Les Wotton

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Les Wotton
Born26 September 1907 (1907-09-26)
Bath, England
Died9 April 1995(1995-04-09) (aged 87)
Bristol, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1929White City, Manchester
1930Liverpool Merseysiders
1931Preston
1932West Ham Hammers
1933Nottingham
1934Birmingham Bulldogs
1935–1939Harringay Tigers
1946New Cross Rangers
1947–1949Wimbledon Dons
1949Coventry Bees
1950–1951Southampton Saints
Team honours
1935London Cup

Leslie William Wotton (26 September 1907 – 9 April 1995) was an international motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned 13 international caps for the England national speedway team.[1]

Biography[edit]

Wotton, born in Bath rode in the pioneer years of British speedway beginning his British leagues career riding for White City, Manchester during the early part of the 1929 Speedway English Dirt Track League season.[2] He helped the team set the pace and lead the league table, winning 18 of their 20 matches but following a dispute, Manchester withdrew from the league handing Leeds the title.[3] He rode the remainder of the season with Liverpool. He stayed with Liverpool for the 1930 Speedway Northern League season before joining Preston for 1931.

On the formation of the new National League, he was allocated to West Ham Hammers, where he won the Star Championship qualifier.[4] However, he then signed for White City Nottingham for 1933.[5] Another club change ensued in 1934, this time signing for Birmingham Bulldogs.[6]

He finally found some stability with Harringay Tigers, where he would spend five years. With Harringay he won the London Cup in 1935,[7] reached the Knockout Cup final in 1935 and 1936 and was capped by England.

Following the enforced break because of World War II, he returned to speedway riding in meetings during the Summer of 1945. He joined the New Cross Rangers in 1946 and then moved on to Wimbledon Dons, averaging 8.50 in 1947.[8]

With his career winding down, he doubled up with Coventry Bees in 1949 and finally rode two seasons for the Southampton Saints from 1950 to 1951.[9]

Out of speedway, he was a haulage contractor.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  2. ^ "1929 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Dirt-Track Topics". Yorkshire Evening Post. 20 September 1929. Retrieved 25 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Star Championship 1932" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  5. ^ "A Speedway Capture". Nottingham Evening Post. 2 June 1933. Retrieved 25 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Harringay take Speedway Cup". Daily Herald. 2 October 1935. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  9. ^ "Sure it's 'Spadeway' speedwork for them". Daily Mirror. 28 March 1950. Retrieved 25 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "When the speed motors are silent". Daily Mirror. 24 January 1947. Retrieved 5 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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