Harold Frank Milton Arthur (12 December 1908 in

Lismore, New South Wales Lismore is a city located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore Local government in Australia, local government area, it is also a regional centre in the Northern River ...

– 11 September 1972 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

) was a former 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 who won the first

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 of 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 ...

, in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

.Jacobs, Norman (2001). ''Speedway in London''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing Bamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway – The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. He earned 15 international caps for the

Australia national speedway team The Australia national speedway team is one of the leading teams in international motorcycle speedway, with the country regarded as the birthplace of the sport in the 1920s. The team are five times champions of the world having won the sports p ...

Career

Arthur born in

started work as a farm hand before taking up speedway. He first had success in Australia, winning the Golden Helmet there in 1927.Sandys, Leonard (1948) ''Broadside to Fame! The Drama of the Speedways'', Findon, p. 16 He was one of the pioneers of speedway in the UK. He brought Max Grosskreutz over from Australia in 1929 and supplied Dicky Case and Ray Tauser with machines and support for fifty percent of their earnings. Arthur was considered to have the fastest bikes in British speedway in those early years. Arthur rode for the

Stamford Bridge Pensioners The Stamford Bridge Pensioners were a speedway team which operated from 1929 until their closure in 1932.Bamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway - The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. History In 1928 the new sport known a ...

from 1930 until their closure in 1932. He returned to the UK in 1934 to ride again for the Harringay Tigers. He 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 test matches against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

from 1930 to 1934.Foster, P. (2005) ''History of the Speedway Ashes'', The History Press Ltd. He promoted speedway in the United States, and he was also involved in the business side of the sport in Australia, where he helped Max Grosskreutz to start his career. He promoted at Sydney Royale before losing the lease in 1938. He solved this problem by building the speedway track at the

Sydney Sports Ground The Sydney Sports Ground No. 1 was a stadium and dirt track racing venue in Sydney, New South Wales. The ground was located where the car park of the Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) currently sits. The ground had two main grandstands and was sur ...

next door. He also ran midget car circuits in Australia. Frank Arthur died of a heart attack in Sydney on 11 September 1972. In 2007, Arthur was one of the inaugural 10 inductees into the

Australian Speedway Hall of Fame Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, Frank 1908 births 1972 deaths Australian speedway riders Speedway promoters Harringay Tigers riders Australian expatriate speedway riders in England Stamford Bridge Pensioners riders Sportspeople from Lismore, New South Wales Sportsmen from New South Wales 20th-century Australian sportsmen