Colin Watson (speedway rider)
{{Short description|British speedway rider}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox Speedway rider
| image = File:Colin Watson motorcycle speedway rider cigarette card.png
| name = Colin Watson
| nationality = British (English)
| birth_date = {{birth-date|28 September 1898}}
| birth_place = Ilford, London
| death_date = 13 June 1963 (aged 64)
| death_place =
| years1 = 1929
| career1 = White City
| years2 = 1930
| career2 = Harringay Canaries
| years3 = 1930-1938
| career3 = Wembley Lions
| years4 = 1938
| career4 = Sheffield
| years5 = 1938-1939, 1946
| career5 = West Ham Hammers
| teamyear1 = 1932
| teamhonour1 = National League Champion
| teamhonour2 = Southern League Champion
| teamyear3 = 1931, 1932
| teamhonour3 = National Trophy Winner
| teamyear4 = 1932, 1933
| teamhonour4 = London Cup Winner
}}
Colin Watson (28 September 1898 – 13 June 1963) was a successful British motorcycle speedway rider{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003214/19310518/272/0015 |title=Famous Speedway Rivals |website=Daily News (London) |date=18 May 1931 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 August 2024}} from the sport's early years in the late 1920s and 1930s. He earned nine international caps for the England national speedway team.{{cite web |url=https://britishspeedway.co.uk/docs/Ultimate_Index_1929-2022.pdf |title=ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022 |website=British Speedway |access-date=21 July 2023}}
Biography
Born 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.Storey, Basil (1947) "Colin Watson Blazed His Way Through" in Speedway Favourites, Sport-in-Print, p. 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. He was a finalist in the Star Riders' Championship five times between 1929 and 1934.Bamford, Robert (2003) Speedway: The Pre-War Years, Tempus, {{ISBN|0-7524-2749-0}}, p. 222 He was selected for the England team to face Australia in Test series in 1931, 1932, 1933, and 1934, also captaining the team.Morgan, Tom (1947) The People Speedway Guide, Odhams Press, p. 73-4Stenner, Tom & Clymer, Floyd (1947) Thrilling the Millions: The Lure of Speedway, p. 21 He suffered a broken leg in 1935 that kept him out of the sport until 1937. 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. 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. Just one week earlier on 6 July, Albert Rosenfeld Jr. had been critically injured at the same track but died 10 days later.{{cite news |title=Speedway's biggest 34,000 |work=Bradford Observer |date=8 July 1946 |access-date=11 August 2021 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003150/19460708/091/0004| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}{{cite news |title=Injured speedway rider dies |work=Hull Daily Mail|date=16 July 1946 |access-date=11 August 2021 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000324/19460716/058/0004| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }} The accident ended Watson's career at the age of 47 and he had impaired eyesight as a result. He took up the job of inspecting the pits at West Ham afterwards.{{cite news |title=Thrill Aids recovery |work=Daily Mirror |date=5 April 1947 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19470405/071/0009 | via = British Newspaper Archive| access-date=5 January 2024 |url-access=subscription }}
He earned nine caps for the England national team.
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."Colin Watson Makes a Come-Back", Speedway Star, 23 March 1963, p. 2
Film appearance
The 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoJpvyb4eU|title=Britannia Of Billingsgate (1933)|website=YouTube|access-date=22 August 2021}}
Players cigarette cards
Watson is listed as number 47 of 50 in the 1930s Player's cigarette card collection.{{cite web |url=http://www.speedwaymuseumonline.co.uk/playerscigerettecards10.html|title=Speedway Riders|website=Speedway Museum Online|access-date=14 October 2021}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Colin}}
Category:British speedway riders
Category:English motorcycle racers
Category:West Ham Hammers riders
Category:Harringay Canaries riders