Tommy Price

For the other speedway rider, see Tommy Price (born 1907). For the drummer, see Thommy Price.
Tommy Price later in life
Tommy Price
Born (1911-12-02)2 December 1911
Cambridge, England
Died

26 December 1997 (aged 86)

Perth, Australia
Nationality England England
Current club information
Career status Retired
Career history
1934 Harringay Tigers
1935-1939, 1946-1956 Wembley Lions
1936 Cardiff
1936 Nottingham Wasps
Individual honours
1949 World Champion
1946 British Riders' Champion
Team honours
1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, National League Champion
1948, 1954 National Trophy winner
1947 British Speedway Cup winner
1948, 1949, 1950, 1951 London Cup winner

Thomas "Tommy" Price (born 2 December 1911 in Cambridge, England and died 26 December 1997 in Perth, Australia) was an international Speedway rider. In 1949 he won the first Speedway World Championship to be held after the Second World War.[1]

Career

Price started his career with the Wembley Lions in 1935 after only a handful of appearances for Harringay Reserves in the previous season. In 1936 he was loaned out to Cardiff and Nottingham. Within three years he had qualified for his first World Final.[2]

After the war, Price rejoined the Lions and spent a further eleven seasons at the club until he retired in 1956. During that he was a member of the teams that won the National League Championship seven times, and the National Trophy twice.

Price was selected to ride for England in the Ashes series against Australia, but never toured overseas during the winter.[3]

Following his retirement, Tommy opened a small engineering workshop in Wembley, North London where he was able to produce small quantities of specialist items for riders. Often these would have been economically non-viable for larger companies and Tommy was seen as a saviour by many a 'Rocker' of the day. Speedway faced a crisis at the end of the 1963 season when Southampton closed, due to the stadium being sold for redevelopment. Realising that the then senior National League could not continue to operate with just 6 teams, Lord Shawcross was appointed to lead an enquiry into the running of the sport. It was decided amongst senior promoters that a seventh team was vital to the continuance of the sport at a senior level, and it was decided that West Ham was ripe for a re-opening. After lengthy discussions and a large cash injection funded by the promoters of other National League teams, West Ham reopened after 9 years with Tommy Price at the helm as both promoter and team manager. Price continued in the role until the end of the 1965 season when he led West Ham to a unique treble, winning the British League, the KO Cup and the London Cup.

Worn by Price 1949

World final appearances

Life

Price's early education was at Perse School and later, at the Cambridge and County High School. After retiring Price moved to Perth, Australia with his wife Margaret. He has a daughter, Melanie, and grandchildren, Simon, Felicity and Sebastian.

Tommy Price's Wembley Lions Race Jacket

References

  1. 1 2 Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
  2. ↑ Jacobs, N & Lipscombe, P (2005). Wembley Speedway : The Pre-War Years. Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-3750-X
  3. ↑ Foster, P. (2005) History of the Speedway Ashes, The History Press Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-3468-3
  1. Tommy Price's speedway mixture: Illustrated fact and fiction annual, 1950, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tommy-Prices-speedway-mixture-Illustrated/dp/B0000CHNCD
  2. YouTube, 1949 Speedway World Final Wembley, www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSKU4fJDG7w
  3. http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/speedway-rider-tommy-price-during-a-practice-run-on-the-news-photo/2641921
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