Roy Allan Craighead (11 September 1916 – 17 March 2007) 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

Craighead, born in

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

, London, began his British leagues career riding for

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 ...

during the

1946 Speedway National League The 1946 National League was the 12th season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain and the first post-war season. The league had been abandoned seven years previously due to the outbreak of World War II. Record attendance ...

season. His first league season proved to be extremely successful, winning both the league title and London Cup with his team. He remained with Wembley for two more seasons and picked up more silverware, after winning the league title and British Speedway Cup in 1947 and the

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 London Cup in 1948. In 1949, he joined

Southampton Saints Southampton Saints were a motorcycle speedway team which operated from 1928 until its closure in 1963. Its track was located at Banister Court Stadium in Southampton, Hampshire, England. History Origins and 1920s Speedway arrived in Sou ...

in exchange for Alf Bottoms, where he spent two seasons He also reached the Championship round of the

1949 Individual Speedway World Championship The 1949 Individual Speedway World Championship was the fourth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. It was the first running of the event since its suspension in 1939, due to World War II. The World ...

and averaged 8.36 for Southampton in 1950. Mid-way through the 1951 season, he was forced to find a new club following the withdrawal of Southampton from the league. He switched to another south coast team in the form of

Poole Pirates Poole Pirates (also known as Poole Speedway) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the champions of the United Kingdom on ten occasions. Poole Speedway is promoted by l ...

and would help them win the league that season. His knack of riding for a team that would win trophies continued as Poole moved up to division 2 and won the league and cup double. Craighead rode for

Norwich Stars Norwich Stars were a motorcycle speedway team based in Norwich, England, which operated from 1930 until their closure in 1964.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History Origins and 1930s Speedway came to Norwich ...

in 1953 and the beginning of 1954 before deciding to quite racing for a while. He returned to ride for

Rayleigh Rockets The Rayleigh Rockets were a Motorcycle speedway, Speedway team which operated from 1949 until their closure in 1973 from the Rayleigh Weir Stadium in Rayleigh, Essex, Rayleigh, Essex . History Origins and 1940s In June 1948, the Speedway ...

a couple of times in 1956 and more regularly in 1960 and 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craighead, Roy 1916 births 2007 deaths British speedway riders Norwich Stars riders Poole Pirates riders Rayleigh Rockets riders Southampton Saints riders