London Riders' Championship

London Riders' Championship

Barry Thomas, twice winner
Sport	motorcycle speedway
Founded	1930
Ceased	1997
Country	United Kingdom

The London Riders' Championship was an individual motorcycle speedway competition for top riders of teams from London. It was a prestigious competition, especially in its early days.

History

The event was introduced in 1930. It was considered a prestigious competition, especially in its early days due to the fact that the leading teams in British speedway at the time were all from London. However, as the number of teams from London dwindled, so did interest in the competition.^[1][2] The last competition was held in 1983.^[3][4]

An attempted revival of the Championship was made in 2011 at the Arena Essex Raceway speedway track in Purfleet, Essex, where the riders taking part represented not their current clubs, but long-defunct London clubs including West Ham Hammers, New Cross Rangers, Wembley Lions and Walthamstow Wolves. It was staged there as the track, home of the Lakeside Hammers was the closest track to London staging speedway at the time. However, the meeting was abandoned after only a few heats due to heavy rain and was never restaged.^[5]

Past winners

Year	Winner	Team	Venue
1930	Jack Ormston ()	Wembley Lions	Crystal Palace Exhibition Grounds
1931	Joe Francis ()	Crystal Palace Glaziers	Crystal Palace Exhibition Grounds
Championship suspended 1932-1933
1934	Tom Farndon ()	New Cross Lambs	New Cross Stadium
1935	Tom Farndon ()	New Cross Lambs	New Cross Stadium
1936	Vic Huxley ()	Wimbledon Dons	New Cross Stadium
1937	Jack Milne ()	New Cross Rangers	New Cross Stadium
1938	Eric Chitty ()	West Ham Hammers	New Cross Stadium
1939	Jack Milne ()	New Cross Rangers	New Cross Stadium
Championship suspended 1939-1944
1945	Ron Johnson ()	unattached	New Cross Stadium
1946	Ron Johnson ()	New Cross Rangers	New Cross Stadium
1947	Vic Duggan ()	Harringay Racers	New Cross Stadium
1948	Split Waterman ()	Wembley Lions	New Cross Stadium
1949	Alec Statham ( )	Wimbledon Dons	New Cross Stadium
1950	Cyril Roger ()	New Cross Rangers	New Cross Stadium
1951	Aub Lawson ()	West Ham Hammers	New Cross Stadium
1952	Ronnie Moore ()	Wimbledon Dons	New Cross Stadium
1953	Jack Young ()	West Ham Hammers	Harringay Stadium
1954	Jack Young ()	West Ham Hammers	West Ham Stadium
1955	Barry Briggs ()	Wimbledon Dons	Wimbledon Stadium
1956	Brian Crutcher ()	Wembley Lions	Wembley Stadium
Championship suspended 1957-1962
1963*	Norman Hunter ()	Hackney Hawks	Hackney Wick Stadium
1964	Mike Broadbanks ( )	Swindon Robins	West Ham Stadium
1965	Sverre Harrfeldt ()	West Ham Hammers	Hackney Wick Stadium
1966	Norman Hunter ()	West Ham Hammers	Hackney Wick Stadium
1967	Colin Pratt ()	Hackney Hawks	Hackney Wick Stadium
1968	Colin Pratt ()	Hackney Hawks	Hackney Wick Stadium
1969	Trevor Hedge ()	Wimbledon Dons	Hackney Wick Stadium
1970	Trevor Hedge ()	Wimbledon Dons	Hackney Wick Stadium
1971	Bengt Jansson ()	Hackney Hawks	Hackney Wick Stadium
1972	Ronnie Moore ()	Wimbledon Dons	Hackney Wick Stadium
1973	Barry Thomas ()	Hackney Hawks	Hackney Wick Stadium
1974	Barry Thomas ()	Hackney Hawks	Hackney Wick Stadium
1975	Dave Jessup ()	Leicester Lions	Hackney Wick Stadium
1976	Gordon Kennett ()	White City Rebels	Hackney Wick Stadium
1977	Larry Ross ()	Wimbledon Dons	Hackney Wick Stadium
1978	Keith White ()	Hackney Hawks	Hackney Wick Stadium
Championship suspended 1979
1980	Finn Thomsen ()	Hackney Hawks	Hackney Wick Stadium
Championship suspended 1981
1982	Kai Niemi ()	Wimbledon Dons	Wimbledon Stadium
1983	Bo Petersen ()	Hackney Hawks	Hackney Wick Stadium
1988	Andy Galvin ()	Hackney Kestrels	Hackney Wick Stadium
1996	Billy Hamill ()	Cradley & Stoke	London Stadium

* 1963 - Provincial League London Riders Championship

References