Reg Fearman (born 26 April 1933 in

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 ...

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 ...

) is a former international

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 and promoter.

Riding career

He first received his speedway licence on his sixteenth birthday, presented to him in front of a forty thousand strong

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

crowd at the

West Ham Stadium West Ham Stadium was a stadium that existed between 1928 and 1972 in Custom House, in East London (it was in the County Borough of West Ham, in the county of Essex, at the time of the stadium's construction). The stadium was built in 1928 on Pri ...

. He was nicknamed "Fearless Fearman" for his daredevil style of riding. He first rode at Rye House on 1 August 1948 (scoring eleven points) but was immediately banned by the Speedway Control Board (SCB) and 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.

(ACU) when it was discovered he was still only fifteen years of age. A local lad from Plaistow, Reg spent most of 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 ...

but did spend a couple of seasons with the Stoke Potters in the early '50s whilst on

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

. He made several appearances for the

national team. He retired from racing at the end of 1961 although he had already begun promoting in 1960 with his club Stoke Potters in the newly formed Provincial League.

Promoting and management career

Reg promoted at several tracks from 1960 until his retirement in 1986, including Stoke, Liverpool, Wolverhampton, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Long Eaton, Leicester and Halifax. He was chairman of the

British Speedway Promoters' Association The British Speedway Promoters Limited (BSPL) organises the domestic motorcycle speedway competitions in the United Kingdom. They are also responsible for the promotion and running of the FIM meetings staged in Britain. Each club has a promot ...

(BSPA) in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1983 and 1984. He had previously been the British League Division Two chairman from 1968 until 1972. He also had spells as national team manager for

, when they won the

World Team Cup The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...

and the World Pairs Championship.

References

1933 births People from Plaistow, Newham Living people British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Sportspeople from London Speedway promoters West Ham Hammers riders Stoke Potters riders Leicester Hunters riders Yarmouth Bloaters riders {{England-speedway-bio-stub