Roy George Arthur Case (7 June 1909

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

- 24 December 1987) was an Australian international

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 ...

rider who finished sixth in the 1936 Speedway World Championship, the first ever final.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Bamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway - The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

Career

Case worked for the Queensland Railway Company before taking up speedway.Sandys, Leonard (1948) ''Broadside to Fame! The Drama of the Speedways'', Findon, p. 16 He first came to the UK in 1930 and joined the

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 finished third in the 1932

Star Riders' Championship The Star Riders' Championship was the forerunner of the Speedway World Championship and was inaugurated in 1929. The competition was sponsored by ''The Star (1888), The Star'', which was a London evening newspaper at that time. For the first year ...

, the forerunner to the

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...

and also represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in several Test Matches. He travelled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1931 with Max Grosskreutz to promote speedway there, but the venture was short-lived due to opposition from the government. Along with Billy Lamont, Case was unbeaten by an opposing rider throughout the whole 1932 Test series against England. In 1933 he joined the

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

and became the club captain but missed the last match of the season after contracting

Diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...

. In 1934 he joined

Lea Bridge Lea Bridge is a district in the London Borough of Hackney and the London Borough of Waltham Forest in London, England. It lies 7 miles (11.3 km) northeast of Charing Cross. The area it takes its name from a bridge built over the River Le ...

, and when they folded mid-season, transferred to Walthamstow Wolves and stayed with them when the promotion transferred the operation to

Hackney Wick Stadium Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in Hackney Wick, London, England. Origins The site chosen for the stadium was on land known as Hackney Marshes west of the River Lea and on the west side ...

and becoming the

Hackney Wick Wolves Hackney Speedway opened in 1935 at Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, London, and operated until 1996. The team raced under various names, known as Hackney Wick Wolves, Hackney Hawks, Hackney Kestrels and London Lions. History Origins & 1 ...

at the start of the 1935 season.Fenn, C.(2003). ''Hackney Speedway, Friday at Eight''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. He was the Wolves captain and top points scorer in 1935 and repeated the feat in 1936, as well as riding in the inaugural

final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

. In 1937 Case was beaten to the top spot in the Hackney team by

Cordy Milne Corydon Clark Milne (April 14, 1914 – October 15, 1978) was an American international motorcycle speedway rider who finished third in the 1937 Speedway World Championship final, behind his brother Jack and second placed Wilbur Lamoreaux. Cor ...

but announced he was retiring from the sport. However, in 1938 Case joined the

Wembley Lions The Wembley Lions were an English ice hockey team. History The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions team which had played at various venues since 1924. The Wembley team were based at the newly built Empire ...

but had a poor season due to injuries and did actually retire. The Wolves dropped down a division in 1938 and after injury to the captain Frank Hodgson in the 1939 season, they announced that Case would be making a comeback to cover for the injured skipper. However, after a fall in his first ride which left him with an injury to force him to withdraw from the meeting, although he did complete his second ride, he retired from speedway for the final time.

World final appearances

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

- London,

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

- 6th - 17pts

Training school

Whilst at Hackney, Case took over the sixty acre estate of Rye House and set up a training school at

Rye House Rye House may refer to: * Rye House Cobras, a defunct speedway team * Rye House (Litchfield, Connecticut), a Registered Historic Place in Litchfield, Connecticut *Rye House Plot, a plot to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother, Jam ...

, operating under the name of the Hackney Motor Club. The school operated until 1938 when Rye House entered the Sunday Dirt-track League.Jacobs, Norman (2007). ''70 Years of Rye House Speedway''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing During

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 ...

, most speedway racing had ended but Rye House managed to promote several. 1940 saw 'Dick Case's Speedway' run six meetings and another fourteen in 1942. After the war ended, Case continued to run a training school at Rye House. He also owned the local hotel and

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

that was next door to the track.

Players cigarette cards

Case is listed as number 5 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

External links

The Adventures of Dick Case, 'Dusty' Haigh, and Joe Abbott - Christmas 1934
{{DEFAULTSORT:Case, Dicky 1909 births 1987 deaths Australian speedway riders Hackney Wick Wolves riders Australian expatriate speedway riders in England Wimbledon Dons riders Coventry Bees riders Wembley Lions riders