Christopher John Kitchen (2 August 1938 – 21 July 1990) was a

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.

Career

Kitchen started his British leagues career in 1958 as he captained the Bradford Boomerangs junior side and in the

1958 Speedway National League The 1958 National League was the 24th season and the thirteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. Summary Bradford Tudors who had dropped out at the start of the previous season only to return in mid-se ...

he rode for

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 ...

, where he helped the team win 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 ...

. He would ride for the Manchester club for six years until the end of 1963. He also had spells with

Bradford Panthers The Bradford Panthers were a motorcycle speedway team based at Odsal Stadium and Greenfield Stadium, in Bradford, Yorkshire, from 1960 to 1963.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History Odsal In 1960 the Bradford Tudo ...

and

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield 'Tru Plant' Tigers are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. The Tigers traditionally hold their race n ...

in the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

. From 1963 he rode for Sheffield and in 1965 topped the team's averages, which led him to represent Sheffield in the

British League Riders' Championship The British League Riders Championship was an individual motorcycle speedway contest between the top riders (or two riders) with the highest average from each club competing in the British League in the UK, or the top division of the league during ...

. He went on to earn two international British caps. His last season was in 1966 and he retired aged just 28. He was involved in a crash that resulted in the death of

Ivor Hughes Major-General Sir Ivor Thomas Percival Hughes, (21 December 1897 – 16 August 1962) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the world wars. During the Second World War he commanded the 44th (Home Counties) Division during the Bat ...

in 1966, which seemed instrumental in his decision to retire.

Family

His uncle Bill Kitchen was a speedway rider.

References

1938 births 1990 deaths British speedway riders Belle Vue Aces riders Sheffield Tigers riders {{Speedway-stub