Leonard Frank Williams (15 December 1920 – 15 June 2007) was a British
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 for
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
and
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
.
Career
Born in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
in December 1920, Williams served in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
before beginning his speedway career, joining at the outbreak of war aged seventeen as a mechanic, and being
demobilized
Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...
in 1945, by which time had risen to the rank of flying officer.Morgan, Tom (1949) ''Who's Who in Speedway 1949'', Sport-in-Print, London, p. 74-75
His older brother
Stan
Stan or STAN may refer to:
People
* Stan (given name), a list of people with the given name
** Stan Laurel (1890–1965), English comic actor, part of duo Laurel and Hardy
* Stan (surname), a Romanian surname
* Stan! (born 1964), American author ...
was captain of
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 ...
, and tutored Len in the sport in 1947 while injured. By 1948, he had become a regular member of the Sheffield team, becoming a heat leader in 1949.
He moved on to ride for Leicester Hunters (still his local team as he lived in Narborough), for a transfer fee of 1,000,Len Williams - One of Two Captain Brothers , ''
Evening Times
The ''Glasgow Times'' is an evening tabloid newspaper published Monday to Saturday in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Called ''The Evening Times'' from 1876, it was rebranded as the ''Glasgow Times'' on 4 December 2019.Cyril Page as captain,Jones, Alan (2004) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Hunters Era'', Automedia, p. 164 before retiring. He came out of retirement to return to the Sheffield team in 1960, also riding in 1961, but only in home matches.
Williams narrowly missed out on qualifying for the
1951 Individual Speedway World Championship
The 1951 Individual Speedway World Championship was the sixth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
Speedway riders from Sweden, Scotland and Republic of South Africa appeared in the World Championshi ...