The Leicester Hunters were 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 ...
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
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 ...
and the
Leicester Super
Leicester Super was a motorcycle speedway team based at the Leicester Super Speedway near Melton Road.
History
Promotion company Speedways and Sports Ltd initially approached Leicestershire County Cricket Club in 1929 with a proposal to constr ...
track. Speedway was proposed to return to Leicester in 1948 at Leicester Stadium, led by A. D. Sanderson with
Roy Dook and later Bob Peett managing the team, but concerns from local residents over noise levels delayed the return until the following year, with the newly formed team limited to away challenge matches in 1948.
To go with the team name, the riders wore hunting pink race bibs featuring a gold horseshoe. The Hunters joined 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 ...
in
Division 3, where they finished 10th. Former rider
Cyril "Squib" Burton
Cyril Frederick "Squib" Burton (16 January 1908 – June 1990) was a motorcycle speedway rider who was one of the sport's early stars, becoming a leading rider for the Leicester Stadium team and for Rochdale, and going on to represent England. ...
, who had been one of the top riders of the Leicester Stadium team in the early 1930s, took over as manager in 1950 and the team joined division 2 at the end of the season, after finishing in third place.
[Hoare, Ron (1979) ''Speedway Panorama'', Haynes, , p. 122]
The team spent six seasons in division 2 and by 1957, the dwindling number of teams meant that the National League operated as a single division and the Hunters stayed in the top division until 1961, their best placing being as runners up in 1959.
Mike Parker then took over the club, and opted to join 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 ...
in 1962, finishing in 12th position.
This was to be the Hunters' final season, with the team transferring to
Long Eaton
Long Eaton is a town in the Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and some 8½ miles (13.7 km) south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It has ...
for the 1963 season.
Speedway returned to Leicester Stadium for a period but the team were renamed
Leicester Lions
Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. The club returned to speedway for the 2011 Premier League season, moving up to the Elite League ...
.
Notable riders
Notable Hunters riders include
Ken McKinlay
John Robert Vickers (Ken) McKinlay (7 June 1928 – 9 February 2003) was an international speedway rider, captaining Scotland, England, Great Britain and Europe teams. He also finished on the rostrum of the British Speedway Championship finals t ...
, who was the team's top rider for eight seasons between 1954 and 1961,
Harwood Pike,
Len Williams,
Charlie Barsby,
Paweł Waloszek
Paweł Waloszek (28 April 1938 – 7 September 2018) was a Polish international motorcycle speedway rider who was second in 1970 Individual Speedway World Championship.
Career details
World Championships
* Individual World Championship
** 1 ...
,
Harry Bastable
Harry Bastable is a former international motorcycle speedway rider and promoter.
Career summary
Harry Bastable's was a novice at the Alan Hunt 1949 winter training school when he was signed up by Cradley Heath Heathens. For experience he ...
,
Jack Geran
John Francis Geran (10 December 1929 – 20 June 2021) was an international motorcycle speedway rider from Australia.
Speedway career
Geran reached the final of the Speedway World Championship on two occasions in the 1957 Individual Speedway ...
,
Ivor Brown
Ivor John Carnegie Brown CBE (25 April 1891 – 22 April 1974) was a British journalist and man of letters.
Biography
Born in Penang, Malaya, Brown was the younger of two sons of Dr. William Carnegie Brown, a specialist in tropical diseases, ...
, and
Norman Hunter.
Season summary
See also
*
Speedway in Leicester Motorcycle speedway was first staged in Leicester in 1928. It has continued on and off until the present day, with Leicester Lions currently competing in the SGB Championship and Leicester Lion Cubs competing in the National League (speedway)
Lei ...
References
{{Reflist
Sport in Leicester