Francis Howard Byford (28 August 1919 – 10 June 1996) was an 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 from England. He earned six international caps for the

England national speedway team The Great Britain national speedway team (formerly the England speedway team) is one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by th ...

Biography

Byford was born in 1919 in Rainham, London. 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 ...

he was a Japanese prisoner of war for three and a half years and was fairly near the

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, during World War II. The aerial bombings killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civil ...

. He took a job at West Ham Stadium as a plumber before taking an interest in speedway. In 1947, he joined the

West Ham Hammers The West Ham Hammers were a speedway team that raced at West Ham Stadium in London, England, from 1929 to 1971. The team were twice champions of the United Kingdom. History Origins and 1920s Speedway arrived at West Ham in 1928, the ina ...

for the 1947 Speedway National League season. He rode for West Ham for nine years and although the team failed to win any honours his story endeared people to him and he became a crowd favourite. He was made deputy captain in 1948 and suffered from malaria in 1949 and 1950, as a consequence of his earlier internment. Early in the 1955 season, his career with West Ham came to an end after he was transferred to

Ipswich Witches The Ipswich Witches are a British motorcycle speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30 ...

but his season was ended early through injury. In 1956, he joined the

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 ...

for the 1956 Speedway National League Division Two season. He once again became a crowd favourite at the Cowley Stadium, became the club captain and rode for Oxford for five years. In November 1956, he was travelling in a car (with fellow Oxford teammates in South Africa) that crashed and killed rider Terry Courtnell. His next club was

Exeter Falcons The Exeter Falcons were a Motorcycle speedway, speedway team based in the city of Exeter. The Falcons operated from 1947 to 2005 at the County Ground Stadium in Exeter. History Origins & 1920s Speedway began at the County Ground in 1929, ...

, with whom he had been doubling up with in 1961 and during his second season with them he finally won an honour, helping Exeter win the 1962 Provincial Knockout Cup. In 1965, he returned to London to join the Hackney Hawks for the new British League season before finishing his career with

King's Lynn Stars King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Premiership. The nickname "Stars" was adopted from the defunct Norwich Stars team. The team was founded in 1965 and has been running continually since then, except for 199 ...

from 1966 to 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byford, Howdy 1919 births 1996 deaths British speedway riders Exeter Falcons riders Hackney Hawks riders King's Lynn Stars riders Oxford Cheetahs riders West Ham Hammers riders