John Robert Vickers (Ken) McKinlay (7 June 1928 – 9 February 2003) was a British 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. He earned 23 caps for the Scotland national speedway team, 92 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 ...

and 23 caps for the Great Britain team.

Career

McKinlay from High Blantyre Lanarkshire, was a farmer and grocer before he took up speedway while serving with the British Army in Germany, riding as a despatch rider and for the

Neumünster Neumünster () is a city in the middle of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. With more than 79,000 registered inhabitants, it is the fourth-largest municipality in Schleswig-Holstein (behind Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg). The ''Holstenhallen'' and ...

forces team.Davies, Trevor (2008) ''Warzone Speedway'', Trevor Davies Publishing, , p. 137 He went on to captain the team and finished in joint sixth place in the 1948 Combined Services Speedway Championship. On his return to Britain, he started his career with the Glasgow Tigers in 1949 and had five successful seasons there. However, in 1954 the track closed and Ken transferred to the Leicester Hunters for a club record fee.Jones, Alan (2004) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Hunters Era'', Automedia, p. 157 He spent eight seasons with the Hunters, moving up with them into the First Division in 1957, and averaging close to 11 points in the 1958 and 1959 seasons. A spell with the

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees are a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon, Warwickshire, Brandon near Coventry, England. They are eight times champions of Britain. History Origins and 1920s The firs ...

followed after Leicester dropped down to the Provincial League. He also finished on the rostrum of the

British Speedway Championship The British Speedway Championship is an annual motorcycle speedway competition open to British national speedway riders. The winner of the event becomes the British Speedway Champion. History Inaugurated in 1961 as a qualifying round of the S ...

finals twice, second in 1964 and third in 1965. When the British League was formed in 1965 Ken was allocated to 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 ...

, and as captain led them to winning the 1965 treble of League Championship, KO Cup and London KO Cup trophies. He was renowned for his team-riding with younger riders and his contribution throughout his five seasons with the Hammers was immeasurable. 1970 saw him return to the

for one season before he moved to 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 a further two seasons. Ken considered retirement but in 1973 he was approached by the management of the

Scunthorpe Saints The Scunthorpe Scorpions are a motorcycle speedway team in the British SGB Championship. They have raced at various times since 1971, at three different venues. History Origins and 1970s Speedway in Scunthorpe began on 3 May 1971 at the ...

to become rider/coach of the second division side. He stayed with the Saints for three seasons before retiring in 1975 aged forty-seven. While still a Second Division rider with Leicester he rode for England in the 1955 Test series against Australasia, top scoring for England in the third test with 11 points, and going on to represent England regularly until the early 1970s.Foster, Peter (2005) ''A History of the Speedway Ashes'', Tempus, , p. 152 et seq McKinlay was also a success when he ventured to Australia to race in the late 1950s and through the 1960s, winning the

Australian Individual Speedway Championship The Australian Individual Speedway Championship historically known as the Australian Solo Championship is a motorcycle speedway championship held each year to determine the Australian national champion. It is organised by Motorcycling Australia ...

in 1964 at Sydney Showground Speedway. He placed third in 1967 at Adelaide's Rowley Park Speedway and tied for second in 1969, again at the Sydney Showground. McKinlay was also successful in various Australian state championships. He won the South Australian Championship in 1957 at Rowley Park, the Victorian Championship in 1959 and again in 1961 as well as the

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

championship at the Showground in 1960. He also traveled to Brisbane to win the Queensland championship in 1964 at the

Brisbane Exhibition Ground The Brisbane Showgrounds (formerly known as the Brisbane Exhibition Ground) is a multi-purpose venue located in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Australia. Established in 1875, it hosts more than 250 events each year, the largest being the Royal Queen ...

and in 1966 he traveled to Australia's west coast where he won the Western Australian championship at Perth's 550m

Claremont Speedway The Claremont Speedway was a racing circuit in the grounds of the Claremont Showground in the suburb of Claremont in Western Australia's capital city of Perth. The speedway held its first meeting on 14 May 1927, and its final meeting on 31 M ...

. McKinlay had two short spells as team managers of Scunthorpe and Long Eaton. He died in 2003 aged seventy four.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

– 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 ...

- Reserve – did not ride *

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 5th – 10pts *

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 7th – 8pts *

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 5th – 11pts + 1pt *

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – Reserve – did not ride *

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 9th – 6pts *

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

–

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Malmö Stadion Malmö Stadion, often known simply as Stadion before the construction of the new Stadion, Malmö, Stadion between 2007 and 2009, is a multi-purpose stadium in Malmö, Sweden. As of 2015, it is the home of association football club IFK Malmö, p ...

– 11th – 5pts *

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 7th – 9pts *

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

–

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...

– 11th – 6pts *

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 13th – 4pts *

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

– Göteborg, Ullevi – Reserve – did not ride *

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 8th – 7ptsBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

World Team Cup

* – Göteborg, Ullevi (with Peter Craven / Ron How /

Nigel Boocock Nigel Boocock (17 September 1937 – 3 April 2015) was a motorcycle speedway rider from England. who appeared in eight Speedway World Championship finals. He holds the record number of caps for Great Britain (64) and the record for total numbe ...

/ George White) – 2nd – 30pts (8) *

* –

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

(with Ron How / Bob Andrews / Peter Craven) – 3rd – 21pts (4) *

–

Abensberg Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian Districts of Germany, district of Kelheim (district), Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situa ...

Abensberg Stadion The Wack Hofmeister Stadium formerly the Altes Stadion Abensberg (the Old Stadium) is a motorcycle speedway and association football stadium located slightly east of the centre of Abensberg in Germany. It hosts the speedway team MSC Abensberg ...

(with Ron How /

Barry Briggs Barry Briggs (born 30 December 1934) is a New Zealand former speedway rider. Career He won the World Individual Championship title four times: in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway ...

/ Nigel Boocock / Brian Brett) – 3rd – 21pts (7) *

–

Kempten Kempten (; ) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town ''Cambodunum''. K ...

Illerstadion The Illerstadion is a 9,000 capacity multi-use stadium in Kempten, Germany. The stadium is located on the Illerdamm 10 road, on the east side of the River Iller in the northern area of the town. The stadium hosts the football team FC Kempten ...

(with

/ Charlie Monk / Nigel Boocock / Jimmy Gooch) – 3rd – 18pts (7) ''* 1960 and 1961 for

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 ...

. All others for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinlay, Ken 1928 births 2003 deaths Sportspeople from Blantyre, South Lanarkshire British speedway riders Scottish speedway riders Scottish motorcycle racers Coventry Bees riders Glasgow Tigers riders West Ham Hammers riders Leicester Hunters riders Oxford Cheetahs riders King's Lynn Stars riders Scunthorpe Scorpions riders Cradley Heathens riders 20th-century British Army personnel