Henry George Frederick Tuck (16 October 1915 – x January 1993) was a

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.

Biography

Tuck, born in Leyton, London, started riding on speedway tracks in 1935, taking part in various meetings around the country for Plymouth Panthers and

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 ...

reserves. Although he made a full league appearance for Wembley in 1935, it was not until the following season that he became a regular with the Plymouth team, during the

1936 Provincial Speedway League The 1936 Provincial Speedway League was the first season of the Provincial League, introduced as a second tier to the National League. It was formed after Mr B. Southouse (the Cardiff speedway manager for the Greyhound Racing Association) prop ...

season. In 1937, he was signed by Hackney Wick Wolves but because the White City Greyhound Company owned both Hackney and Nottingham at the time, he was allocated to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

for the season, where he won the Provincial Trophy with the team. His form began to improve significantly in 1938 but his team Nottingham withdrew and he switched to the

Leeds Lions Leeds Lions are a defunct British motorcycle speedway team who were based at Fullerton Park Sports Stadium, adjacent to the Elland Road football ground in Leeds, England. History Origins The city of Leeds first experienced the sport of spe ...

team, who had replaced Nottingham in the league. Another fractured season ensued, when in 1939 he started for

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 ...

, only to be forced again to move, this time to

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 14 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, wit ...

reserves because Stoke withdrew from the league. In 1943, he won the all English Best Pairs Championship with Eric Chitty. After the resumption of speedway after

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 ...

, he at last found stability riding for Odsal Boomerangs for two seasons and then signing for

Bristol Bulldogs The Bristol Bulldogs were a British motorcycle speedway team based at the Knowle Stadium, Bristol, England from 1928 to 1961Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. and later Eastville Stadium from 1977 to 1978. History ...

for the remaining years of his career. At Bristol, he not only topped the team's averages but was the league's best rider during the 1948 Speedway National League Division Two season, recording a 10.20 league average. His contribution helped Bristol win the league title in 1948 and the league and

National Trophy National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

double the following season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, Fred 1915 births 1993 deaths British speedway riders Bristol Bulldogs riders Leeds Lions riders Nottingham speedway riders Odsal Boomerangs riders Plymouth Gladiators riders Wembley Lions riders