Robert Edwin Harrison (26 April 1906 in Mellor, England – 1964) was a former international

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

rider who featured in the first

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...

in final in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

Career summary

Harrison started his career with the

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British motorcycle speedway, speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier List of United Kingdom speedway league champions, League championship 13 times. They currently compete ...

in 1929 and stayed with them until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939.Pavey,A. (2004) ''Speedway in the North-West'', Tempus Publishing Ltd. In 1930 he made his

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

debut in the first ever Test series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

.Foster, P. (2005) ''History of the Speedway Ashes'', The History Press Ltd. Harrsion was in the Aces team that won the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

championship four times in succession from 1933 to 1936. They also won the National Trophy four times between 1933 and 1937. After the war Harrison was allocated to the

West Ham Hammers The West Ham Hammers were a speedway team, first promoted by Jimmy Baxter in 1929. History They operated from the West Ham Stadium until the outbreak of World War II under several different promotions, most successfully under the control o ...

by the Speedway Control Board.Belton, Brian (2003). ''Hammerin' Round''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing He scored well for the Hammers but a serious injury in 1947 affected him badly. A poor season in 1948 left Harrison contemplating retirement. After one meeting for West Ham in the 1949 season he transferred back to the

where he helped them win the National Trophy. Harrison retired from racing at the end of the season.

World Final Appearances

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Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

- 12th - 5pts + 10 semi-final points *

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

- 17th - 7 semi-final points

Players cigarette cards

Harrison is listed as number 19 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 ca ...

collection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Bob 1906 births 1964 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Belle Vue Aces riders West Ham Hammers riders People from Mellor, Greater Manchester Sportspeople from Derbyshire