. The Earle Street track established itself as the fastest track in the United Kingdom. Originally 470 yards long, it was feared by many riders but was shortened to 436 yards in 1971, both versions had their track records in the''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'' for the fastest average speeds. The club started to run into financial difficulties at the end of 1974 with Dave Parry taking over in 1975 before closing at the end of the 1975 season. Former rider Charles Scarbrough ran the training school for two more years. The track's site is now the location of the Grand Junction retail park. A memorial plaque to Crewe Kings was unveiled in the nearby Kings Arms pub on 17 September 2010.

Notable riders

* * * * * *

Season summary

References

{{Reflist Defunct speedway teams in the United Kingdom 1969 establishments in England Crewe