Oliver Langton (9 June 1905 – 25 August 1978) 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 one international cap 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

Langton, born in Leeds, started racing in trials and won the 1927

Scott Trial The Scott Trial is a British motorcycle trials competition dating from 1914 run over an off-road course of approximately . One of the most challenging trials events in the UK, its appeal is to clubman riders as well as international professional ...

before racing in the senior 1929

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

. He rode in the pioneer years of British speedway beginning his British leagues career riding for

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

during the

1929 Speedway English Dirt Track League The 1929 English Dirt Track League was the inaugural season of speedway in the United Kingdom, featuring from Northern England. In the same year, the 1929 Speedway Southern League also commenced, catering to teams from Southern England The spor ...

, where he contributed towards their league winning season and was the team captain. The following season he rode for

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, in addition to making his debut for

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 ...

. He remained at Belle Vue from 1931 until the end of his career in 1939. During that time he was part of a team that won three consecutive trebles of

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

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 ...

and ACU Cup. During the

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 ...

Langton was a part-time fireman and trained despatch riders.

Family

His brother Eric Langton was also a speedway rider and was capped by England 44 times.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langton, Oliver 1905 births 1978 deaths British speedway riders Belle Vue Aces riders Leeds Lions riders