Colin Watson (28 September 1898 – 13 June 1963) was a successful British motorcycle speedway rider[1] from the sport's early years in the late 1920s and 1930s. He earned nine international caps for the England national speedway team.[2]
 | |
| Born | 28 September 1898 Ilford, London |
|---|---|
| Died | 13 June 1963 (aged 64) |
| Nationality | British (English) |
| Career history | |
| 1929 | White City |
| 1930 | Harringay Canaries |
| 1930-1938 | Wembley Lions |
| 1938 | Sheffield |
| 1938-1939, 1946 | West Ham Hammers |
| Team honours | |
| 1932 | National League Champion |
| 1930, 1931 | Southern League Champion |
| 1931, 1932 | National Trophy Winner |
| 1932, 1933 | London Cup Winner |
Biography
editBorn in Ilford, Essex, Watson was involved from the earliest days on British speedway, taking part in the early meetings held at High Beach in 1928.[3] He joined White City in 1929 and Harringay Canaries and Wembley Lions in 1930, playing a leading role in the team that dominated the sport in the early 1930s.[3] He was a finalist in the Star Riders' Championship five times between 1929 and 1934.[4] He was selected for the England team to face Australia in Test series in 1931, 1932, 1933, and 1934, also captaining the team.[5][6] He suffered a broken leg in 1935 that kept him out of the sport until 1937.[4] In 1938 he moved on to the West Ham Hammers, also spending a period with Sheffield Tigers.
He was allocated back to West Ham after the end of World War II.[3] On 13 July 1946, during a second-half scratch race after a match between the Odsal Boomerangs and West Ham, he was critically injured in a crash when he hit a lighting standard and was dragged along the track by his bike, suffering a fractured skull and a punctured lung. He lay unconscious in a Bradford hospital before recovering consciousness four weeks later.[3] Just one week earlier on 6 July, Albert Rosenfeld Jr. had been critically injured at the same track but died 10 days later.[7][8] The accident ended Watson's career at the age of 47[4] and he had impaired eyesight as a result. He took up the job of inspecting the pits at West Ham afterwards.[9]
He earned nine caps for the England national team.[2]
After his racing career, Watson ran a successful car hire business in Ilford and in 1963 took on the role of machine examiner at New Cross.[10]
Film appearance
editThe speedway scenes from the 1933 film Britannia of Billingsgate were shot at Hackney Wick Stadium and featured some of the leading riders in Britain at the time including Colin Watson, Arthur Warwick, Gus Kuhn, Tom Farndon, Claude Rye and Ron Johnson.[11]
Players cigarette cards
editWatson is listed as number 47 of 50 in the 1930s Player's cigarette card collection.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Famous Speedway Rivals". Daily News (London). 18 May 1931. Retrieved 27 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ a b c d Storey, Basil (1947) "Colin Watson Blazed His Way Through" in Speedway Favourites, Sport-in-Print, p. 3
- ^ a b c Bamford, Robert (2003) Speedway: The Pre-War Years, Tempus, ISBN 0-7524-2749-0, p. 222
- ^ Morgan, Tom (1947) The People Speedway Guide, Odhams Press, p. 73-4
- ^ Stenner, Tom & Clymer, Floyd (1947) Thrilling the Millions: The Lure of Speedway, p. 21
- ^ "Speedway's biggest 34,000". Bradford Observer. 8 July 1946. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Injured speedway rider dies". Hull Daily Mail. 16 July 1946. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Thrill Aids recovery". Daily Mirror. 5 April 1947. Retrieved 5 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Colin Watson Makes a Come-Back", Speedway Star, 23 March 1963, p. 2
- ^ "Britannia Of Billingsgate (1933)". YouTube. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
- ^ "Speedway Riders". Speedway Museum Online. Retrieved 14 October 2021.