John Glass (1911 – 1998) 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 Australia. During his speedway career he rode under the pseudonym Mick Murphy.

Career

Glass was born in Scotland but emigrated to Perth in Australia with his parents as a child. In 1925, at the age of 14, he rode up to the

Claremont Speedway The Claremont Speedway was a racing circuit in the grounds of the Claremont Showground in the suburb of Claremont in Western Australia's capital city of Perth. The speedway held its first meeting on 14 May 1927, and its final meeting on 31 Ma ...

track and asked for a trial. He had borrowed his father's helmet so asked that his name not be released. Therefore, the name Mick Murphy (the Irish champion) was created. He won the 1930/31

New South Wales Individual Speedway Championship The New South Wales Individual Speedway Championship is a Motorcycle speedway championship held annually in New South Wales to determine the NSW State champion. The event is organised by the NSW Solo Riders' Association and is sanctioned by Motor ...

. He arrived in the United Kingdom from Australia to race in the Britain during the 1931 season after signing for the

Stamford Bridge Pensioners The Stamford Bridge Pensioners were a motorcycle speedway, speedway team which operated from 1929 until their closure in 1932.Bamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway - The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. History The team wer ...

. He also made an appearance for the

Wimbledon Dons The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London.Jacobs, N. ''Speedway in London'', The track opened in 1928 and the Dons operated there from 1929 until 1991. They w ...

during 1931 and rode in the final of 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 ...

for Stamford Bridge, losing out to

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 ...

. The 1932 season saw the formation of 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 ...

and Murphy signed for Wimbledon but was positioned mainly at reserve. He rode in Sweden and Germany in early 1932 and then confused reporters by switching to his real name John Glass for the 1933 season with Plymouth Panthers. In 1935, he represented the Australia national speedway team in four of the five tests that season. In the

1935 Speedway National League The 1935 National League Division One was the seventh season of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. Summary Walthamstow relocated to Hackney Wick Wolves. Plymouth Devils and Birmingham dropped out so there were only 7 teams, 6 of which were l ...

, Murphy started the season with Hackney Wick Wolves before transferring to West Ham Hammers in June. In the winter of 1936/37, he won the Western Australia Championship. He finished his UK career with

New Cross Rangers The New Cross Rangers were a Speedway team which operated from 1934 until their closure in 1953. They also rode as the New Cross Lambs from 1934 to 1935 and then the New Cross Tamers in 1936. The team were League Champions in 1938 and 1948. His ...

Players cigarette cards

Murphy is listed as number 32 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Mick 1911 births 1998 deaths Australian speedway riders Hackney Wick Wolves riders New Cross Rangers riders Plymouth Gladiators riders Stamford Bridge Pensioners riders West Ham Hammers riders