Walter Richard Lloyd known as Wally Lloyd (6 February 1910 – 11 February 1989) 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 who rode in the earliest days of the sport in Britain. He earned eight 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

Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, Lloyd began his speedway career in 1928 at the

Hall Green Hall Green is an area in southeast Birmingham, England, synonymous with the B28 postcode. It is also a council constituency of Birmingham City Council, managed by its own district committee. Historic counties of England, Historically it lay wit ...

track.Chaplin, John (1983) "John Chaplin's 'Fireside Stories'", ''

Speedway Star Speedway Star is a national motorcycle speedway magazine. The magazine is published every week of the year and the emphasis of the publication is on British speedway but also features international speedway from around the world. The magazine is ...

'', 3 December 1983, p. 27 When the Hall Green track closed, in 1929 he moved to

Perry Barr Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is also the name of a Government of Birmingham, England#Council constituencies, council constituency, managed by its own ...

, captaining the team at the age of 17, and earning the nickname "Whirlwind" for his racing style. He started the 1930 season with Perry Barr in the Southern League, but after the team resigned from the league after four matches he moved on to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

.Bamford, Robert (2003) ''Speedway: The Pre-War Years'', Tempus, , p. 206-7 He went on to ride for

Lea Bridge Lea Bridge is a district in the London Borough of Hackney and the London Borough of Waltham Forest in London, England. It lies 7 miles (11.3 km) northeast of Charing Cross. The area it takes its name from a bridge built over the River Le ...

in 1931, Southampton/Clapton Saints in 1932, and Clapton in 1933. He returned to Hall Green in 1934 before moving to

Hackney Wick Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in East London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, namely Fish I ...

in 1935. Two seasons followed with

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

before he joined Wimbledon in 1938, where he stayed until league speedway's suspension due to

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 ...

. Lloyd represented England several times between 1937 and 1939, and also rode and promoted the sport in South Africa. In 1946, with league speedway resuming, Lloyd joined Belle Vue and rode in the British Riders' Championship as well as riding again for England in the Test series against Australia in 1947 and 1948. He retired after the 1948 season and in 1949 took on the role of manager for the re-opened Walthamstow Wolves team.

Family

His two brothers Johnny Lloyd and

Jeff Lloyd Alfred Jeffrey Lloyd (born 29 July 1914 in Birmingham, England) was a former international speedway rider who qualified for the Speedway World Championship finals three times.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway ...

were both professional speedway riders.

Players cigarette cards

Lloyd is listed as number 29 of 50 in the 1930s Player's

cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible car ...

collection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Wally 1910 births 1989 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Southampton Saints riders Hackney Wick Wolves riders Wembley Lions riders Belle Vue Aces riders Wimbledon Dons riders 20th-century English sportsmen