John Glaholme Ormston (born 30 October 1909 in

West Cornforth West Cornforth is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the south of Cornforth, near the A1(M) motorway, Coxhoe, Ferryhill and Spennymoor. It is known locally as “Doggie” though the etymology of this name is uncertain. It m ...

- died 22 June 2007) was a

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 finished runner-up in the

Star Riders' Championship The Star Riders' Championship was the forerunner of the Speedway World Championship and was inaugurated in 1929. The competition was sponsored by ''The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already m ...

in 1935, the forerunner to 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 ...

. He also competed in the first ever World Final in 1936 (finishing equal fifth). Having ridden for

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 ...

, he left in 1929 to become captain of 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 ...

team aged twenty one. While riding for Wembley he won the first ever

London Riders' Championship The London Riders' Championship was an individual Motorcycle speedway, speedway competition for top riders of teams from London. It was a very prestigious competition, especially in its early days. However, as the number of teams from London dwind ...

the Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

as well as the Southern League twice and the London Cup. He won the inaugural

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

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in 1932 and was a member of the England team in the first-ever England v Australia Test Match at

Wimbledon Stadium Wimbledon Stadium, also known as Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, was a greyhound racing track located in Wimbledon in southwest London, England. It also hosted stock car and other small circuit motor racing events, and until 2005 hosted motorc ...

. He rode for England in a total of 13 Test matches against Australia, of which 3 were in Australia in 1937–38. He subsequently joined Birmingham (Hall Green) in 1934, and then from 1935-38 rode for the Harringay Tigers in

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 ...

. Jack was the last surviving competitor from the original World Final before he died aged 97.

World Final Appearances

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 ...

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 ...

- 6th - 17pts *

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

- 12th - 9pts

After retirement

After jack retired from

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 ...

at the end of the 1938 season he became an established racehorse trainer, with over four hundred winners to his credit before he retired from training in 1976.

Players cigarette cards

Ormston is listed as number 34 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

External links

Obituary - Daily Telegraph
1909 births 2007 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers British racehorse trainers Middlesbrough Bears riders Wembley Lions riders Harringay Racers riders Birmingham Brummies riders People educated at Barnard Castle School {{England-speedway-bio-stub