Walter Stanley Green (25 February 1918
[Addison J. (1948). ''The People Speedway Guide''. Odhams Press Limited] – 11 December 2006) was an international
motorcycle speedway rider who finished second in the
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
final in
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...
.
[Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ]
Career
Green started his career with the
West Ham Hammers
The West Ham Hammers were a speedway team, first promoted by Jimmy Baxter in 1929.
History
They operated from the West Ham Stadium until the outbreak of World War II under several different promotions, most successfully under the control ...
in 1946 after being spotted at a training school run by
Dicky Case
Roy George Arthur 'Dicky' Case (7 June 1910 Toowoomba, QueenslandBamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway - The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. - 1980) was an Australian international speedway rider who finished sixth in the ...
. He was not a regular in the side at that time, so in 1947 he was loaned to the
Eastbourne Eagles
The Eastbourne Eagles were a British speedway team, based at Arlington Stadium, near Eastbourne, England, that raced in the SGB Championship.
History
Speedway was initially introduced to Eastbourne in 1929. During their first league season th ...
where he won the
National League Division Three championship and finished as the Eagles' top rider.
[Jacobs, N. (2003) ''Speedway in the South-East'', Tempus Publishing Ltd. ] He was still making a few appearances for the Hammers.
When the Eastbourne closed down at the end of 1947 he moved with the promotion along the south coast to Hastings with the
Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
. Green set the track record at Hastings and in the opening meeting on 21 April 1948, he won all six of his rides. He again finished the season as the top rider.
His form did not go unnoticed by West Ham star
Aub Lawson
Aubrey "Aub" Lawson (born 5 April 1914 in Kelly's Gully, Warialda, New South Wales - died 20 January 1977) was an Australian international speedway rider who featured in ten World Championship finals including the 1939 final which was never run ...
and in 1948 he returned to the Hammers full-time.
In 1949, he made steady progress and became a team regular. Green made his only appearance in a World final in 1950 and finished second, just a point behind the winner
Freddie Williams. Again in 1950 he was second in the West Ham
average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
s. He also captained
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1954.
Green stayed with the Hammers for the rest of his career. The club closed in 1955 and Green retired in the same season due to ill health.
World Final appearances
*
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...
–
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
,
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 original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
– 2nd – 13pts
Bike building
Green was a renowned bike frame builder whose business was based in
Hendon. He built frames to order and could name racing cyclist
Alf Engers
Alfred Robert Engers (born 1 June 1940) is an English former racing cyclist who set national records and won national individual time trial championships from 1959 to the late 1970s. He established a British record of 49 minutes and 24 se ...
as a customer.
References
External links
Wally Green
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Wally
1918 births
2006 deaths
British speedway riders
West Ham Hammers riders
Eastbourne Eagles riders
British cycle designers