Wilfred Graham Plant (28 August 1914 – May 2001) was a British

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.

Career

Born in

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a market town in the Borough of Melton, Melton district in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, Leicestershire, River Eye, known below Melton as the Rive ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, Plant gained his early racing experience in

grasstrack Motorcycle Grasstrack is a form of track racing which typically, in its current form, takes place on a flat track consisting of two straights and two bends usually constructed in a field. It is one of the oldest types of motorcycle sports in t ...

.Morgan, Tom (1949) ''Who's Who in Speedway 1949'', Sport-in-Print, p. 61 After practising from 1934 at

Crayford Crayford is a town and Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in South London, South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies east of Bexleyheath and north west of Dartford. Crayford was in the Historic countie ...

, he started his speedway career at the Leicester Super track in 1936, winning the (unofficial) Midland Riders Championship, and joining

New Cross New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the London_postal_district#List_of_London_postal_districts, SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, London, St Jo ...

in 1937.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Pre-War Years'', Automedia, p. 186 He moved team several times in the late 1930s, joining

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 ...

later in 1937,

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 ...

in 1938, and

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 ...

and then

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1939. With the speedway leagues suspended 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 ...

, Plant worked in his garage in

Asfordby Asfordby is a village and civil parish in the Melton district of Leicestershire, to the west of Melton Mowbray on the A6006 road. The village is north-east of Leicester. The village's name means 'farm/settlement of Asfrothr'. The parish con ...

repairing tractors. He returned to Middlesbrough in 1946, moving on to

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

during the 1948 season, transferring for a record fee (at the time) of 1,000. In 1949, he captained the unofficial British team that toured South Africa. Plant signed for

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees are a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon, Warwickshire, Brandon near Coventry, England. They are eight times champions of Britain. History Origins and 1920s The firs ...

, and towards the end of the 1951 season, joined

Long Eaton Archers Long Eaton 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 motor ...

on loan, signing for the team in 1952, which was his last season, Plant retiring from the sport at the end of the season, although he did come out of retirement to ride in 'pirate' meetings at Long Eaton in 1954.Dalling, Philip (2007) ''Nottingham and Long Eaton Speedway'', Stadia, , p. 143-156 Plant's son

Graham Graham or Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

followed him into a career in speedway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plant, Wilf 1914 births 2001 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Sportspeople from Melton Mowbray Long Eaton Archers riders Coventry Bees riders Fleetwood Flyers riders Middlesbrough Bears riders Wimbledon Dons riders People from the Borough of Melton 20th-century English sportsmen