Harry Whitfield
{{Short description|British motorcycle speedway rider}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}
{{for|the English drag queen born Harry Whitfield|Charity Kase (drag queen)}}
{{Infobox Speedway rider
| name= Harry Whitfield
| image =
| nationality = British (English)
| birth_date = {{birth-date|9 May 1908}}
| birth_place = Middlesbrough, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|9|14|1908|5|9|df=y}}
| death_place =
| years1 = 1929-1935
| career1 = Wembley Lions
| years2 = 1936-1937
| career2 = Harringay Racers
| years3 = 1939
| career3 = Sheffield Tigers
| indivyear1 = 1930
| indivhonour1 = Scottish Champion
| teamyear1 = 1932
| teamhonour1 = National League Champion
| teamyear2 = 1930, 1931
| teamhonour2 = Southern League Champion
| teamyear3 = 1931, 1932
| teamhonour3 = National Trophy Winner
| teamyear4 = 1930, 1932, 1933
| teamhonour4 = London Cup Winner
}}
Henry Whitfield (9 May 1908 - 14 September 1988) was a British motorcycle speedway rider who went on to manage Middlesbrough Bears. He earned one 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=31 December 2023}}
Career
Originally from Middlesbrough, Whitfield was one of the top British riders of the early 1930s, riding for Wembley Lions{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001934/19290607/168/0011 |title=Harry Whitfield Wembley's New Star Rider |website=Rugby Advertiser |date=7 June 1929 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=11 October 2024 }} and also for the England national team, competing in the Test series against Australia in 1931.Morgan, Tom (1947) The People Speedway Guide, Odhams Press, p. 73, 83 He was one of the first British riders to challenge the dominance of Australian riders. He was also one of the first riders recognised as developing team riding (where both riders attempt to hold the front of the race together), forming a successful partnership with George Greenwood.{{cite web |url=http://www.speedwaymuseumonline.co.uk/playerscigarettecards4.html|title=Speedway Riders 16 George Greenwood|website=Speedway Museum Online|access-date=10 October 2021}}
He won the Scottish Championship in 1930 and an unofficial World Championship event at the Sydney Showground Speedway in Australia on 4 March 1933."[http://www.speedwaychampions.com/world-champions.php Speedway World Champions]", Speedwaychampions.com, retrieved 2012-02-04 Whitfield had earlier won the first qualifying round for the 1933 Final at the Claremont Speedway in Perth, Western Australia on 3 December 1932. All four qualifying rounds were held in Australia.
During World War II, while serving with the Royal Air Force in North Africa, he created makeshift tracks in the desert with petrol tins as crash barriers and organised racing with dispatch riders. This led to meetings being held in the Trani Stadium, in South-Eastern Italy in 1944 and 1945.{{cite news |title=Radio Appeal |work=Weekly Dispatch (London) |date=22 July 1945 |access-date=10 October 2021 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003359/19450722/070/0004| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}
After the war, Whitfield became manager of the Middlesbrough Bears, leading them to the Northern League title in 1946.