Derrick Edward Bradley (28 November 1924 – 30 October 2022) was an English

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 anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider.

Speedway career

When Bradley left school he became an apprentice mechanic for a company called Skurrays. After competing in grasstrack racing he was given a trial by

Bristol Bulldogs The Bristol Bulldogs were a British motorcycle speedway team based in the Knowle Stadium, Bristol, England from 1928 to 1978.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History The club was formed in 1928. Their first trophy ...

manager Bill Hamblin. He raced a few times in 1948 and was a league winner with Bristol during the

1948 Speedway National League Division Two The 1948 National League Division Two was the third post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. Edinburgh Monarchs were new participants as the league was extended to 9 teams. Bristol Bulldogs were crowned champion ...

season and the

1949 Speedway National League Division Two The 1949 National League Division Two was the fourth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. Summary The League was extended to 12 teams with the addition of new entrants Walthamstow Wolves and Ashfield Giants ...

season. Bradley became one of the leading speedway riders in the 1950s. He reached the final of the

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 ...

on three occasions in the

1951 Individual Speedway World Championship The 1951 Individual Speedway World Championship was the sixth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. Speedway riders from Sweden, Scotland and Republic of South Africa appeared in the World Championshi ...

1952 Individual Speedway World Championship The 1952 Individual Speedway World Championship was the seventh edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. Australian rider Jack Young became the first rider to win a second title (and the first to win tw ...

and the

1953 Individual Speedway World Championship The 1953 Individual Speedway World Championship was the eighth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. Welshman Freddie Williams became the second rider to win a second title in front of a 90,000 atten ...

. He was capped by the

England national speedway team The Great Britain Speedway Team (also known as GB Speedway Team) is one of the major teams in international speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by the 2018 Speedway World Champ ...

against Australia in 1952. He rode in the top tier of British Speedway from 1948-1965, riding for various clubs. His successes included winning the

National Trophy National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

and 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 ...

with the

Southampton Saints Southampton Saints were a speedway team which operated from 1928 until its closure in 1963. Its track was located at Banister Court Stadium in Southampton, Hampshire. History Southampton was one of the founder members of the 1929 Speedway Sout ...

. At retirement he had earned 24 international caps for the

. Bradley lived in

Chiseldon Chiseldon is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It takes its name from the Old English cisel dene, or gravel valley, being noted in the Domesday Book as ''Chiseldene''. The village lies on the edge of the ...

, Wiltshire for 65 years. He died on 30 October 2022.

World final appearances

Individual World Championship

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

–

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 ...

– Reserve - 2pts *

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 7th – 9pts *

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 15th – 2pts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Dick 1924 births 2022 deaths British speedway riders Bristol Bulldogs riders Newport Wasps riders Southampton Saints riders Sportspeople from Wiltshire