Joseph Cameron Crowther (27 April 1913 – 22 February 1991) 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 who had his greatest success in the period immediately after

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 ...

Career

Crowther was born in Stanley, County Durham on 27 April 1913. After early ambitions of becoming a jockey, initially pursued a career as a footballer with

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Footba ...

.Morgan, Tom (1949) ''Who's Who in Speedway 1949'', Sport-in-Print, p. 18-19Storey, Basil (1947) "Saw Frank Hodgson and Became a Rider", in ''Speedway Favourites'', Sport-in-Print, p. 10Jones, Alan (2004) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Hunters Era'', Automedia, p. 149 His jobs before taking up speedway included a comedian in a travelling opera company and working for his father's butchery business. After first seeing speedway at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in 1937, where he was inspired by

Frank Hodgson Frank Hodgson (25 May 1908 – 8 May 1983) was a motorcycle speedway rider from England, who rode for Hackney Wick Wolves and Middlesbrough Bears. Career Born in Middlesbrough, Hodgson's first job in speedway was as a sign-writer at Hackney Wic ...

, he rode in grasstrack and junior speedway events at Newcastle, going on to ride for

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

, Newcastle and

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

before the outbreak of war in 1939. Crowther returned to Glasgow after the war, progressing to become the team's second highest points scorer in the 1947 season. He continued his good form in 1948, scoring 440 points. He stayed with Glasgow until 1951, at which point he was the team captain, when he requested a transfer to Motherwell Eagles, going on to ride for Motherwell for a few seasons before retiring.Tigers' Captain Asks to Join Motherwell
, ''The Bulletin and Scots Pictorial'', 7 February 1951, p. 12, retrieved 2012-02-12 After retiring from racing he became team manager of the

Leicester Hunters The Leicester Hunters were a motorcycle speedway team which operated from 1948 until 1962.Bamford, R & Jarvis J. (2001) ''Homes of British Speedway'', , p. 147-149 History Speedway had operated before the war at both Leicester Stadium and the Lei ...

, also looking after the track at

Leicester Stadium Leicester Stadium was a sports stadium on Parker Drive in Leicester. The stadium was initially used for greyhound racing with motorcycle speedway starting there five years later. It was also a venue for BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars. Greyhound ...

. Crowther died on 22 February 1991, at the age of 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowther, Joe 1913 births 1991 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Glasgow Tigers riders Motherwell Eagles riders English men's footballers Crook Town A.F.C. players Men's association football players not categorized by position Sportspeople from Stanley, County Durham