Walter Cuthbert Creasor (31 October 1902 – 18 November 1975) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

rider. He played as an

outside left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

, and was on the books of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

without representing them in the league. After finishing his football career, he took up speedway. He rode alongside his brother Fred for the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

team in the 1929 English Dirt Track League.

Life and career

Creasor was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, the third child of John Thomas Creasor, a master butcher, and his wife Louisa. He began his football career at Northern League club

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority. It is in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England, and is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdiv ...

, then joined the books of his hometown club,

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional association football club based in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Nicknamed the Boro, they were fo ...

the following season, and played for the reserve team in the

North-Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

, but not for the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

team. He signed for

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

club

ahead of the 1923–24 season. Again, he played mostly for the club's reserve team, in

benefit match A benefit is a match or season of activities granted by a sporting body to a loyal sportsman to boost their income before retirement. Often this is in the form of a match for which all the ticket proceeds are given to the player in question. Howeve ...

es and in local cups, but he did make six league appearances, scoring once. He went on to take up motorcycle sports. Representing the Middlesbrough & District Motor Club, he and his older brother, Fred, reached the final of a six-a-side motorcycle football cup competition, organised under the auspices of the

Auto-Cycle Union The Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) is the governing body of motorcycle sport in the British Isles, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, excluding Northern Ireland

; Middlesbrough lost to Coventry Ace M.C. at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

, Leeds, in March 1927 after the first final, at

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 ...

, London, was abandoned because of rain. Creasor rode in the first

meeting in the north-east of England, at the Cleveland Park track, Middlesbrough, in August 1928. He rode in the 1929 Scottish Open, being eliminated in his heat by eventual winner Drew McQueen. He competed for

in the 1929 English Dirt Track League, and topped his team's averages. After Newcastle lost to Halifax in the semi-final of the English Dirt Track Knockout Cup, the winners borrowed Creasor for the final, a heavy defeat to Preston. In September 1929, he rode for

against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

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 ...

. Creasor was a resident of

Linthorpe Linthorpe is a neighbourhood in Middlesbrough in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It borders the neighbourhoods of Acklam, Ayresome, Grove Hill, the town centre and Whinney Banks. History Deriving from 'Leofa's villa ...

, Middlesbrough, at the time of his death in November 1975 at the age of 73.

Notes

References

External links

Newspaper cuttings and photographs
at newcastlespeedwayhistory.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Creasor, Walter 1902 births 1975 deaths Footballers from Middlesbrough English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Middlesbrough F.C. players Darlington F.C. players English Football League players British speedway riders Newcastle Diamonds riders 20th-century English sportsmen