Bill Kitchen (speedway rider)
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William Kitchen (7 December 1908 in Galgate, Lancashire, England – May 1994) was an international speedway rider who started his career with the Belle Vue Aces in 1933.[1] He earned 41 international caps for the England national speedway team.[2]
Career summary
Before he started speedway Kitchen was a prominent road trials rider and had taken part in the Isle of Man TT.[3]
His pre-war career was with Belle Vue.[4]
After the war he rode in various meeting during late 1945[5] before becoming the captain of the Wembley Lions in 1946 and finished second in the British Speedway Championship.[3] He finished fifth in the Speedway World Championship in 1938.[6]
Kitchen was a member of a National League winning team eleven times in twenty years, a feat made even more exceptional given the fact that the outbreak of World War II cost his Belle Vue team the chance of earning Kitchen a twelfth title (the Aces were top of the league when it was abandoned), and the fact that the competition was suspended a further six seasons during the war.
Kitchen was a regular England international with 41 appearances for the national team. In 1950, Bill Kitchen won the Australian 3 Lap Championship at the Tracey's Speedway in Melbourne.
After retirement, Bill ran a motor spares shop bearing his own name, in Station Road Harrow until at least the 1980s.
World Final appearances
- 1937 - Template:Flagicon London, Wembley Stadium - 8th - 9pts + 7 semi-final points
- 1938 - Template:Flagicon London, Wembley Stadium - 5th - 9pts + 6 semi-final points
- 1949 - Template:Flagicon London, Wembley Stadium - 6th - 9pts
Players cigarette cards
Kitchen is listed as number 24 of 50 in the 1930s Player's cigarette card collection.[7]
References
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- ↑ Addison J. (1948). The People Speedway Guide. Odhams Press Limited
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- ↑ a b Morgan, Tom (1947) The People Speedway Guide, Odhams Press, p. 76
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- ↑ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Template:ISBN
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