Walter Norbury Hull (2 March 1907 – 10 March 1985) 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 two 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

Hull, born in Manchester, rode in the pioneer years of British speedway beginning his British leagues career riding for White City Manchester during the inaugural

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 ...

season. He was described as the Altrincham star. He gained recognition in 1930 and was selected to represent England against Australia. His two seasons with the Manchester club were chaotic because they withdrew from the league on both occasions. In 1931, he joined

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 ...

, where he would enjoy a better foundation and duly impressed with an 8.84 league average and helping his team become league champions. Following the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern leagues for the

1932 Speedway National League The National League was formed in 1932 combining teams from the Northern League and Southern League. It was the fourth season of speedway in the United Kingdom. Summary From the teams that finished the 1931 Northern League, Leeds Lions a ...

season, he was transferred, moving to London to ride for the

Wimbledon Dons The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London from 1929 until 1991. The team were seven times champions of Britain. History Origins The speedway track opened ...

. His form dipped and he found himself spending a season with

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield Tigers (sponsored by Tru Plant) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. They were founded in 1929 an ...

in 1933 and then had a fractured season in 1934, riding for the Lea Bridge/Walthamstow team. In 1935, he returned to Belle Vue, where he would spend the remainder of his career (with a enforced break 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 ...

), retiring in 1948. He won several numerous trophies with the club including the 1935 and 1936 trebles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hull, Wally 1907 births 1985 deaths British speedway riders Belle Vue Aces riders Lea Bridge speedway riders White City Manchester riders Sheffield Tigers riders Walthamstow Wolves riders Wimbledon Dons riders