Walter Cuthbert Creasor (31 October 1902 – 18 November 1975) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and

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. He played as an

outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, and was on the books of

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 ...

without representing them in the league. After finishing his football career, he took up speedway. He rode alongside his brother Fred for the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

team in the 1929 English Dirt Track League.

Life and career

Creasor was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, the third child of John Thomas Creasor, a master butcher, and his wife Louisa. He began his football career at Northern League side

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population of ...

, then joined the books of his hometown club,

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium ...

the following season, and played for the reserve team in the

North-Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

, but not for the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

team. He signed for

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

club

ahead of the 1923–24 season. Again, he played mostly for the club's reserve team, in

benefit match A benefit is a match or season of activities granted by a sporting body to a loyal sportsman to boost their income before retirement. Often this is in the form of a match for which all the ticket proceeds are given to the player in question. Howeve ...

es and in local cups, but he did make six league appearances, scoring once. He went on to take up motorcycle sports. Representing the Middlesbrough & District Motor Club, he and his older brother, Fred, reached the final of a six-a-side motorcycle football cup competition, organised under the auspices of the

Auto-Cycle Union The Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) is the governing body of motorcycle sport in Great Britain, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, but excluding Northern Ireland.

; Middlesbrough lost to Coventry Ace M.C. at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

, Leeds, in March 1927 after the first final, at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

, London, was abandoned because of rain. Creasor rode in the first

meeting in the north-east of England, at the Cleveland Park track, Middlesbrough, in August 1928. He rode in the 1929 Scottish Open, being eliminated in his heat by eventual winner Drew McQueen. He competed for

in the 1929 English Dirt Track League, and topped his team's averages. After Newcastle lost to Halifax in the semi-final of the English Dirt Track Knockout Cup, the winners borrowed Creasor for the final, a heavy defeat to Preston. In September 1929, he rode for

against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

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 ...

. Creasor was a resident of

Linthorpe Linthorpe is an inner-area of Middlesbrough in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It contains two wards: Linthorpe (containing the cemetery with a population of 9,711) and Park (containing Albert Park with a population of ...

, Middlesbrough, at the time of his death in November 1975 at the age of 73.

Notes

References

External links

Newspaper cuttings and photographs
at newcastlespeedwayhistory.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Creasor, Walter 1902 births 1975 deaths Footballers from Middlesbrough English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Middlesbrough F.C. players Darlington F.C. players English Football League players British speedway riders Newcastle Diamonds riders