Alexander Gordon Byers (7 November 1911 – 20 December 2008) was an international

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 from England. He was one of the early pioneers of speedway in Britain.

Speedway career

Byers started riding motorcycles in Sunderland, aged 14 He rode in the inaugural meeting of Newcastle Speedway on 17 May 1929 when the club joined the

1929 Speedway English Dirt Track League The 1929 English Dirt Track League was the inaugural season of speedway in the United Kingdom for Northern English teams. There was also a Southern League called the 1929 Speedway Southern League that started during the same year. Summary The se ...

. He helped Newcastle to a fourth place position in the league. The following season he stayed with Newcastle (in Gosforth) for the

1930 Speedway Northern League The 1930 Northern League was the second season of speedway in the United Kingdom for Northern British teams. The league was previously known as the English Dirt Track League but the addition of two Scottish teams prompted a name change and 1930 wa ...

before joining

Leeds Lions Leeds Lions are a defunct British motorcycle speedway team who were based at Fullerton Park Sports Stadium, adjacent to the Elland Road football ground in Leeds, England. History Leeds Lions operated between 1928 and 1938. League racing firs ...

for the

1931 Speedway Northern League The 1931 Northern League was the third season of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Northern British teams. It was the final season of the Northern League before amalgamation with the Southern League which also had their third season known ...

, he was Leeds' leading rider as the team finished runner up to

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 1932, he was considered one of Britain's leading riders and finished fourth in the 1932 Star Riders' Championship, which was the unofficial world championship of the world. He also joined the

Wembley Lions The Wembley Lions were an English ice hockey team. History The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions team which had played at various venues since 1924. The Wembley team were based at the newly built Empire ...

who were considered the leading club at the time. He was a member of the team that won the

1932 Speedway National League The National League was formed in 1932 combining teams from the Northern League and Southern League. It was the fourth season of speedway in the United Kingdom. Summary From the teams that finished the 1931 Northern League, Leeds Lions and Pr ...

. He was selected by England becoming their youngest test rider and riding for them over the next two years. He continued to ride for Wembley from 1933 to 1936 and only suffered one poor period when he sustained leg and eye injuries. In August 1936 he broke the Cleveland Park track record and beat the soon to be world champion

Jack Milne John Walter Milne (4 June 1907 in Buffalo, New York, United States – 6 December 1995 in Pasadena, California, United States) was an international Speedway rider. He became the first American to win a motorcycling world championship when he won ...

in a race. He signed for Wembley again for the 1937 season but failed to break into the team due to the fact that it contained many world stars at the time. At retirement he had earned 3 international caps for the

Great Britain 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 ...

. He joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1939 and married in 1949.

Players cigarette cards

Byers is listed as number 4 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:Byers, Gordon 1911 births 2008 deaths British speedway riders Leeds Lions riders Newcastle Diamonds riders Wembley Lions riders